17 child labourers are rescued from Preet Vihar
Seventeen children employed in and around the V3S Mall in Preet Vihar area of East Delhi were rescued after a joint initiative of the District task Force (DTF) East, Police and labour Department on Tuesday. Most of the children were engaged as local street vendors in this prime business area of East Delhi and worked full-time as vendors.
The children sold everything from gutka to coconut water to mobile phone covers. They also worked at providing fast food and washing dishes. These rescued children, who are in the age group of 10 to 17 years worked for more than 10 hours a day. The Child Welfare Committee in Dilshad Garden interacted with the rescued children and issued orders to register an FIR under relevant Sections of IPC and child labour related laws.
Unlike the earlier rescue operations, this operation was deliberately targeted at the so-called posh locality of V3S Mall, Preet Vihar to create awareness amongst the people as well as act as a deterrent measure to the employers. It was aimed to break the stereo type of child labour being engaged in the poor localities. Two prominent eateries were also sealed as part of the operation.
A few rescued children informed the labour Department that they slept, worked, ate, bathed and spent 24 hours in the corner of the street. They came from various districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand while three kids even belonged to Nepal.