India officials red-faced over video of child cleaners

LUCKNOW: Officials in one of India’s most populous states were left red-faced on Monday after a video emerged showing children cleaning up a medical college in preparation for a top politician’s visit.
The video, broadcast on the NDTV network, showed children as young as 10 cleaning and sweeping the college grounds in Uttar Pradesh state before the arrival of its Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The footage comes just weeks after India’s child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize, which shone an international spotlight on India’s high levels of child labor.
One of the children told the NDTV they were being paid “200 rupees” ($3.20) ahead of Yadav’s arrival at the college in Kannauj city on Sunday to address a seminar.
A spokesman for the Uttar Pradesh government said the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
“Though it is not in my knowledge, it indeed is a deplorable thing. The matter will be probed and the guilty shall be punished for sure,” Rajendra Chaudhary said.
The head of the college said action was already underway following the incident, adding that cleaning was conducted by a separate body, which had probably outsourced Sunday’s job to a private vendor.
“I would like to clarify that the college administration has nothing to do with this,” said college dean V.N. Tripathi.