Poster peels, childhood lost

The irony of Chunam8217;s situation wasn8217;t lost on the state government, which came up with a string of relief measures for the little girl. But a year later, the dust has settled and the nine-year-old is back at the dhaba.

On Thursday, as she rushed about attending to rickshaw-pullers who had stopped at their dhaba for lunch, Chunam8217;s father Baleshwar Das lay on a bench with a gash on his leg. 8220;Last year, several government officials had come here. They got her into that school Miller, gave her a dress and went away,8221; he said. The school gave her two books, her father bought a few notebooks and Chunam was ready. But within a couple of months, Chunam began missing her classes as she was asked to stay behind and help run the family stall.

When Chunam8217;s story first hit headlines, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had issued a directive to the state welfare department asking for the girl and her family to be rehabilitated. 8220;Chunam will be given free education, clothes as well as food and lodging,8221; Welfare Secretary Vijay Prakash had then said.

When contacted a year later, Prakash denied Chunam was a child labourer. 8220;She is not working at her father8217;s food stall out of compulsion. She is just lending support to her family vocation,8221; he told The Indian Express.

Mother Sita Devi said she had eight children and the food stall was their only source of income. 8220;We had hoped that the government would provide some concrete help in the form of a house or jobs. Who knows, tomorrow our stall will be razed,8221; she said.

The UNICEF had used Chunam8217;s photograph in their campaign against child labour after the Centre issued a notification banning the employment of children in hotels and as domestic servants. UNICEF had then claimed that they had sought Chunam8217;s father8217;s permission to use her picture in their campaign but Das denied it. The agency had also washed its hands off the issue, saying its role was limited to raising awareness.