Fire Crackers in Deepawali

In recent years use of fire crackers in Deepawali has increased drastically. It is fast becoming an essential part of the festival. I don’t deny that it is fun to see beautiful crackers light up the night sky but do we ever think about children who have lost their childhood working in the fire cracker factory?

Fire crackers that come to Nepal are mostly India made. In India, ShivaKashi in state of Tamil Nadu is one of the largest fire cracker manufacturing centers. Though the number of children employed in these factories has dropped, it has not stopped completely.

Strong chemicals and explosives are used to make crackers. This poses a serious threat to the health and well being of the child workers, add to this the fact that these children have limited access to medical facility is limited because of their economic condition..

There are number of Non Government Agencies working to make cracker factory child labor free. Government is also taking steps but the results are not promising. The children may come out of the factories but lack of opportunities, extreme poverty forces them to go back to their old job.

It is time to think and act. We can have a glittering Deepawali with traditional candles. Let us stop using crackers, tainted with child labor.