KOZHIKODE: At least 34 children were rescued in three surprise raids during a training session of Kerala's department of woman and child development (WCD) in New Delhi on Wednesday. The 4-day programme began on March 13 in association with the New Delhi-based NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan to train the Operation Saranabalyam team which aims to rescue victims of child labour. All the rescued children are boys aged below 14 and hailing from Bihar, UP and Haryana.
“They were employed in units manufacturing ornaments, garments and wedding cards at Ghonda of Seelampur district. Seelampur sub-divisional magistrate led the team which consists of three child district protection officers (DCPO) and rescue officers from Kerala,” said A.O. Abeen, the state-nodal officer of the Saranabalyam project.
Police has initiated action against the employers, and the units were sealed. The rescued children were produced before the child welfare committee (CWC). “It was a shocking experience. Child labour is like a small-scale industry in parts of Outer Delhi, and it is a huge risk to rescue them,” said Kollam DCPO, Siju Ben. Two of the officers were detained by the employer’s men during the raids and police had to intervene.
Kollam, Kottayam DCPOs and 21 rescue officers from Kerala are undergoing training. Saranabalyam project was started in Pathanamthitta district to keep a tab on the children brought there during Sabarimala season, and now it has been expanded to Kollam, Kottayam and Alappuzha. Close to 60 children were rescued under the project since its inception in 2016.
