New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Fifty child labourers, all aged between eight and 11, were rescued from shellac ornament manufacturing units in the capital, members of an NGO who accompanied labour department officials on the raid said Wednesday.
“Some of the children who were rescued were working in the factory units for two years, which means from the time they were merely seven years old. All the children were trafficked from Bihar with the lure of money and education,” said Umesh Gupta of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA).

The children are from Katihar district of Bihar.

“The children were given a mere Rs.25-Rs.50 as weekly stipend from which they had to pay for their breakfast. Their work mainly involved making ornate bangles, necklaces, decorative diary covers, jewellery boxes and the likes that were exported,” Gupta said.

He added that the number of children - all boys - working in these units was much more than those rescued.

“An estimated 500-1,000 children work in these units in the Old Delhi area, but the condition of the lanes and the sheer haphazardness of the layout make it a difficult place to conduct a raid. It is a normal phenomenon that as soon as word gets out about a raid, the children vanish from the spot thanks to the middlemen,” he said.

“While rescuing these kids, we found a number of other bags hanging from hooks and clothes strewn all over, bangle moulds, shellac paste and other raw material, which reveals that the actual number of children working is much more,” Gupta said.

The rescued children have been given release certificates under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 which entitles them to an economic rehabilitation package of Rs.20,000. The employers of the kids were fined Rs.20,000 for every child.

The children are accommodated at a children’s home called Mukti Ashram before being handed over to their parents.