Band aid is of no use, we need to find the cause.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi writes a harrowing story of 2 children in Telengana, aged 12 and 8 years, who died of thirst while waiting for the mother to return with some water to drink. The mother was found unconscious with an empty water bottle by her side. Drought is causing immense suffering to children. Parents have withdrawn children from school and sent them out to work. Girls, some as young as 3 years of age, are being married off, presumably to boys who live in areas where water is plentiful. " We cannot afford to neglect our children. They cannot be the future we want, if they do not survive the present," he writes. Absolutely. Every person, every parent will agree with that statement, without reservation. So what is the solution? Mr Satyarthi urges the government to spend on relief for children because,"....it is imperative that the government takes speedy measures to assess and analyse the effects of drought on children and ensure no child in the affected areas is forced into child labour, bonded labour, child marriage, or is trafficked, or compelled to leave school." Who forces children into child labor, bonded labor or sells them for cash? The parents do. The problem in India is that people have the right to have as many children as they want but no responsibility for their safety or welfare. Recently a 72 year old woman gave birth to a boy in Amritsar after IVF treatment. Her husband is 79 years old. Who looks after the child if both parents die? After all, you can beat menopause but you cannot beat death. At the very least the doctor should be struck off. If we are to relieve the suffering of our children we need to study why there is a compulsion to give birth to children when they do not earn enough to support them. The fertility rate per woman has been declining in India. In rural areas both members work in 35% of families and 42% of them do not have any children, known as DINKS. Which means that family planning services are widely available and people are aware of them. Why then do some, especially those who cannot afford to, produce children? Is it because they get more subsidies from the government, is it because they can force children to work, or is it because children act as collateral to borrow money from local moneylenders? If the parent does not repay the loan or if the parent dies the children automatically become bonded labor until the loan is paid off. Why does bonded labor persist when it was banned by an act of parliament in 1976? Because poor people are 'vote bank' while children do not vote. An occasional child may escape the the prison of poverty but if there are too many then the task becomes impossible. To find a cure Mr Satyarthi must seek the cause. Without fear.