On the World Day against Child Labour on June 12, notebooks and water bottles were distributed by NGO SAKAR to all 60 children of the Mundasahi slum situated at the end of Kargil Basti here.
There are 65 households with 410 people in this locality. All are tribals from Sundargarh district having mostly settled as day wage labourers. Some are auto-rickshaw drivers, garage workers and working in vending zones.
Like all slums in Bhubaneswar, this one was also severely affected by Cyclone Fani. Also like many other bastis in Bhubaneswar, there is no child care centre here.
Some children go to the nearby Government schools and others roam outside in dirt. Some younger ones accompany their working mothers to help the latter in their jobs as house maids.
Early childhood care is a dream for the kids.
While distributing the notebooks to the childeen, SAKAR secretary Swarupa Rani advised their parents not to send the children for menial work and, instead, send them to schools.
In her interaction with the kids as to what they would like to be when grownup, one child, Naseeb Lakhua, replied that he would be a policeman.
Another kid, Asish Lakhua answered he would like to drive a big vehicle and eat in a restaurant. A girl, Shivani Lakhua, replied she wants to be a doctor.
Swarupa Rani emphasised that the parents should send all their children to schools and she assured that she would help them in that endeavour.