98 Children Rescued from Zari Units in Bhajanpura

NEW DELHI, 22 JULY 2005,Times of India.

Prayas, Labour department, Delhi and Delhi Police jointly conducted a raid, yesterday at Noor-e-elahi area of Bhjanapura, in which 98 children were rescued from zari units, in this case 10 employers have also been arrested under sec-3, of child labour Act 1986.

This operation was conducted with help of SHO Bhajanpura Om Vir Singh along with 40 constables, accompanied by 16 Labour inspectors and Prayas Childline team. Regarding the Rehabilitation of the children, Prayas volunteered to take the custody of these 98 children and they were sent to Prayas Children Home, Jahangirpuri.

After counseling of the children it was found that most of them hailed from Sitamarhi district of Bihar and they had come with agents known to the family. The average of these children was around 5 years and most of them belonged to (Muslim) minority community.

Tomorrow these children would be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and their restoration process would start.

Rajib Haldar,Executive Director , Prayas said that Child labour is a very serious problem in Delhi and children are being employed in prohibited jobs like zari industries, it is high time that severe punishment should be given to people engaged in this industry.