Balochistan govt takes guardianship of child shoeshiner in viral video

QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Thursday announced that it has taken the guardianship of a street child, whose video went viral in which he was seen carrying a shoe-polishing kit on a footpath in severe cold weather.

Speaking to Geo News, the provincial government's spokesperson, Liaquat Shahwani, said the video of the helpless child made him very "upset".

"The chief minister has taken responsibility for this [shoe-polishing] child himself," he stated.

“We have already allocated a budget of 5 crore [Rs500 million] for child protection authority and will do effective legislation against child labour," he added.

In the video aired by Geo News, the child was seen crouched in a corner, trying to protect himself from the bitter cold, with a shoe-polishing kit next to him. 

Noting that it was unfortunate for all children, who should be playing at this age, to be stuck in the bitter cold, Shahwani said the government would "legislate against child labour".

"It’s heart-wrenching to look at these visuals. I was hurt and upset when I saw those visuals," he said.

"It was around 12:30AM, when I went there. I’ve been there three times but the child was not there. I have assigned people the responsibility to locate the child."

"I will go myself once we have the address," he added.