It’s the election season and campaign workers are in great demand. But parties and candidates have gone a step ahead in the city and are using children, studying in classes V to X, for canvassing.
This despite guidelines by the Election Commission against using children for campaigning.
Residents complain that not enough is being done to prevent this. The children are on ‘election duty’ between 11 am and 5 pm and they get Rs 20 per hour of campaigning. In some cases, children are getting Rs 50 per hour.
They visit door to door, distributing pamphlets bearing the picture of the candidate. What is worrying is that the children are skipping school to take part in the canvassing. Some of the children take part in the campaigning after school hours.
Some of the candidates are buying ice creams and soft drinks for the children to get them to campaign till late evening.
Published 05 March 2013, 18:11 IST