Monday, September 15, 2014

For India's child police, work trumps school...

Children as young as five are being required to work for the police force in central India despite prohibitions on child labour in the country's constitution.

At least 300 "child police" work in police departments across Chhattisgarh state in what officials insist is a compassionate policy to provide an income for the families of officers killed on duty.

But human rights groups argue the practice is wrong, and other means of support must be found. Some relatives also say the kid cops are losing out on their childhood.

"It's really inhumane to force children to go to an office to work instead of school," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The police department should look for other options. But such small children shouldn't be asked to come to the office." Full story...

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