KARIMNAGAR, JANUARY 31, 2025: A record number of 39 child labourers were rescued during the month-long Operation Smile-XI in Karimnagar district which concluded on Friday.
Among the rescued children, 37 were boys and two were girls. About 19 children were rescued in Huzurabad mandal, 12 from Karimnagar urban and eight from Karimnagar rural mandal.
Eleven children were from Bihar state, seven from Telangana state, three each from Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan, two children each from Chattisgarh and Nepal, four from Odisha, one from West Bengal and two from Madhya Pradesh.
All the rescued child labourers were admitted into various schools. Following the complaint, the police registered five FIRs for employing child labourers and the Labour department had ensured that 38 children secure the minimum wages.
Child Welfare Committee chairperson Dhanalaxmi said that the Operation Smile-XI was taken up only to bring back smiles among the children and ensure that they go to school instead of working. She said that they had formed three teams each comprising a Sub-Inspector, four police constables (including one woman constable), officials of CWC, childline 1098, ICPS officials, labour department officials and others to carry out the mission.
The CWC chairperson along with its members Rendla Kalinga Shekhar, K Vijay Kumar, Radha, Archana Reddy said that they had conducted inspections of hotels, brick kilns, constructions, quarries, shops, dhabas and rescued children were sent back to their homes to the safe custody of their parents.
Police officials Anwar, Vijaysagar, Malla Reddy, Pushpalatha, Srinivas, Ratan, Gautami, Manisha, Shankar, Saritha, Labour officers Chakradhar Reddy, Chandana, Rafi, district women and child welfare officers and ICPS officials Parveen, DCPO Shantha, Raju, Sampath, Swapna, Kavitha, Ramesh, childline 1098 team Priyanka, Saikiran, Mahesh, Anusha, Apthamitra NGO and others participated in the programme.
