Cops, NGO rescue 20 child labourers in city

 Twenty child labourers were rescued from bindi and nail polish-making units during multiple raids by Delhi Police and the labour department in north-east and north-west Delhi on Friday. Three factories were sealed.

Eight boys were freed from bindi-making units in Nandnagari locality of Shahdara district in north-east Delhi.

The rest, including a girl, were freed from nail polish-making and utensil polishing units in Samaypur Badli Industrial Estate in the north-west Delhi.

The action was taken after an NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, approached police.The children, aged between 10 and 16, had been trafficked to the Capital from various districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and even Nepal.

“These hapless victims worked for 12 hours a day and many of them toiled continuously for 24 hours at least once in a week. Their eyes are red due to lack of sleep and their skin is pale due to lack of food,” said Kailash Satyarthi, founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan. “The child labourers said they were either paid a meagre amount or nothing at all,” he added.

Raman, a 13-year-old boy from Bihar, said, “I miss my father. He is ill and confined to bed.”

According to the NGO, the boy was trafficked to Delhi by his employer, taking advantage of his father’s poor health. “There are an estimated 50 million child labourers in India, driven into work by poverty,” said Satyarthi.

He added that Delhi is emerging as a hub of child labour. “It is a shame. The government needs to act tough to eliminate this menace,” he said.

The rescued kids have been sent to Mukti Ashram, a BBA-run rehabilitation centre, on orders of the Child Welfare Committees of the respective districts from where they were freed.