Kerala - Alappuzha   

Drive against child labour on in Alappuzha district

ALAPPUZHA: The district administration has launched a 14-day drive against child labour in Alappuzha. Twenty squads, comprising Revenue, Police and Labour department officials, began the crackdown in the six taluks of the district on Wednesday.

According to District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, the drive was based on complaints and tip-offs the administration had received. There were reports that children below the legal age limit were being engaged as workers in commercial establishments and as domestic helps. Several of these children were reported to be from other States, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Though the raids on Wednesday, which concentrated mostly on hotels in Alappuzha town and interiors of the district, failed to rescue any of these children, the administration would continue the effort for the next two weeks, Mr. Balakrishnan said.

District Labour Officer (Enforcement) V.K. Aiyyappan said 384 establishments were raided on Wednesday. Though 10 children from different enterprises in Chengannur were taken into custody on the suspicion that they were minors, they had to be released after medical inspections confirmed that they were above 14 years. No cases were registered against any enterprise.

Meanwhile, the Collector has appealed to the general public to pass on any information that they have or receive on children being employed as labourers.

The telephone numbers of the Collectorate Control Room were 0477-2251675 and 2251676 and that of the District Labour Office was 0477-2243515. The public can inform the respective police stations or the Police Control Room (100, 0477-2251161) as well, Mr. Balakrishnan said.

According to officials, several children were employed by hotels, toddy shops, textile shops and brick manufacturing units and were not being paid as per the Minimum Wages Act.

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