Lucknow: With the state government relieves the norms after a drop in the case of Covid-19, child activists and police have reported a sudden surge in child trafficking for labor.
In the last 13 days, at least 132 minors, most of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh were rescued when they were taken to be involved as laborers.
The police also managed to arrest 34 traders.
In Moradabad, 38 children were saved from the Karmabhoomi Express which was bound by Amritsar while 34 was found from three different trains in Junction Aligarh.
Likewise, 33 saved from Saket Express in Prayagraj and 15 of Lucknow, including 12 from personal rental buses.
The RPF and GRP team also recovered eight underage children from Gorakhpur and four of Firozabad following a tip-off by Bachpan Bachaao aandolan (BBA) activists.
The State Coordinator for BBA, Surya Pratap Mishra, said: “After easing of Covid restrictions, labor demand has increased in Delhi and Punjab.
Child trade makes every effort to ensure this opportunity.” “The defendant lured parents by claiming that their children Will be given education and work.
Before taking a train or bus, the children were asked to share the wrong information if they were arrested by the police.
Children receive a minimum and trapped wage in the exploitation cycle that never ends, “he said.
Activists claim that underage children are paid up to RS 3,500 per month and forced to work 16 hours a day at the factory.
The Childline Coordinator in Lucknow, Krishan Pratap Sharma, said: “Traffickers have changed the modus of their operandi.
Even though they worked in a group of 4-5 members, an emergency trader connected himself with two-three children posing as their close relatives.” “We have been found that minors were taken from the backward area of Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and West Bengal, “said Zafar Alam, a CWC member of Firozabad.