Bt cotton farmers thriving on tribal kids’ labour: NGO

Dalit Hak Rakshak Manch, an NGO, organised a discussion on Sunday on the exploitation of minor tribal girls and boys working in Bt cotton fields in the districts of North Gujarat. 

Rajesh Solanki of the NGO, which works for the welfare of Dalits and other marginalised people, gave an account of the condition of minor children who are forced to work as labourers in the cotton fields for a petty amount.

Solanki said the tribal children from Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and other Gujarat towns located on the border with Rajasthan are brought to the Bt cotton fields by agents who pay their parents a hefty amount.

The agents work as the link between parents and farmers and they get the child workers who have to work in the cotton fields for long hours in difficult conditions.

Solanki further said that minor tribal girls are also at risk of being physically exploited by the agents and the farm owners. Government officials are hand-in-gloves with the farmers as they pay no heed to social workers when they apprise the officials about the exploitation of minor children, Solanki alleged.

Even the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has reported a nexus between government officials and the farmers who hire tribal children.