‘Rescue not enough, rehabilitation is key’

IT IS NOT CLEAR IF RESCUED CHILDREN ARE REHABILITATED OR RETRAFFICKED TO SOME OTHER CITY

rehabilitation of minors rescued from factories and manufacturing units is ensured, the fight against child labour will falter, say police and activists.

The Mumbai police are entrusted with the task of rescuing child labourers and sending them back to their home. However, it is not clear if these children are rehabilitated or re-trafficked to some other city in Maharashtra or in any other part of India for labour work.

Kishore Bhamre of NGO Pra issues: rehabilitation and interstate coordination to track such children’s progress. There needs to be a central rehabilitation policy. A majority of rescued children are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In the past, we have conducted a survey to track some rescued children. We could not find many of them at their homes They go back to states.”

He also advocated a strong strong inter-state co-ordination. “At least for local boys from Maharashtra there needs to be a rehabilitation policy,” he said.

Former assistance commissioner Rajdhoot Rupawate said, “In Patna, the social welfare department is trying to get job and a house for the parents of rescued children.”

Milind Bidwai, assistant director of Salam Balak Trust, said, “Right now, we are concentrating on children of hawkers who live on streets. We are working for their rehabilitation so they do not return to child rights are not affected and childhood is not lost.” Salam Balak Trust was founded after movie Salam Bombay which is based on a street child.

Bhamre also said he wsa unhappy with an amendment in the Juvenile Justice Act which allows minors to work in family owned enterprises.

Bhamre said, “The problem is with the definition of family owned enterprise. Who will monitor this? The basic infrastructure is not enough to implement the amendment.”

He said employers exploit the amendment loophole to bypass law He said the amendment