Labour Minister promises to rehabilitate children

Inter-State meeting to be convened to work out a time-bound plan to prevent child trafficking

The Union government has taken serious note of child trafficking after the Hyderabad police rescued nearly 400 children from the bangle-making industry in the city and plans to bring all State governments on a common platform to stop the menace.

The Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya, said he would soon convene an inter-State meeting to work out a time-bound plan to prevent child trafficking.

Mr. Dattatreya said the Ministry would also work in coordination with Bihar and Telangana to rehabilitate every child rescued by the Hyderabad police. He said it was unfortunate that the industry, famous for crafted bangles in the country and abroad, had employed children for the work. “This is totally unacceptable,” he said.

About 400 children, including 215 from Bihar, were rescued from bangle and footwear-making units in Old City by the police and Labour Department officials during the last one week. Most children are aged between four and twelve years and hail from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) V. Satyanarayana said the employers paid an advance between 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 to parents.

“A monthly sum of Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 is paid to the parents, depending upon the age and working ability of the child,” he told The Hindu .

The children, hailing from poor families, were denied proper food and accommodation and at times fell ill due to lack of hygiene. At Amannagar, Yaseen Pahelwan rented out his three-storied building to a bangle-making unit and about 150 children were staying on the premises. Closed circuit cameras were installed in the workshops to keep a watch on the children.

The rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and later shifted to Don Bosco Rehabilitation Centre at Ramanthapur, Government Home for Boys at Saidabad and Government Home for Girls at Nimboliadda.

Meanwhile, the district administration prepared a profile of the children and sent it to Bihar after officials expressed their willingness to reunite them with their parents. “The children will leave for Bihar by a train, shortly accompanied by a team of officials,” District Child Protection Officer, Hyderabad, Mohd Imtiyaz Raheem said.

“We will file the charge sheet against the employers under labour law in the court and prosecute them,” Joint Commissioner of Labour, Hyderabad E. Gangadhar said. Achyutha Rao, member, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said the growth of child labour menace was now proportionate to the proliferation of bangle and other cottage industries in the city.