19 children rescued from child labour in Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar, nine factory owners held

At least 19 children were rescued from garment and artificial jewellery factories in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar area, and nine factory owners were arrested.Also read | Juvenile justice, child labour and welfare among top NCPCR complaint list in 2024: govt reportChildren aged between 10 and 17 years were brought to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and had been working at these units for about eight months. During the operation, nine factories were sealed.While 15 children were employed in sewing and embroidery factories, four were engaged in packing artificial jewellery. Five of the rescued children were below the age of 14.During questioning, it emerged that two of the children worked from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, slept inside the factory at night and resumed work the following morning.The children, one of whom was a girl, were paid as little as ₹20, ₹50 or ₹200 per week for their work. The youngest child, aged just 10 years, received only ₹10 a day, which he used to buy snacks and chocolates in lieu of food.Dhananjay Tingal, the national coordinator of the Association for Voluntary Action, said, “The children were taken far from their homes and deprived of their childhood. At an age when they should have been holding books and toys, they were working with needles, threads and machines.”Following the rescue, all the children underwent medical examination and were subsequently sent to a children’s home.An FIR has been registered against the factory owners at Gandhi Nagar Police Station under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Published - October 29, 2026 07:57 pm IST