Dear Friends:
This story is from today's New York Times (6 April 2012). This is a subject which I think is better looked after by the twitters. -bhuban April 6, 2012, 6:30 AM Child Servants in India: Rare Case or Routine? By PAMPOSH RAINA The recent article by Jim Yardley in The New York Times about a 13-year-old maid who was allegedly locked up by her employers in their New Delhi apartment when they went on vacation generated a huge response from readers. Some have raised concerns about the problem of child labor, which they say has deeply entrenched into the Indian system, exemplifying how socio-economic relations are negotiated within the Indian society. Others warn that a broad generalization about the ill treatment of domestic labor in Indian homes, based on this case alone, is incorrect. “This is hardly new news,” Buzzramjet wrote from California. “This has been going on in India, and here, where people from India bring their slave labor with them usually smuggled in, for a very long time,” suggesting that Indians “smuggle” domestic workers into America. Another reader seeks a call to action, “We all see young children being ill treated or employed but how many of us take action-we are too busy with our lives to get embroiled with the police or the right people who can help the children,” Anita Mathew wrote from Goa. “When you see a child being made a slave you have the right to go and question and report,” Ms. Mathew wrote. An irate reader from Detroit, who did not mention an online name or real name with the comment, wrote : “This infuriates me! I have only one question: what can we do to help these children?” The assumption that the “problem is getting worse as India is getting richer” is not the case, FZ, a reader from the United Kingdom wrote. This reader notes that “servants are more difficult to hire nowadays and the pay has increased over the years” and is hopeful that with the creation of more employment opportunities “the problem will get better.” Only the affluent can afford to hire live-in domestic workers, majority of the Indian middle class “cannot afford live-in servants and the servants are not uniformly ill treated,” ST wrote from Delaware. However, “live-in servants are much more vulnerable to exploitation” since they do not have families or any other form of support around them, the reader notes. As wages for “servants are going through the roof,” many “young children are being put to work in greater numbers,” ST wrote. The online discussion also had a reader questioning the need for hiring domestic help by Indian households. “While visiting India several years ago, I asked a rich relative what had she done to deserve a servant,” Vinod Puri wrote from Michigan. “The question was so awkward that the educated, sophisticated lady, the wife of a high government official was struck silent.” “Most Indians, rich and middle class or barely making it, think they deserve servants,” Mr. Puri wrote. “Just because they can afford to pay a pittance! It is the attitude of entitlement of a different kind.” Challenging the claims made by some readers through their comments, Kartik from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, wrote : “While I fully agree that India has a (very) long way to go to achieve its societal goals, I find your generalization galling. There are many of us who either have no household help or treat them ethically.” The doctor couple who had employed the girl as a maidservant has denied charges of abusing her. They also question the veracity of the statements she made about her age, and say she told them she was 18, not 13. The couple was arrested by the police on Wednesday. Asha Malhotra, a reader, wrote from New York: “The courts should show no leniency towards this doctor couple.” They should be “fined heavily and put in jail, so an example is set to other people not to participate in child labor.” “They should pay for the education and upkeep of this young girl,” Ms. Malhotra wrote. If you have any suggestions about how this girl could be helped or what should be done to spread awareness about child labor, please leave your comments in the comments section below. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
