Noida cops rescue a success in Noida, 111 kids in 1 month

NOIDA: Between July 1 and July 31, Noida Police, along with labour department and NGO officials, have rescued 111 child labourers as part of their Operation Muskan. The operation was launched to trace missing children and reunite them with their families.
Vishwajit Shrivastava, SP (crime), said, 84 minors were rescued from restaurants, dhabas and factories in the past month."The rest of the kids were rescued from rail and bus stations, footpaths and other public places," he said.
In many cases, it was found that family members or relatives had pushed the children into child labour.
Shrivastava said 68 children have already been reunited with their family. "There are other children who don't remember anything about their family, address or contact number. We're trying to locate their family and reunite them. Till then, they will be kept in shelter homes," he said.
Police had formed six teams, comprising six sub-inspectors and 18 constables. The officer said they had organized a training session and briefed the rescue teams on how to quiz the abandoned children to recall their past, background and family details.
The police team visited different places in Gautam Budh Nagar, as well as cities including Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra and Delhi, to trace the kids. They said most of the child labourers had come from Jharkhand, WB, Bihar, Odisha and other states after being promised a good job.
Satya Prakash, programme manager, FXB Suraksha-Childline, said that so many missing children could be traced and sent back home was in itself a great achievement. "We believe there are more children working as child labourers across the city. Enforcement officials should conduct such drives at regular intervals to put a check on such crimes," he said.