The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra sends child labourers back home

Ray of hope
The task force has freed and sent home close to 19,000 children.
The raids were carried out by the Juvenile Aid Police Unit.
There is no clear figure of the number of child labourers in Mumbai.

Mumbai , Aug. 14

About 1,818 child labourers were freed and sent home last weekend by a task force appointed by the State Government. The task force, which was set up in April 2005 to eradicate child labour, has succeeded in lowering the number of child labourers in the State and has freed and sent home close to 19,000 children.

Before the appointment of the task force, the number of child labourers engaged in hazardous industries in Mumbai was more than 27,500. In July 2006, the number was reduced to 8,900.

Successful Task Force

"That means the task force has been 72 per cent successful," said the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr R.R. Patil, at a press conference in Mantralaya. Mr Patil was speaking after a review meeting held under his Chairmanship for action taken to eradicate the child labour system.

Police raids

Raids were carried out by the Juvenile Aid Police Unit (JAPU) of the Mumbai Police in colonies known to house child labourers who worked in small-scale units that polished jewellery, did specialised fine work on garments and made footwear.

The children were handed over to various District Collectors through the Child Welfare Committee of the Department of Woman and Child Welfare and JAPU. More than 36 colonies in Mumbai have now been declared child labour-free, said Mr Patil.

Identifying labourers

There is no clear figure of the number of child labourers in Mumbai. It is difficult to identify a child as an employee because employers frequently exercise the easy ploy of saying they are the children's guardians.

Till their guardianship is disproved the State does not have the authority to take the child away. However, it does have the authority to ensure that the children are not put to work and are sent to Government schools under the Education For All Campaign.

Door-to-door survey

The Government says that 10,983 children suspected to be child labourers staying and working with so-called guardians have been put in such schools. The Deputy Chief Minister also said that the issue of domestic child labourers would soon be tackled using the door-to-door survey method to determine where they are employed.

An unofficial figure given to the Government by various NGOs who work with children estimate that there are about 5,000 domestic child labourers in Mumbai, but they also say that this estimate is on the low side. Most are from states other than Maharashtra.

More Stories on : Labour Reforms | Children & Parenting | Maharashtra

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