Poverty feeds child migration in Srikakulam


They are from the fishing community from the coastal district. In two incidents in just the last five days, district authorities rescued 40 children.

In the best of years, Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh is a source of migrant labour in cities as far afield as Hyderabad, Chennai, Vijayawada and the sea ports of Gujarat. This year, with deficit rainfall threatening to bring a drought upon the district’s economy, the wheels of migration are beginning to grind earlier than in normal years.

An important component of the migration phenomenon here is the large number of child workers being sent out, many of them in groups of a dozen or more, unaccompanied by their parents.

In two incidents in just the last five days, district authorities rescued 40 children being despatched to work as deck hands in ships and trawlers operating out of Gujarat. On Sunday, 22 children were taken into custody at the Srikakulam railway station. Just two days prior to that, a child labour racket was busted at the very same station, and 18 children being sent to serve on ships off the Gujarat coast were rescued..............Read more

 

Source: The Hindu


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