As many as 40 children, working in various establishments, were rescued during a drive against child labour and street children in Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday.
Following the directions of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Labour Department, in association with various government organisations and NGOs, launched the month-long drive.
“The Deputy Commissioners of Labour (DCL), who are acting as nodal officers, carried out inspections along with Education, Medical and Health, Women Development and Child Welfare, Police and NGOs, Child Rights Advocacy Foundation (CRAF) and BBA across the State,” said Labour Commissioner M.V. Seshagiri Babu.
About 50 teams, each comprising 10 persons, have been constituted to take up the drive. The officers visited the manufacturing units, aqua units, restaurants, mechanic sheds, shops, construction sites, mills, brick kilns and other units, he said.
CRAF, with the support of Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation, has rescued seven children in Guntur district. District Revenue Officer Chandrashekar Rao flagged off the operation, said CRAF State programme director P. Francis Thambi.
“The District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) of various police stations participated in the raids,” he said.
“The rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committees (CWC) for rehabilitation,” said BBA State coordinator G. Tirupati Rao.
“Some children were handed over to their parents after counselling,” Mr. Seshagiri Babu told The Hindu.
