Eight children were rescued by officers of the District Child Protection Unit on Saturday as part of a special drive to prevent child labour and beggary.
The drive was held on the directions of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The commission has directed that a special drive to prevent child labour should be conducted from October 2 to 12 in connection with Gandhi Jayanti. The drive was conducted at Pazhavangady in the morning and in the Overbridge area in the afternoon.
From Uttar Pradesh
In the morning, two children selling coloured powder (kumkumam) near the Pazhavangady temple were rescued. The children, in the 12-14 age group, hail from Uttar Pradesh. They claimed that their family members were present in the city.
Two children, estimated to be below five years of age, and a teenager were found to be in street situation. Two infants and their mothers were also rescued. The mothers, with the infants in their arms, were seeking alms. The children were presented before the district child welfare committee (CWC), and shifted to child care institutions.
While the Tamil-speaking mothers and their babies were shifted to the Mahila Mandiram at Poojappura so that they could be together, the children involved in street vending and the teenager living on the street were moved to the open shelter at Don Bosco Veedu at Thampanoor. The remaining two children who are very young were shifted to the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, Thycaud.
Seeking alms
A week ago, a child and a mother were rescued during a random drive from the area. The rescue squad had received information that children were being used for street vending and to seek alms, but during the recent wet spell they could not be spotted. With the sun out, the rescue team did a reconnaissance and after confirming the presence of children went in to rescue them.
In the afternoon, the drive was held near Overbridge. More inspections will be held in the coming days, the District Child Protection Officer said.
