The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Three children rescued from farmhouse

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Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Three children rescued from farmhouse

S. Prasad

Hosur: Three children aged between 11 and 14 who were recruited as domestic helps at a farmhouse belonging to the headmaster of a Government Primary School were rescued from there on Tuesday.

Muniraj (12) and Paulraj (11) sons of Arjunan, Selvam (14) were reportedly working as domestic helps at the house of Kasirajan, Headmaster of Karubala Primary School in Shoolagiri block for the last three years. Officials alleged that the children were woken up at 5 a.m. and were forced to work till 8 p.m. without sufficient rest.

They were made to mop and scrub the cattle shed, wash utensils and also help with the cooking. The headmaster had reportedly paid Rs. 10,000 a year for each child for working as domestic help in his house.

In Krishnagiri district, India’s first web-based ‘Out-of-School-Children’ tracking and monitoring system, www.back2school.in, ensures that dropouts in panchayats are identified and tracked by a 30-memberVillage Volunteer Force.

Volunteers of UNICEF and VVF who were involved in an awareness campaign at Shoolagiri reportedly motivated Arjunan, a coolie labourer to enroll his children in appropriate schools. Arjunan reportedly admitted that the children were employed as domestic help in the house of the Headmaster.

Acting on a tip-off from the Collector, a team led by Hosur Sub-Collector Nagarajan rescued the children. The three children were admitted to a special school run under the National Child Labour Prevention programme. The Centre had included domestic help as a hazardous sector in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.

Cases have been registered against the headmaster for employing children.

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