On Tuesday morning, 11-year-old Ankit (name
changed) walked past the filth on a congested
street to join other boys like him at a factory
in Badli industrial area in northwest Delhi.
At 9 am, work was in full swing as the boys toiled,
using their tender fingers smeared with machine
oil for fixing motors in coolers much in demand in
the hot Delhi weather.
He belongs to a village in Uttar Pradesh and came
to Delhi six months back with a middleman in
search of work. His poor parents were promised a
monthly income that he is not aware of.
The child was made to work 12 hours a day with Rs
100 (277 Naira) given as solace once a week and
half a day's relief from the drudgery on Sunday.
But Tuesday was different. A day marked by mixed
emotions for the 58 children rescued in a raid by
the area SDM, labour officials and police, based on
a complaint by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), on
the eve of the World Day Against Child Labour.
Fifty-six boys were rescued from four factories
engaged in making coolers and their parts while
the two girls were freed from a spoon factory. The
rescue operations were carried out at five
different factories and at a placement agency
running under the garb of an NGO.
When the raiding teams arrived, they were
surprised to find the children missing. A close
inspection revealed that the boys were hidden in
cartons meant for coolers.
Frightened and unsure of what lay ahead, the
rescued children looked apprehensive when TOI
joined them. Most of the boys told tales of abject
poverty and how they were working for survival.
Nearly all wanted to go to school and have a better
future but were unsure how the government
would assure that.
Most of these child labourers had been trafficked
from West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh after
their parents were paid an advance. The girls
belonged to Uttar Pradesh.
A 14-year-old boy from Etah in UP said his father
was a daily wager and could not afford his
education.
So he came to Delhi during the summer vacations
and was employed at a factory to be able to buy
his books. He said he wanted to return home to his
parents.
While the employers were arrested and booked, a
statement from BBA said the SDM present during
the rescue operation refused to declare the
children as bonded labourers citing logistical
compulsions of appearing during the trial.
This way the children were denied a
comprehensive rehabilitation package under
Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1976.
BBA revealed that in 2010 and 2011, only 1,592
employers were convicted for employing child
labourers, which works out to one employer per
district per year, showing a blatant disregard for
the guidelines of Supreme Court.
It also pointed that in a period of five years
(2007-2011), 12,55,987 inspections were conducted
but only 17,884 violations detected and 4,263
people convicted.

What a pity! Innocent kids from poor home made to slave for hours for peanuts! Poverty is a malignant disease!

Chai too bad. Some people have a heart of stone walahi