NGO frees children from factories
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New Delhi: Eighty-two children were rescued in two different raids jointly conducted by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and Sub-Divisional Magistrates, State Labour Department and police.
Sixty two of them were working in lac factories in LNJP colony in the Daryaganj police station area, making various items like photo and mirror frames with small bangle pieces, lac embroidered heels for sandals, bangles and other fancy items.
They were from Katihar district of Bihar. Their usual day started in the morning at 10 o’clock and they would continue to work well into the midnight until 2 am. The rest were engaged in zari embroidery and ball bearing units in Lahori Gate. They hailed from Motihari district of Bihar and Bijnour district of Uttar Pradesh. None of the children was paid anything. These children were trafficked from their villages by the agents and employers after luring their parents with money as little as Rs 1,000-3,000. Makhdum’s said: “Salim (the employer) paid my father a little extra money (Rs 3,000 in all) as my mother was ill. Now I am working here to pay that money off. Most of the children had been working for the past three months to three years. Spread in a large slum area with very narrow lanes, conducting this raid was a logistical nightmare. Many homes, where children worked on higher floors, did not even have proper stairs. Tayyab, 12, said that they ate and slept in the same room they worked in. “Each room had 8-10 children in it. The children were bare feet and did not even have any warm clothing to protect them from the harsh winter. “Scattered and tiny operations like these are not a complete solution to stem the fast growing influx of poor and helpless children in the capital’s labour market. Unless the administration takes the bold initiative in launching rigorous combing operations and takes punitive action against the agents, employers and accompaniments, this menace will continue,” said Kailash Satyarthi, who accompanied the raid team. N K Sharma, SDM-Daryaganj, said: “All children will be rehabilitated under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, under which, they are entitled to a rehabilitation package of Rs 20,000 and benefits from government schemes like housing on a priority basis, besides enrolment in school.” The chairperson of BBA, R.S. Chaurasia and senior leaders including the organisation’s national secretaries, Rakesh Senger and Bhuwan Ribhu led the operations. Source: Bachpan Bachao Andolan |
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