18 child labourers rescued in Delhi

Eighteen child labourers, aged between 10-14 years, were rescued from various hotels and paper making units in central district of Delhi, an NGO said Monday.

The operation was led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate of D B Gupta Road, Pawan Kamra, who was also accompanied by police, members of Labour department and activists from various NGOs, a statement from Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) said.

Six employers were arrested in the operation.

"BBA made a thorough investigation on the information that a large number of children had been trafficked and enslaved into the hazardous industry of this area. BBA and partner NGOs then lodged a formal complaint to local authorities and co-ordinated with the official task-force on child labour to rescue the children," it added.

Most of the rescued children belong to rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam and were trafficked by the agents at different points of time.

These children were forced to work for nearly 10 to 15 hours in a day at renumeration of Rs 50 to Rs 100 per week.