By IANS,
New Delhi : As many as 42 child labourers, including 34 from Delhi, were rescued from sweet shops and roadside eateries in the capital, according to a child rights NGO.
“In raids conducted in Delhi and Punjab, 42 child labourers – 34 from Delhi and eight from Jalandhar – were rescued. The 34 children rescued in Delhi were from Narela in the Samaypur Badli and Alipur police station area,” a statement of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) said Tuesday.
The operation was conducted by the labour department and Delhi Police on a complaint filed by the BBA.
“The rescued children were working in different units such as sweet shops, roadside eateries and oil factory and were trafficked from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They were in the age group of 8-14 years,” the statement said.
“The children had to work for more than 10-12 hours everyday without proper food and rest. They were all working in claustrophobic rooms, without proper ventilation and hence most of them had ill health and looked malnourished,” it added.
The children have been taken to a shelter home and will be presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). They will later be given their release certificates and a rehabilitation amount of Rs.20,000 under the Bonded Labour Act.
The children will then be handed over to their parents.