23 child labourers rescued

RANCHI: The state child labour department identified 23 children working as labourers after raids on factories, shops, commercial establishments and households late on Thursday. Of the 23, eighteen were sent back to their parents by the employers. The rest being too young were rescued by the department officials.
Rajesh Prasad, the assistant labour commissioner, said, "Sixteen teams were formed for conducting raids under the special drive that began on May 1 and will continue till June 12, which happens to be the World Day Against Child Labour.
"Of the 23, five children between 10-13 years of age were rescued from the line hotels and handed over to 'Anchal Shishu Ashram', an orphanage." They will be admitted in the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools after some mandatory medical tests.
Prasad added that cases have been lodged against the employees. The five rescued children hail from Chatra, Palamu and Ratu. "They will soon be handed over to their parents," he said.
They have been identified as Suraj Oraon (13), Rahul Kumar (10), Govind Kumar Guiyan (11), Shiv Kumar (13) and Dilip Kumar (13).
The raids were conducted by teams comprising factory inspectors, labour superintendents, assistant labour and district labour commissioners in line hotels, factories and garages mainly in Tupudana, Hatia, HEC, Jagannnathpur, Birsa Chowk, Sehjanand Chowk, Hinoo Chowk and ITI bus stand area.
Labour commissioner Sunil Kumar said, "Special teams were constituted to identify and rescue young children languishing in factories, shops, commercial establishments and households in the city."
The labour department is also organizing awareness programmes at panchayat, block and district level against child labour under the special drive.
According to a survey by the Action Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC), more than five lakh children below 18 years are working as mechanics, domestic help, daily-wage labourers, coal-pickers and rag-pickers in the state.