The Rachakonda Police Commissionerate rescued 1,051 children through ‘Operation Smile-XI’ during January 2025.
This achievement has placed Rachakonda at the forefront of child rescue operations in the State, said Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu.
The operation, aimed at tracing missing children and identifying child labourers and adolescents working in hazardous occupations, was carried out across the entire Rachakonda Commissionerate.
“Nine specialised teams were deployed at the divisional level, each comprising a Sub-Inspector, four police constables, including one woman police constable, alongside members of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), She Teams, and the Special Branch,” said the Commissioner.
Over the course of the month-long operation, the teams conducted raids on various industries, businesses, and other establishments suspected of employing minors. The rescued children were presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for necessary legal and rehabilitative action.
Of the 1,051 children rescued, 540 were from the State, while 511 were from other States. Among them, 983 were boys and 139 were girls.
Authorities registered 464 First Information Reports (FIRs) and made 410 general diary (GD) entries under various laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, and the Juvenile Justice Act.
Employers who engaged children in exploitative labour conditions, often making them work for more than nine hours a day while paying them meagre wages were arrested. Many of these businesses, unable to hire local adult labourers at fair wages, resorted to bringing in child workers from other States, in violation of labour laws.
Meanwhile, authorities have urged people to report any instance of child labour by dialling emergency helplines 100 or 1098.
Published – February 06, 2025 07:45 pm IST