Help the victims of child slavery in India

Namaste!

Fall greetings to you all. 

Here is your update from the anti-child labour team.

Trafficking of children and forcing them into child labour is a serious issue in Bihar. According to the 2021 census, 6.5 million children in the age group of 5-14 work in the unorganized sector, and among them, 11 per cent are from Bihar. In villages like the one where Pradeep grew up, opportunities are scarce, and everyone lives in poverty.

We have been very busy recently and below is just one example.

A man lured Pradeep (not his real name) into leaving his home in a village in Gaya district in Bihar and going away to a city, on the pretext that he would not only be able to continue his studies there but would also earn money in exchange for some ‘light work’.

Unsuspecting and, in fact, relieved that better days were here, his parents handed their son into the hands of the trafficker who then forced him into working in a bangle-making factory. “It was nothing like what I had imagined,” Pradeep describes this awful dark phase of his life.

Instead of a life of opportunity, he was thrown into a tiny room “with no window” and with 20 other boys with barely any space to breathe, let alone live in. The boys in the bangle-making factory, all victims of trafficking, were made to work for 15-16 hours every day.

“If anyone complained, he was beaten up,” Pradeep recalled. Their day would begin at 6 a.m. “with water thrown on our faces.

“There was no chance of escape and they removed any phones we might have”. Fortunately, another boy got hold of a phone and raised the alarm.

Both Pradeep and many other boys between the ages of 11 and 15 were rescued in a joint rescue operation by the police of Jaipur and the labour department in 2022. 

 To understand the situation in which the child was led into being trafficked for labour or otherwise, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) first counsels the rescued child. “We ask them the reason why they left home, where did they go, were their parents aware? If the child says that the parents sent him because of poverty, we counsel the parents too.

After verification of the child’s family, the CWC makes an entitlements card that includes all the government schemes that he or she can benefit from.
This initiative addresses needs like housing and work, thereby directly addressing the reason why the child left home in the first place – poverty.  “Thus, the child is rehabilitated in the true sense, such that he does not go back into the loop of forced labour, and it should be noted that the child welfare committee is based at our new wonderful Rescue Junction centre building here in Gaya.

 Your support is so important to help our work and we thank you for your compassion and kindness.

Pappu Kumar

Anti Child Labour Team manager

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