Once a child labourer, he now helps free children from traffickers’ clutches When Bachandeo, a 15-year-old young boy, saw the pitiable condition of his family, his young heart felt immense pain. With their mother no more and father’s income from agriculture not enough, the young lad felt it his responsibility to take care of his family.
Bachandeo, who belonged to Deoghar, Jharkhand, took up a job in a photo framing shop to help ends meet. The shop owner found a perfect opportunity to exploit the young Bachandeo and made him work for very long hours with the false promise that his wages would be sent to his family.
At 15, trusting people is not so difficult. So Bachandeo slogged with the relief that his hard work was making the lives of his siblings and his father easier. Bachandeo was made to work with other children, unrelentingly, for 15-16 hours a day. He worked in the photo framing shop for about 5 to 6 months before he was freed from child labour at the age of 16.
When he got back, he resumed his education and started tutoring the children of his village.
He met someone called Kushwant Singh later in life, who shared information about Survivor-Led Intelligence Network and its operations. He became a part of the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation’s Survivor-led Intelligence Network (SLIN) to do his bit in fighting child labour head-on.
SLIN is a unique network comprising the survivors themselves. The members of this network work clandestinely as the eyes and ears on the ground and provide information on traffickers, routes and pass on vital info about incidents of child trafficking from the nooks and corners of the society.
Nobody can be a stronger voice against injustice as someone who has been a victim of it. The members of SLIN have anger within them and through their work, they channelize this energy for the greater good. Like Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi says, “Why can anger not be translated and channelized to create a better and more beautiful, more just and equitable world?”
Bachandeo is now 33 years old. He is married and has two children. Even now, he is on a mission to save children. He shares information and identifies children getting trafficked through railways from Godda and Deoghar. His information about children trafficked for labour has been on point and with this intelligence many children have been rescued.
Bachandeo’s story is a testament to the power of resilience and determination in the face of adversity. He is an inspiration to us all, and his work has already made a significant impact on the lives of countless children in India.