• Vulnerable children
• Street girls
• Street children
• India fights child slavery
• Rights of the Child

Nevertheless, the government states that this new law only affects 185,000 child servants, mostly girls, and 70,000 street food stand attendants, mostly boys. "Actual figures are very hard to ascertain because they include children who are hidden behind homes' doors", says Carlota Barcaro, in charge of one of UNICEF's programs against child labor.

Slavery has been abolished in India, but only in writing. In actual fact, there are millions of children who work in slavery conditions after having been handed over to their bosses by their parents, who are the ones that make the deal and, in many cases, collect the earnings.

 In 1986, the government published the first ordinance against child labor in sectors and trades considered 'dangerous', to which another 63 have been added in later years and which go from mining to construction, firecracker manufacturing and carpet weaving.

Now and then, the police makes a raid and 'sets free' a few hundred slaves who, after a few days, go back to the same jobs in 90% of the cases, as stated by the Forum for Working and Street Children, which is formed by 35 NGO's. "The law only prohibits, it gives no solutions to the problem. That is not the way to end exploitation and child slavery", says Zaved Nafis Rahman, social assistant for Butterflies, an NGO mainly dedicated to give support to children in the Indian capital.

UNICEF, however, having worked closely with Mr. Manmohan Singh's government in drawing up the policy passed on July 10th - which has a three-month waiting period before it takes effect - maintains that "the law is a step in the right direction" and implies an advance in children's rights protection. For UNICEF, the law is not the end of the road, but rather its beginning, and must be supported by an all-encompassing system which should include mandatory education and support to the working children's families, so that the former can stop working without damaging the lean family finances.

"Just in New Delhi there are more than 400,000 working children, of which 50,000 work in the streets", states Zaved, 27, with five years' experience in child care. Zaved, who challenges the law as 'cosmetic', states that, if anything, the law will have a negative effect because the government cannot ask employers to fire the children without supplying a place to shelter and educate them. "Many of them will fall prey to prostitution, and the majority will be more prone than before to mistreatment because from now on, their work is illegal", he points out. The new law penalizes employers with fines from 10,000 to 20,000 rupees (56 rupees to a Euro) and jail terms from one to two years.

The sex industry exploits hundreds of thousands of Indian girls and boys, and this is the field where more violence and abuse take place. They are true 'sex slaves' and are exposed to innumerable illnesses or death, with no one to claim their tiny bodies. Many of the children in big city brothels have been previously sold to sex mafias by their wretched parents, mafias which also kidnap and rape as a way of securing new workers.

Child exploitation figures in India are overwhelming. Including agriculture, where almost all of the 800 million peasants make their children work at least part time and without salary, there are over 100 million children who do grown-up work. Of these, nearly 20% work in conditions of slavery throughout the whole economic spectrum, starting by domestic service.

The problem is the chronic poverty of a great part of the population, which still has not benefitted from the enormous economic take-off that India has experienced in the last 15 years. According to Satyavir Singh, 32, with ten years' experience in giving support to children, "the boom, quite on the contrary, has brought about a higher incidence of child employment in sectors forbidden more than a decade ago, such as construction".

A building fever has taken over India, in spite of which machinery is little used, and the brunt of the work falls upon the laborers who load, unload, carry and lift very heavy building material by hand. Aside from this, in a good number of construction sites, the work is done without protection and children are the chief accident victims.

One thing that the government and not-for-profit organizations do agree on is promoting Child-Line calls. These telephone lines, which operate 24 hours a day, have acted as a saving board for many children who, either directly or through a neighbor who can hear the beatings or physical abuse, report abusers and rapists, which makes their rescue and their admission in a shelter possible.

Schools in the streets and money in the bank

Sameer is 13 and left his home in the state of Jharkhand, one of the poorest in India, to try his luck in New Delhi. He worked at a printer's for 1,000 rupees a month (18 €). Now he only works afternoons for 40 rupees and attends the classes that Butterflies imparts in the park.

Under the shade of a tree, surrounded by litter, goats and poverty-stricken people, teacher Asir Ali Chaudhry alternates games, writing, sports and math. He has 70 pupils from nine to five, though it is unusual for him to have more than 20 a day. "They all work in factories, tearooms or among garbage, collecting what they may be able to sell. Many sniff glue and fall asleep or don't feel like doing anything", says Chaudhry.

An infinite sadness is reflected in Sameer's big eyes, who admits that life in the big city is 'harder' than at home, where he won't dare go back, lest his father beat him for having returned. The boy sleeps alone in the neighborhood streets. He came, says his teacher, without knowing a single letter, and in less than a year he has gone beyond the basics and is getting ready for his third-grade exam in April. In this time, Sameer has managed to save 120 rupees which he has handed over to his teacher to be kept in the children's bank started by Butterflies to back up the finances of working children. He dreams of learning English so he can get a good job. His boss does not beat him, but curses him.

The teaching program of these street schools includes civic education, so the children will learn that they have rights. Sameer already knows that a new law forbids children his age to work as servants or in the hotel industry. "We will die from starvation with that law", he says.