Kids forced to work in cotton fields
Udaipur children lured to work in Gujarat, exploited
Four years ago, 15-year-old Sugna Kumari thought she would never get out alive from the sexual exploitation she suffered in Gujarat. 
She was also made to work in a cotton field. The plight of Damini, 16, was no better. She was forced into prostitution and taken to several states. The two tribal girls of Rajasthan are victims of a larger racket. Over 1,00,000 children in Udaipur have been sexually exploited and used as bonded labour in the Bt cotton fields of neighbouring Gujarat.
“Some men told me that they will give me lot of money for the work. A big car came to my village one day and took me and my friends to Gujarat,” says Sugna.
“But things were different there. We were forced to work the whole day. We lived in a tent near the field. Some men also raped us and those who opposed were assaulted,” she said.
Child Fund India executive director Dola Mohapatra said many girls are taken from Rajasthan to Gujarat every year to work in Bt cotton fields. “Children are used because they have nimble hands suited to pick Bt Cotton,” said Mohapatra.
“The condition of boys is not good as well,” he added.
“The children have to wake up early and work in muddy fields laced with pesticides. They are also abused by middlemen,” he said.
Vijaya Laxmi Chouhan, chairperson of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of the Rajasthan government, said the government is trying to arrest such middlemen.
“Though child-trafficking has declined significantly, a lot remains to be done to rehabilitate children who have lost their best years,” said R S Dhakar, Udaipur CWC member.
“The families don’t have any alternative sources of livelihood. They end up forcing their children to work, and in the process, fall into the trap of child-traffickers,” he said.
Mohapatra said the NGO is helping the parents as well. “We are also creating awareness in villages,” he added.
C R Joy, senior coordinator of Child Fund India in Udaipur, said peer-to-peer awareness helps in combating the menace. “Children who have suffered in the hands of middlemen tell their friends that the grass is not greener on the other side,” he said.
“We patrol through the night during harvest season. If we find anything suspicious, we inform the police and take action,” said Nagraj, 14, who heads a child club at his village in Gajbi.
