The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Three child workers rescued in city

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Three child workers rescued in city

Staff Reporter

National Child Labour Project team saves eight-year-old house maid in Punjagutta

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Helping hand: A child labourer being rescued by the Labour Department officials after a raid at a house in Panjagutta on Thursday.

Hyderabad: Eight-year-old Nagamani didn’t see it coming. Working as a house maid at MLA Complex in Punjagutta, it was just another day of work for her. Or was it?

It was exactly at 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, when she heard the bell ring and ran to answer it. To her surprise, the little house maid saw a group of people asking her to open the door.

Little did she know that the persons present there were from the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), and came there to rescue her.

Led by G. Srinivas Reddy, Project Director, NCLP, the officials cornered Nagamani as soon as she opened the door and started firing questions at her.

Bewildered, fear was evident in the little one’s eyes, as one woman officer held her hand and asked her father’s name.

“Why do you want to know? He is not here. You have been holding my hand since you’ve come. It hurts!” said Nagamani, as she broke into tears.

The eight-year-old house maid didn’t know what was happening.

“Please talk to my madam. She will answer all your questions”, she added, referring to Padmaja Reddy, former Member of Women’s Commission. Amidst all the commotion, Srinivas, a lift operator started arguing with the NCLP officials while video cameras rolled.

It was only a matter of time before Nagamani was escorted into the Project Director’s SUV where already two more rescued children, Qasim and Saddam, both 13 years of age, were waiting.

Qasim was picked up while he was working as a daily labourer near the Punjagutta flyover whereas Saddam was seen cleaning a water tanker.

“We had information that there was a child working here and we sprung into action with the seven-member team. Nagamani will be shifted to a transit home for girls in Kavadiguda,” informed Srinivas Reddy.

A case is likely to be registered against the employer of the child. Investigation is in progress.

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