Acting on a complaint filed by 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan', the district task force, labour department rescued 36 minor boys between the age group of 7 to 11 years. This raid also led to the arrest of four employers who were responsible for holding Children at works.
A Government official who had raided the unit said that all the children hail from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh and had been staying in Delhi for the past 4 to 6 months. They were paid as low as just Rs.200 per month.
A member of the NGO said "Some boys reported that the employer had made an advance payment of Rs.5000 to their parents before getting them to Delhi". The Government agencies put the total number of child labourers in the range of 50 Lakh, where as NGO's claim the number to be in crores.
Just last week the Union cabinet cleared a proposal to put a complete ban on child labour, even proposing more stringent jail terms and fines. But, till that actually comes through, the challenges is to keep the children from returning to these illegal units, where their employers easily get bail even if they are arrested.