The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : 25 children working as domestic helps rescued

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Thursday, Jul 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

25 children working as domestic helps rescued

Staff Reporter

Labour Department officials conduct searches of 2,000 houses in Banjara Hills

— PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

IN SAFE HANDS: Meena, a child labourer, is apparently relieved to have been rescued by officials during a raid on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: The crème-de la- crème of the posh residential locality of Banjara Hills woke up to an unpleasant surprise on Tuesday morning with alert officials of Labour Department prowling the area looking out for domestic child labour. Over 25 children, including three boys and 22 girls were whisked away by the officials as part of rescue operations.

Combing operations that started at 9 a.m. were led by Joint Labour Commissioner B. Ajay. Over 350 students from various colleges and volunteers from NGOs such as M.V. Foundation helped the department in scouring the area for child labour. After an initial survey by the volunteers, the 100-odd personnel of the department stepped in to take action. According to Mr. Ajay, over 2000 houses were searched after coming under the department’s scanner.

Homes belonging to IAS officials, IPS officials and bank managers were targeted by the officials.

The house of a retired IPS officer was searched after an NGO activist alleged that a small boy was being employed there. The boy who answered the door was quickly whisked away before the officials could take any action.

The day turned unpleasant with tussles ensuing between house owners and employers, some threatening to take up their case to the Chief Minister. At the house of A.V. Narayana Reddy, a businessman, seven-year-old Salma Begum was rescued by the officials. The father, who is a watchman in the same house, said that she wasn’t employed whereas the girl said she had been working for over four months.

In another incident, Meena, an eight-year-old girl was rescued from the house of a senior engineer who argued that she was not domestic help but his relative’s daughter from the village. Later, the girl said she was bought to work at their place.

“A total of 25 cases have been booked against people who engaged children under the Child Labour, Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986,” Mr. Ajay said.

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Andhra Pradesh