Ground Report: Burden of wood on Panna’s innocence; Tribal children struggling to feed their families!

In tribal areas, small children, who are entitled to get education in school, are forced to carry the load of wood. The daily routine of the tribal children here starts with the sun every morning. Barefoot, without slippers, these children move from their village to the city.

Ankit Pachauri

Bhopal/Panna. In Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, the burden of wood on the heads of tribal children is not only suppressing their innocent childhood, but also their future and constitutional rights. The tribal children here, whose age is only between 8 to 12 years, travel a distance of 5 to 7 kilometers daily to collect wood from the forest and sell it in the city, so that they can fulfill the basic needs of their family. Tribal children, who are at the age of playing and going to school, have a heavy load of wood on their small shoulders. The lines of responsibilities are clearly visible on their innocent faces.

These children walking barefoot on the forest trails, away from education and the joys of childhood, are struggling to satisfy the hunger of their family. Read The Mooknayak’s ground report investigating the lives of tribal children of Panna district-

Article 21A of the Constitution of India provides children the right to free and compulsory education from the age of 6 to 14 years. Along with this, under Article 24, children below the age of 14 are prohibited from engaging in dangerous and difficult tasks. But the condition of these tribal children of Panna raises the question whether these constitutional rights are limited to papers only?

In the tribal areas of Panna, small children, who are entitled to get education in school, are forced to carry the load of wood. The daily routine of the tribal children here starts every morning with the sun. Barefoot, without slippers, these children move from their village to the city. A heavy pile of wood is on their heads, and a clear reflection of struggle is seen on their faces.

The Mooknayak team met these children. An 8-year-old tribal girl who lives in Majha Laliya village, 7 km away from Panna, said, “Every second or third day we bring wood from the forest and sell it in the city. My father works as a labourer, but he does not get work every day. We are able to bring ration for the house only by selling wood.”

There was a deep shadow of tiredness and despair in her eyes, which was a testimony to the violation of her rights. The tribal girl told us in the common language of that area, “It’s time, give me your life, I have to go home with the goods, how will I make new rotis.”

We talked to another such tribal child. The child’s age would be between 10 to 12 years. But his words reflected the words of a young boy. That tribal child told The Mooknayak, the roof of my house has broken due to rain. Rainwater is entering the house. I have to get it repaired. I have to buy new tarpaulin (plastic).

In response to our question, the tribal child told us that he has four siblings. He is the eldest in the family. His father used to work as a stone breaker. Now he comes to Panna to work as a labourer. He does whatever work he gets. He said in Bundelkhandi, “It is better to play in the village, I should sell wood and collect some money.” [It is better to sell wood and collect some money.]

Selling wood is an important means of livelihood for the tribal children living in villages like Khajuri Kular, Taprian, and Janwar located around Panna district. These children collect wood from the nearby forests and come to sell it in the cities. Due to the difficult geographical and social conditions of these villages, there is a lack of education and other basic facilities, due to which the childhood of these children also becomes a struggle. Work like selling wood becomes the only option to fulfill the financial needs of their families. Local resident Sachin Agarwal, who runs a hotel in Panna city, told The Mooknayak, “These children come to the city every day and sell wood. This has been going on for years. Due to unemployment and poverty, these children are forced to do this work to help their families.” It is clear from his statement that the implementation of government schemes and policies is very weak in these areas.

Indifference of the administration!

Schemes like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ are being run across the country, but there is no special effect of these on the tribal children of Panna! The names of these children are registered in schools, but studies and education are far from their reach. For poor tribal families, their livelihood is more important than the education of children. Due to this compulsion, these children are forced to face the tough struggle of life in childhood itself. Under Article 46 of the Constitution, the state should take special care of the economic and educational interests of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but the ground reality is far from this.

We spoke to Panna’s Women and Child Development Officer Udal Singh in this regard, he said, “We were not aware of this problem. This matter has come to our notice by you, we will take it seriously and will send an investigation team soon.” This situation is proof of how far the local officials are from constitutional values and responsibilities. They are not aware of the ground reality, which highlights the lack of implementation of constitutional rights in this area and the adverse effect on the lives of tribal children.

Panna’s local journalist Ajit Khare said, “The condition of tribal children here is very pathetic. Government schemes are on paper, but their effect is not visible on the ground. These children are deprived of education and their rights are being violated. These children are enrolled in schools, but this is the situation you are seeing.”

Responsibility of government and society

Under Article 14 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to equality, but for these tribal children of Panna, this equality is limited to words only. The government had to work seriously to provide better opportunities for education and life, but the administration’s indifference can be clearly seen here.

These tribal children need not only education, but also a safe and respectable life, as every person is given the right to live under Article 21 of our Constitution. They should have pens in their hands instead of wood, and smiles on their faces instead of struggle.

The struggle of the tribal children of Panna shows that there is a deep gap between the rights enshrined in the Constitution and reality. Unless the government and society work together to improve the lives of these children, this gap will not be filled.

Note: All the tribal children are minors, so their identity cannot be revealed. Such photos have been used in the above news, which do not reveal the identity of the children.

Courtesy: Hindi News