Puran Banjara, 13, is from Village-Salmania, Post-Baroda, Dist-Shyopur, Madhya Pradesh, India. He has 6 brothers and 1 sister. Neither Puran’s mother nor his father can read or write.

Puran started working with his parents in the stone quarries of Haryana and Rajasthan when he was only 6 years old. He broke stones and loaded them into trucks, and dug pits for underground cable along the road, 11 hours a day (from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.), 7 days a week for 3 years. More than half the day, he worked on an empty stomach because he had no breakfast. He only had one 15-minute break for lunch at 1:00 p.m. The working conditions were very unhygienic and harsh. Puran still bears a scar on his knee from breaking stones without protective gear.

Puran’s father Devi Ram was indebted to the owner of the stone quarry for an amount of Rs. 20,000 for the treatment of Puran’ ailing grandfather. Even after sever years of hard labour, Devi Ram and his family were not allowed to leave the stone quarries as the owner was claiming Rs. 45,000 with interest on the capital. However, Devi Ram and the family were never paid their wages except a lump sum amount of approximately Rs. 1000 for the work of 5 working members. Thus, ensuring that the family could never write off the debt and continued to remain in bondage for ever.

As part of an on-going campaign to identify and rescue bonded children, one day, activists from the Bal Ashram, a rehabilitation center run by Bachpan Bachao Andolan found Puran and his brothers working in stone quarries. On pursuing the case of Puran and younger brother and realizing the indebted and harsh conditions of labour, the activists were able to convince Devi Ram to consent to let Puran and his brothers to leads a free life and get education at the Bal Ashram. Due to the loss of labour from Puran and his younger brothers, the employer filed a case against Devi Ram on false charges and sent him to jail. Eventually BBA activists helped in his acquittal.

Puran now lives with other children who have also been victims of child labor and are receiving educational and vocational training at the Bal Ashram in Viratnagar, District-Jaipur (Rajasthan). At the Ashram, Puran learned slogans, educational songs and street plays. He is part of the cultural team that performs folk theatre to generate awareness of social issues, including child labor. He participates in demonstrations and marches to highlight prevailing social problems in the local area, and helps organize rallies to enroll out-of-school children in school and design campaigns to boycott fireworks and other products manufactured using child labor.

Puran plays and active role in the implementation of Bal Mitra Gram (child- friendly villages) near the Ashram. When he return to his own village, Puran will try to make it a child-friendly village, which aims to eliminate child labor and enroll all children in school through active community participation and the establishment of a children’s parliament.

Puran believes that he can accomplish whatever he wants to do. For now, he wants to concentrate on his studies. He recently completed final exams for 8th grade. Eventually, he would like to attain a higher education and join the army. He wants to become "an army man."

Puran thinks that the best way to help him and other child laborers to achieve their dreams is to make friends with them and convince them to go to school. Education is most important for children. "Every child should have access to free, compulsory, quality and meaningful education," he says. "It is essential for children to go to schools."