13 children rescued from eateries in Seelampur

New Delhi: Thirteen children were rescued from a street-side eateries at Krantinagar in the Seelampur area of Shahdara District on Tuesday after a joint raid and rescue operation of the Delhi government's labour department, the police and two NGOs.

According to an official order issued by the office of the Vivek Vihar sub-divisional magistrate, "during the raid 13 children or bonded labourers from 10 places" were rescued. These children, the order said, worked in dhabas.

All the rescued child labourers were handed over to the police with the direction that they are lodged at the Burari-based Mukti Ashram run by an NGO.

While the children, who were allegedly trafficked from different villages of UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, were produced before the Child Welfare Committee in Mayur Vihar on Wednesday, the employers were said to have "violated the provisions of Section 3 and 14 of the 1986 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and other relevant sections of the 2015 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the 1976 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

While the dhabas were sealed after the raid-and-rescue operation, the police were directed by the SDM, Rajesh Choudhary, to lodge FIRs against the persons who had employed the children as bonded labourers.