Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has appreciated the police for taking up the ‘Operation Muskaan’ drive and rescuing children during COVID-19, said Director- General of Police (DGP) D. Gautam Sawang.
“As per the directions of the Chief Minister, we have taken up the week-long drive with other line departments,” the DGP said while speaking at the closing programme of the ‘Operation Muskaan’, in Mangalagiri on Tuesday.
The police rescued as many as 4,806 children, of which 177, including 99 boys and 78 girls, were below the age of five years. Of the total, 278 were engaged as child labourers and 11 were rescued from hazardous conditions.
“Children abandoned by parents, runaway from homes, separated from families due to various reasons, dropouts and those who became homeless due to disturbed and broken families, were among the rescued,” Mr. Sawang explained.
The DGP, while praising Additional DG, Crime Investigation Department (CID), P.V. Sunil Kumar, and his team for taking up the drive despite COVID-19, complimented all the police personnel for participating in the drive and rescuing the vulnerable children in the State during the global health emergency.
Support of others
With the help of the departments of Labour, Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW), Medical and Health, Juvenile Welfare and Non-Governmental Organisations, police successfully conducted the drive and restored 4,703 children to their parents, the DGP said.
“We have been conducting the 'Operation Muskaan' for the last five years and some thousands of children were rescued during the drive. Now, it has been taken up to protect the children during the pandemic,” the DGP said.
Besides Mr. Sunil Kumar, Principal Secretary of WD&CW A.R Anuradha, Additional DG (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, Labour Commissioner G. Rekha Rani, DIGs S. Hari Krishna, M. Sunil Naik and C.M. Thrivikram Varma, CID SPs K.G.V. Saritha and G.R. Radhika and NGO representatives participated in the programme.
