Thane: 20 minors rescued from child labour by GRP and NGO

The children have been sent to shelter homes in Bhiwandi and Ulhasnagar

Twenty minors, who were brought to work as child labourers in Mumbai, were rescued in a joint operation by the Government Railway Police, Thane, and two non-profit organisations (NGOs). According to the police, the boys were brought from Nepal and North India to work in sweatshops. Of the 20, 15 are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and the rest from Nepal. The children have been sent to shelter homes in Bhiwandi and Ulhasnagar.

NGOs Palavi Child Line and Pratham that work towards fighting child labour, received a tip-off about 52 child labourers being trafficked in to Mumbai in the Darbhanga-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express after which volunteers from both organisations began searches.

Navnath Kamble, programme coordinator for Pratham, said that the rescued boys are aged between 13 and 17 years. "Medical tests at a civil hospital confirmed that they are healthy," he added. "They were to be employed at leather, bangle and zari workshops. The children are often lured with good money, but end up starving," said Vaishali Jadhav, programme coordinator for Palavi Child Line.

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