39 children working in 'zari' units rescued

New Delhi, Jan 24 (UNI) The police in association with an NGO has rescued 39 children, working for 'zari' units and living in sub-human conditions, from Kanjhawala area of North-West Delhi.

The children, who mostly hailed from Sitamarhi in Bihar, were rescued by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan in association with Labour department officials, district Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the police.

The release was secured under the 'Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976', under which they would be entitled to rehabilitation benefits, unlike earlier cases when due to lack of this the children were 'recycled' into the trade, said BBA chairperson B S Chourasia.

''Their families would get Rs 20,000 along with housing and land benefits, besides the children being enrolled for schooling under the Act,'' he said while regreting that the core employers and contractors who bring them from remote and poverty striken regions do not get caught.

Presently the children are being kept at the transit rehabilitation centre of the BBA 'Mukti Ashram'.

UNI