Children pack cauliflower. Picture by Himangshu Ranjan Deb

Cooch Behar, Dec. 2: Fields of cauliflower growing in Dinhata are playing havoc with the attendance in school of children from poor families.

Instead of attending primary school, these children are playing truant in order to work on packing the vegetable for export.

The likes of Kamal Das, 4, Anarul Haq, 8, Rupali Roy, 4, and around 60 other children have chosen this temporary profession to earn some money for their poor parents. They toil through the day in Dinhata’s Krishimelamath.

“We wrap the upper portion of each phulkofi (cauliflower) tightly with newspapers. For every basket we fill, we receive three rupees,” explained Rupali. She said every child began work in the morning and usually managed to fill 15 to 20 such baskets each day.

Rupali and the others, who have no time for school or play, have chosen to use their tiny hands to help fill the empty coffers at home. They bring back at least Rs 50 at the end of each day.

“I have stopped going to school after Class III as my father told me that it was useless for me to study. He said I should look for work and buy my own clothes,” said Anirul.

Class IV drop-out Kamal Das explained that all the children came from the villages around the Krishimelamath area. “We wait eagerly each year for this season in order to earn some money. During the last season I began packing cauliflower and could not sit for the annual examination. I never went back to school,” Kamal said.

With the approach of winter, children from villages like Boroboalmari, Dwarikamari, Sholmari and Bornachina become labourers at an age when they should be in school and at play.

Ekramul Haque, secretary of the vegetable stockists’ association at Krishimelamath, said poor parents of these children send them to wrap the cauliflower as the process is not strenuous or hazardous. “This is north Bengal’s largest vegetable market and cauliflower grows mainly in the Dinhata subdivision. The vegetable is sent to places like Bhutan, Nepal and the Northeastern states,” Haque said.

“We cannot stop these children from working as their parents send them to us and we know that they need the money as they are poor,” Haque said. He said if the parents did not think about their children’s welfare it was best not to protest.

The parents also feel the same about their children working at the cost of studies.

“People do not get jobs even after getting a masters degree. I can only afford to educate my son upto the Madhyamik level. There is no guarantee that he will find employment anywhere,” said Jahangir Alam of Chhoto Boalmari village.

Alam said he was satisfied that his son Pagla had studied till Class III and knew how to write his name. “For families like us, education is a luxury. It is better that my son works and helps the family survive. That is why I have sent him to wrap cauliflower and he is bringing back at least Rs 50 everyday,” he said.

At a time when the entire country is supposed to be implementing the education-for-all campaign, the children of Dinhata have shown there is still no end to child labour.

Dinhata subdivisional officer Kajal Banerjee pleaded ignorance about the situation.

“I have joined this post recently, I am, therefore, unaware of this issue. I will definitely take measures to ensure the children return to school,” Banerjee said.