dhraVIJAYAWADA: The State police rescued 8,739 children during the three-day Operation Muskaan COVID-19- Phase 7, a drive to rescue children who are homeless, employed as bonded labourers or found begging on the streets, said the Director General of Police (DGP) D Gautam Sawang.The campaign, a first-of-its-kind in the country, was launched by the AP police in 2020 to protect the street children from getting infected with coronavirus, following the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
In a press statement, the DGP said the drive was started on Wednesday and 8,739 children were rescued across the State. “We found that many children were employed in several places like hotels and launched Operation Muskaan Covid-19 to rescue children from Covid-19 and exploiters. After conducting counselling to the parents with the help of the Child Welfare Committee, 8,724 children were handed over to their parents while 12 were sent to child care centres and three were shifted to COVID care home as they tested positive for COVID-19,” said Sawang.
The police said 4,234 children were working as daily wage labourers, 3,565 in shops and hotels, 123 children were into begging and 772 kids were abandoned. “More than 5,550 children have completed their tenth standard. Poverty, lack of care by parents, inability to clear exams and depression forced them to leave their homes and work in hazardous and risky areas for a living. The profiles of all the children were recorded and will be reviewed periodically,” he said.
Sawang appreciated the efforts of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and other line departments such as the Women and Child Welfare Department, Labour department, education department, health department, revenue, sports department and NGOs, which played a crucial role in identifying the abandoned children and reuniting them with their family members.COVID-19 tests were conducted on 1,982 children of which 28 tested positive and results of 722 are awaited. “We have screened every rescued child and given them COVID kits,” the DGP said in the statement.