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Time to end Child Labor

Our Home Minister seems to be following the Nepali way of 'Jaba Rati Taba Budi Tati' ... now we need to add 'thito' instead of 'Buda' or 'Budi' as well. I think the 'Budi' tag is just sexist and we also need to be inclusive when it comes to our Nepali ukhaan-tukkas but the number one comedian is now in a hospital cabin while the courts will decide soon whether he is allowed to go home while under investigation or not.

Many of the so-called cadres of the old political parties were making fun of Sudan Gurung as the Dj Wala Babu and what not but he has been on fire ever since he took over the Home Ministry. Our Home Minister is no longer the waterboy as they used to call him. It would be appropriate to call him 'The Flash'. He is not wasting time trying to go after corrupt netas, hakims and even those who have engaged in abuse of minors.

Now, we expect somebody to be arrested every other day and so far he has managed to keep up his score of at least one arrest every 24 hours. Reminds me of Jamie Vardy scoring tons of goals every game back then with Leicester City. The only thing is that RSP has already won the Nepal Election League and can run the show for the next 5 years without any obstacles.

Oli and Lekhak were arrested on day one. Then came our former Energy Minister, the byapari who doled out hydropower licenses for pennies for the State treasury while pocketing millions of Rupees for himself. And today, a member of the Provincial Assembly of Lumbini Province has been arrested from her home in Kathmandu regarding child labor and abuse issues.

Child Labor is a major problem in our country. More than a million kids under the age of 14 work as domestic helps and in factories and farms. Our labor laws allow kids above the age of 14 to do some work and that too for not more than 6 hours per day while nobody under the age of 16 are allowed to be employed in so-called hazardous works.

I think it's time the government makes it illegal to employ minors as domestic helps. It is sad but majority of the folks who have minors as domestic helps are middle class folks and many are government officials and netas.

The excuse is that these minors had no one and were living in poverty and were given both employment and educational opportunities in the city by these evil doers. But the reality is that these minors are exploited verbally and physically and in some cases sexually while they are forced to work from morning till the end. Even if they are given educational opportunities, it is mostly in government schools and they do not get the adequate time to do their school work as they become slaves to these people.

I think those who employ minors should face severe punishment and fines. We cannot allow such things anymore and if there are minors without parents and who have nowhere to go then the government should make sure that they receive safe housing and education. It is not only about orphans but even children with families who do not have the resources should be taken care by the State.

Well, you might say, our government is broke and only has money from the tax revenue to pay off our government employees. We all can pitch in and maybe contribute to some kind of government fund which helps those children who are vulnerable and save them from further exploitation by others. At least for now, we know that unlike in the past, this government is not going to misuse any funds to fatten their spouses and kids and cadres while turning a blind eye to millions of hungry children.

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