Twenty-one child labourers belonging to different states were rescued from several shops in Sadar Bazar in central Delhi.
According to the police on Wednesday, a rescue operation was carried out on Tuesday in 21 different shops including tailor shops, hotels, and sweet shops. "A rescue operation was carried out on October 8 by Tehsildar Delhi Cantonment in Sadar Bazar with the help of NGOs, labour department and local police and a total of 21 children were rescued from different shops in Sadar Bazar," Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Surendra Choudhary said.
The police reacted to a tipoff by an NGO against child labour in India Bachpan Bachao Andolon which alerted the authorities. “Of them, 19 children have been sent to Bachpan Bachao Andolon’s Mukti Ashram in Burari and two girls to Rainbow Girls Home in Kashmiri Gate,” the officer said.
A case under section 74 and 79 The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and sections 3 and 14 of the Child Labour Act has been registered at the Delhi Cantonment Police station.
Sanjay Chaudhary of the NGO stated to The Pioneer that the children were of the ages between 13 to 17 and when they were rescued, they didn’t appear to be in a good condition. “ While some belong to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, some of them are also residents of Delhi’s slums,” he said.
Earlier, in August this year, a similar inspection was conducted in northeast Delhi. There, the police found 18 children working in a jute bag manufacturing factory. All the kids were in the age group of 11 to 17 years and belong to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
The operation was carried out by the Delhi Police, the Revenue Department and an NGO. The plan was initiated after the police had received a tip-off regarding kids working in the factory.
“Following the information, a joint search and rescue operation was conducted in coordination with the SDM of Seelampur, an NGO and the local police in the area of Gamri Village. During the search operation, 18 children were rescued from there,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said.
