Delhi: 39 children rescued from garment factories

Just a week after 27 children were rescued from zari units in the city’s Garhi area by Delhi Police officials and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) activists, another 36 children were rescued late Saturday night.

Just a week after 27 children were rescued from zari units in the city’s Garhi area by Delhi Police officials and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) activists, another 36 children were rescued late Saturday night.

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These children, who had reportedly been trafficked from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, had been employed in garment manufacturing units in Seelampur and Usmanpur.

“We were made to work for nearly 16-17 hours every day. I hated doing it. Whenever I made some error, I used to be beaten up by the employer,” said Saleem (name changed), 9, from Katihar district of Bihar.

While the children were rescued under provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, they will be entitled for rehabilitation under various government schemes. The rescued children were rehabilitated at Mukti Ashram on orders of the Child Welfare Committee.

NGO officials insisted that anti-child labour laws needed to be strengthened to prevent children from being trafficked and employed in various industries.

“Every month, nearly 2,000 children are trafficked from different parts of the country. The law enforcement agencies need to crack down strongly,” said Kailash Satyarthi, founder, BBA.