Five bonded child labourers were rescued by the task force formed on the orders of the Punjab and Harayana high court from different areas of the city on Wednesday.
Medical examination of all five children was conducted at the civil hospital after which they were presented before the child welfare committee.
Three teams of task force, under a special programme before the Children's Day on November 14, have been holding raids at different industrial units on complaints regarding the presence of child labour for the past some days.
Dinesh Kumar, an activist of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, also accompanied one of the teams that rescued three children from a cycle parts manufacturer unit at Shimlapuri. The rescued children included two boys and a girl.
The team had rescued a total of five children, but doctors accompanying the team termed two of them to be adults.
On the other hand, another team raided a shop in Raikot where two boys, both under the age of 14, were found working.
“All children were presented before the child welfare committee that held counselling of their parents and later children were handed over to them,” said Dinesh.
He said, “The rescued child labourers were also bonded labour as per the definition of the Supreme Court which states that labour is bonded if he or she is not getting minimum wages and having long working hours. These rescued children were not getting minimum wages and were also forced to work for long hours than permitted.”
{{/usCountry}}He said, “The rescued child labourers were also bonded labour as per the definition of the Supreme Court which states that labour is bonded if he or she is not getting minimum wages and having long working hours. These rescued children were not getting minimum wages and were also forced to work for long hours than permitted.”
{{/usCountry}}The high court has formed a task force to deal with the menace of child labour. The task force includes eight departments of the state government.
It has been learnt that no FIR was registered against both offenders who had employed child labourers.