AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Police have launched an aggressive offensive against child labour, rescuing 84 children from exploitative workplaces and booking 26 accused in 16 criminal cases within the first 14 days of a month-long statewide campaign titled "Operation Childhood Freedom."
The drive, aimed at ensuring that every child is in school and not at work, has exposed a disturbing network of illegal child employment operating across multiple sectors in the state.
The campaign has triggered coordinated raids across industrial clusters, hotels, textile units, rice mills, workshops, and informal labour establishments where children were allegedly being forced to work in violation of child protection and labour laws.
Acting on a specific tip-off, police raided Jay Ambe Textiles in Surat and rescued two minor boys allegedly trapped in harsh working conditions. Investigators found that the children were being paid a meagre Rs 200 per day while being compelled to work from 8 am to 7 pm with only a brief lunch break.
The investigation further revealed shocking allegations that the minors were forced back to work whenever they resisted or attempted to stop working.
Officials described the conditions as a combination of physical, mental, and economic exploitation that robbed the children of their right to education and a normal childhood.
The rescued children were immediately shifted to safety and placed under protective care, while police initiated legal proceedings against the employer under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Highlighting the broader objective of the operation, Gujarat’s Director General of Police G S Malik said the mission extends far beyond enforcement.
"Under Operation Childhood Freedom, 84 child labourers have been rescued, 16 offences registered and 26 accused booked in the first 14 days. Simultaneously, 67 rescued children have already been rehabilitated and 160 awareness programmes conducted across Gujarat. Our focus is not only on rescue but also on ensuring long-term recovery, education and protection for every child," he said.
As investigators dug deeper into the cases, a larger pattern began to emerge. According to Additional Director General of Police, CID Crime (Women Cell), Ajay Choudhary, many of the rescued children were migrants from Bihar and Rajasthan, raising concerns about interstate labour networks and possible trafficking vulnerabilities.
"The cases span textile units, hotels, rice mills and several small-scale industrial establishments. The evidence indicates organised movement of vulnerable children through labour supply chains, making it necessary to target the networks behind the exploitation," Choudhary said.
Consequently, the operation has now shifted focus from merely rescuing children to dismantling the ecosystem that enables child labour. Police officials said stringent action is being initiated not only against employers but also against contractors, recruiters and intermediaries allegedly involved in sourcing and supplying child workers.
Preliminary analysis suggests that poverty, migration, school dropouts and the demand for cheap labour remain the primary drivers of child labour.
To counter these factors, authorities are intensifying intelligence gathering, surprise inspections and coordination with labour departments, child welfare committees, NGOs and educational institutions.
The campaign follows a four-phase strategy. It begins with identifying child labour hotspots and school dropouts, followed by inspections and rescue operations.
The third phase focuses on rehabilitation and school enrolment of rescued children, while the final stage concentrates on prosecution of offenders and dismantling repeat-offender networks.
With an ambitious target of inspecting more than 50,000 locations, generating 10,000 intelligence inputs and rescuing over 5,000 child labourers, Gujarat Police have signalled that the crackdown is far from over. Officials say the message is clear and uncompromising: every child belongs in a classroom, not at a worksite.