Experts, child rights activists and trade union leaders have stressed on the need of formulating strategies and effective implementation of these strategies and national policies by the government, NGOs and private sector to eradicate child labour in the transportation sector.

At an interaction programme organised by Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) in the capital on Monday, Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Valley Traffic Police Jagat Man Shrestha informed that 15 children, who were working in this sector, have died of vehicular accidents in the last fiscal year.

He said the transport entrepreneurs employ children because they find children as cheap labour who can work not only as assistants in vehicles but also as domestic helpers.

President of CWIN Gauri Pradhan told Nepalnews that 20 percent of the total work force in Nepal are children. He estimated that there are around 8-10 thousand children working in transportation sector at present. However, in the last few years, child labour has gradually shifted from formal sectors like transportation to informal sectors like brick kilns and domestic helpers, he added.

Superintendent of Police of the Women Cell Parbati Thapa said unless arrangement of permanent rehabilitation of the children working in this sector is made, the problem would continue to grow further in the future.

Secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions Bidur Karki said policies regarding compulsory equal wages to children would discourage employers from hiring children. He said that children who are enthusiastic towards driving and are above 14 should be given formal driving training by the government.

According to CWIN, children between 10-14 are more vulnerable to be used as child labourers. Lack of educational opportunities in villages, family conflict, misbehaviour by parents, encouragement by friends and instinct to see and feel new things in urban areas are some of the causes that bring children to work in transportation sector. Children from villages where transportation has reached a few years back are the major sources of child labourers.

According to a survey carried out by CWIN, over 67 percent of these children working in the transportation sector are supporting their family through their earnings. 55 percent of them help in buying food items for their family members while 31 percent help for schooling of youngsters.

The CWIN survey also revealed that over 74 percent of child workers are not paid but given food and shelter.

In Kathmandu valley alone, around 2,200 children are working in the transportation sector. The situation is volatile in western regions where transportation services have just reached in the last few years. The situation in eastern and central region, where there is more access to educational opportunities and the level of public awareness has risen, child labour in transportation sector has decreased in the last few years.