25 jewellery units raided, 93 children freed

New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) Nearly a hundred bonded labourers, mostly children between 9-18 years, were rescued this morning in raids on 25 jewellery manufacturing units in Karol Bagh area of Central Delhi.

The children, mostly hailing from Bengal, were rescued in a joint operation of the Labour Department, police and an NGO 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan' (BBA) under the supervision of Sub-Divisional Magistrate S L Gupta, according to sources.

Slamming lack of public support during such raids, BBA head Kailash Satyarthi told UNI that only 93 of the nearly 1,000 children working in small jewellery making illegal units in Karol Bagh's Regarpura area could be rescued today.

''Rest were sent off by the unit owners, despite presence of large number of officials and policemen, as soon the raids took place.'' The rescued children -- 90 from West Bengal, two from Bihar and one from Rajasthan -- have been sent to 'Mukti Ashram' situated in Burari village and we are trying to get them rehabilitated under the prevailing law, he said.

''Of these, 57 were below 14 years of age and the rest 36 were below 18 years.'' More than two dozen officials of the Labour Department accompanied the police team and the NGO in the 'operation'.

UNI