Jaipur, May 13 (IANS) Exposing the dangerous nexus of child trafficking from Rajasthan for labour in other states, as many as 91 minor children, mostly from the state, were rescued from three textile units in Surat during a joint operation.
The operation, based on intelligence provided by Rajasthan-based Gayatri Seva Sansthan, was conducted jointly by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, 22 police officials from Rajasthan, officials from Puna Police Station in Surat, and members of the Association for Voluntary Action and Gayatri Seva Sansthan.
Both the Association for Voluntary Action and Gayatri Seva Sansthan are partners of Just Rights for Children, the country’s largest child protection network with more than 250 partner organisations.
The children, aged between 7 and 14 years, had been trafficked mostly from the tribal areas of Rajasthan, while three children belonged to Uttar Pradesh, and one child each was from Bihar and Jharkhand.
Among those rescued were two brothers, aged 8 and 10, from the tribal regions of Udaipur district in Rajasthan.
While traffickers and employers managed to flee from the scene during the raids, legal proceedings are underway, and the rescued children are being produced before the Child Welfare Committee in Surat.
The operation was initiated after Gayatri Seva Sansthan alerted the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights regarding trafficking rackets operating in these areas, following an intensive month-long mapping exercise and investigation.
During the raid on the first textile unit, the rescued children themselves led the rescue teams to other locations where more children were confined and employed.
“They led us to a building that was locked from the outside, but the children insisted that there were children inside. When we entered, we found children as young as 7 working inside the building. They were terrified, confused and looked very tired after working more than 12 hours every day,” said Dr Shailendra Pandya, Director of Gayatri Seva Sansthan.
He further recalled the condition in which the children were found and said that when the team entered, a young child, not more than eight years old, was standing shirtless.
“He hid himself behind others and was asking if someone could lend him a shirt. Such was the plight of the children there,” he said, adding that a rescue operation of this scale was only possible because all the police officials and stakeholders from both states acted promptly and urgently.
According to preliminary findings, employers adopted deliberate methods to avoid suspicion.
Younger children were brought to the units early in the morning and locked inside the building from the outside. The building would only be opened after 7 p.m. once the workday ended.
The rescued children were housed in nearby colonies under extremely congested conditions, with nearly 12 to 15 children sharing a single small room.
During interactions with officials, several children stated that their parents were aware that they had been sent for labour work.
However, younger children disclosed that they had no idea about child labour and had instead been lured to Surat on the pretext of an excursion.
Preliminary investigations further revealed that while several children had been working in the units for three to four years, others had only recently arrived from their hometowns.
Speaking about the dangerously organised crime of child trafficking, Ravi Kant, National Convenor of Just Rights for Children, said: “The rescue exposes how trafficking and child labour continue to function as an organised and deeply entrenched criminal network across states.
“Children, especially from tribal and economically vulnerable communities, are being trafficked under false promises and pushed into exploitative labour conditions where they are isolated, confined and deprived of their childhood.
“This case underlines the urgent need for stronger inter-state coordination, continuous surveillance of supply chains, and strict accountability of traffickers, employers and all intermediaries involved in the exploitation of children.”
–IANS
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