More than 1 lakh children found working in illegal industrial units
NEW DELHI: Illegal manufacturing units running in residential areas without requisite approvals are hubs of child labour, with most of the children coming from states such as Bihar, a study has found.
The study, conducted by Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a sister organisation of the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, found that children are made to work in cramped and unsanitary conditions for long hours so as to maximise the units’ output.
“The data shows that the problem of illegal industries running in residential areas without requisite approvals continues to persist and has a fairly large dimension. These industries are run on a shoestring budget. To cut costs, they indulge in tax avoidance and employ child labour at low wages, who come all the way from their native places to earn bread and butter for themselves and for their families.”
As per the study, conducted between 2005 and 2019, most of the children were rescued from North-east Delhi (18 per cent), followed by Central Delhi (16 per cent) and North Delhi (15 per cent), while districts from where the minimal percentage of children were rescued were New Delhi (2 per cent), South West Delhi (4 per cent) and South Delhi (4 per cent).
More than half (54 per cent) of the children rescued were from Bihar, followed by Uttar Pradesh (22 per cent) and West Bengal (7 per cent). A total of 739 factories have been sealed post rescue operations.
