The children of Solan in Himachal Pradesh have access to schools and a right to free education. Yet you will not find them in school on a typical day. Instead they can be found picking waste or engaged in other labor deemed accessible to children. As people of poor and marginalized backgrounds, their families say the small income generate by the children is necessary for the family to survive. If India’s new Right to Education Act promises ‘free and compulsory’ education for all, what are the implications for these families and the many thousands like them across the country?
