Hyderabad, December 03: Officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau are receiving unlikely visitors lately. People staying in upmarket residential pockets have been visiting ACB to complain about being arm-twisted by state officials to cough up a few thousands so that they are not booked for employing children as domestic helps.
This, even as labour officials are claiming the unbelievable: child labour figures in the city have dropped from 65,000 in the year 2006 to a little over 3,000 now. If children out of school are also included, the figure would be 13,000, officials say. This means that the number of children rescued in the last three years stands at 52,000, which activists describe as a ‘mirage’ in a child labour-ridden city like Hyderabad.
Activists and ACB officials are now posing a predictable question: if the number of children rescued is so high, the number of employers booked should possibly be in equal numbers. But here’s a look at the prosecutions: while in 2007, the number of employers prosecuted was 525, in 2008, the numbers slipped to 103. There have been 77 prosecutions in 2009, so far. The total number of employers convicted in the last three years is 118.
The fine employers have to pay is Rs 20,000. But what has been collected under the child rehabilitation and welfare fund in the district collector’s office is Rs 13.8 lakh, which means that just about 69 employers have been fined so far or at least that is what these statistics sourced from the labour department add up to.
“The fine figures do not remotely match up to the rescue figures,’’ says a source familiar with the rescue operations and data. In fact, he points out how legal action is most often not taken against the employers. “The children also return to the same places within a few days, or in some cases within a few hours of their rescue,’’ says the source.
There are three rescue teams comprising a set of labour inspectors, members of partner NGOs and other officials. Sources say that it is this rung of officials who allow employers to go scot-free by “settling’’ the matter there. “Once the raids are conducted, officials are blackmailing employers. We have received complaints from people who have been asked to pay Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 to settle the case,’’ says an ACB official.
However, E Gangadhar, assistant labour commissioner and project director of the National Child Labour Programme doesn’t see anything amiss. He does admit that the department has indeed received a couple of complaints of this nature, but these have been addressed. “We took action immediately and changed the rescue team (after receiving the complaints),’’ Gangadhar says, adding in one case an inquiry was conducted and a driver was suspended.
Regarding the poor prosecution figures, he says that most employers flash fake certificates stating that the child they have employed is over 14 years of age.
-Agencies