Rajshahi: Monirul Alam, 14, has been carrying loads on his head at Shaheb Bazar kitchen market in Rajshahi city for around six years to meet up the daily expenses of their poverty-stricken family requirements.

Monirul, youngest son among six children of Abdul Bari, a resident of Haragram Natunpara under Rajpara Police Station, earns Taka 100 to 250 daily on an average after selling his physical labour.

‘I have to carry kitchen-market goods either from wholesalers to retail shops or from retailers to consumers’ level regularly from early morning to afternoon,’ he said.

In practice, a section of rich-class use the children to carry their goods purchased moving from one shop to others. They take those to either their private cars or other vehicles parked on the main roads. Even, some of the owners take their goods to their residents by the children.

Narrating his harrowing experience Monirul said, ‘Some of the owners physically assault me or hurl abusive language when I express my pains in carrying the overloaded Dhaki (basket)’. Sometimes, the owners remain reluctant to pay full money according to their verbal agreement.

Monirul isn’t only the exploited one but also there are at least 2,500 children age from 8 to 15 who carry the loads in the Saheb Bazar, major commercial hub of the metropolis.

‘Using children as carrier of goods on their heads is not only the violation of child rights but also detrimental to their normal physical and mental growth,’ Prof Anwarul Hassan Sufi of Psychology Department of Rajshahi University, has said.

He adds the exploitation has now become a normal phenomenon as none has headache in this regard. Carrying loads on head is more dangerous especially towards their physical and mental growth than any other risky jobs.

Likewise, fate of more than one lakh children of the city is uncertain as they are involved in various risky and hazardous jobs.

‘These children are suffering from different physical and mental problems. As a result, the number of drug addicts children and social crimes are increasing day by day in the city,’ said Moyeen Uddin, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Department of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Some greedy people are using these helpless children and forcing them to work for low-cost rate by avoiding domestic law. There are 25-30 thousand children who are working in the engineering workshop, welding factories, garages, vehicles, footpath’s hotels along with domestic house in the city.

Poor parents are being compelled to send their children for risky labour as well. Because they have no ability to manage their family as they face financial hardship. The ultimate result is physical and mental damages.

Many even experience amputations or loss of body parts. Minor domestic workers are often found to be victims of verbal and sexual abuse, beating or punishment by starvation. They are being deprived from their normal life as well. As a result, there are increasing drug addiction and crime trends across the city.

‘Children suffer from different kinds of mental disease like heavy social stress including mental depression. From the mental problems, there are increasing a lot of drug addicted children and growing social crimes day by day,’ said Sufi.

Babul Akhter, 10, works at Stadium Market as an assistant of an engineering shop, said: ‘Every day I have to present here early in the morning within 8:00am and return to my home after 10:00pm. I get only Tk 45  in exchange for 14 hours work per day’.

Quoting findings of different studies Sufi said heavy child labour disrupts normal system of brain. Most of the illiterate parents of workers are not aware of their children’s future. They cannot manage their family with their limited income. So, sometimes they enforced their children to hazardous jobs for survival.

He favoured for counselling, entertainment, opportunity to study beside work can ensure a child’s future life beautiful. We need to stop the ongoing malpractices and more anti-poverty schemes have become an urgent need, he added.