On the basis of these news reports write a letter to the editor or a petition to a court highlighting the violation of right against exploitation:

(i) A petition was filed in the Madras High Court. The petitioner said a large number of children aged between seven and 12 were taken from villages in Salem district and sold at auctions at Olur Nagar in Kerala’s Thrissur district. The petitioner requested the courts to order the government to check these facts. (March 2005)

(ii) Children, from the age of five, were employed in the iron ore mines in the Hospet, Sandur and the Ikal areas in Karnataka. Children were forced to carry out digging, breaking stones, loading, dumping, transporting and processing of iron ore with no safety equipment, fixed wages and working hours. They handled a high-level of toxic wastes and were exposed to mine dust, which was above the permissible level. The school dropout rate in the region was very high. (May 2005)

(iii) The latest annual survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation found that the number of female child labourers was growing both n rural and urban areas. The survey revealed there were 41 female child labourers per thousand worker population in rural areas as against the previous figure of 34 per thousand. The figure for male child had remained at 31. (April 2005)