Child rights activist and nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move saying ‘it will help in curbing human trafficking and child slavery’.
Satyarthi, who had won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, said that human trafficking and child labour were amongst the largest sources of black money.
“I commend the boldness of the step taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put an end to black money and corruption. Every single rupee earned by the traffickers and slave masters is black money. This move will break their backbone,” he said.
Bachpan Bachao Andolan founder, Satyarthi, is credited with rescuing more than 80,000 enslaved children. He said that billions of illicit rupees were being made from the buying and selling of children.
“I have come across innumerable incidents where the agent or middle man earned at least 5,000 rupees for the placement of young boys in bonded labour and in cases of girls sold for prostitution and child marriages, this amount was around Rs 200,000 rupees,” he said.
“This announcement will go a long way in fighting exploitation of children and corruption in an organised manner. It is a positive step towards creating a more prosperous India for the future generations,” he added.
India is home 40 per cent of the world’s estimated 45.8 million (over 4.5 crore) slaves, according to a 2016 global slavery index published by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation.
Thousands of children, mostly from poor rural areas, are taken to cities every year by gangs who sell them into bonded labour or hire them out to unscrupulous employers. Many end up as domestic workers or labourers in brick kilns, roadside restaurants or small textile and embroidery workshops. Many women and girls are sold into brothels.