Mukul Madhav Foundation and Finolex Industries Explore the Plight of Child Labourers

Child labour is evil not only because it steals away the carefree days of childhood, but also because it pushes children the way of serious harm. Child labourers are vulnerable to toxic workplaces, being employed in dangerous tasks where they can be seriously injured or die. Child labour can also lead to child trafficking, slavery and serious exploitation of the child.

In their short film, “Baitullah”, Mukul Madhav Foundation and Finolex Industries shed light on the condition of child labourers in our country and how deeply they are embedded in the society that no one finds it odd. Named after its protagonist, Baitullah, the camera follows him around as he makes his morning round of tea delivery.

Everyone happily accepts their tea from him but no one questions why the boy is working in the morning instead of being at school. Baitullah here is a fictional character played by child star Om Kanojiya, but this story is a reality for many young kids. Families depend on the labour of their children to make ends meet, every mouth to feed becomes a hand to work with and earn money.

Child labour arises out of dysfunction in our society, and yet we do nothing to correct the dysfunction and neither do we come to the aid of these children when they have to bear the brunt of poverty. Ritu Chhabria, the managing trustee at Mukul Madhav Foundation told us about the inspiration behind Baitullah, revealing, “This film asks the question that started us on our journey of working with the marginalised and vulnerable children. How could each child enjoy the things we take for granted in our lives? We set out to put things in place, one small block at a time.”.

Director and producer Jitendra Rai developed the story for Baitullah, and with a few subtle dialogues, he makes us introspect about our own actions and very politely delivers a strong impact on our psyche. The deep question, what will Baitullah have to do to become like us, has a short answer but a long road to achieve those aspirations. And with Baitullah Mukul Madhav Foundation delivers the push we need to start our journey on this road.