13 teens from northern states forced into child labour rescued from city railway stations

CHENNAI: In one week, 13 teenagers – all boys – from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, who had been forced to work as child labourers, were rescued at 3 railway stations in the city by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Child Helpline (CHL), and Association for Voluntary Action (AVA).

Of the 13, six were rescued at the Central station, 2 from Perambur station, and 5 from Egmore station.

As per sources, four boys have been repatriated within their families, while the rest are waiting for a legal guardian to accompany them. One of the staff told DT Next: “We conduct regular inspections at railway stations to rescue children (between 14 and 17 years) who come to Chennai for work. They tells us that they are visiting the city for leisure, but after a few enquiries, it’s proven otherwise.”

Also, in this case, Aadhaar card of two minors (born in 2011 and 2010 respectively), was forged to 2006 and 2007. But it was swiftly discovered, and action was initiated.

The staff had inspected Central station on June 24, eyeing the two express trains from northern India scheduled on Wednesday. Egmore and Perambur stations were inspected on June 23 and 26, following the scheduled train timings.

“On June 26, more rescues would have been reported if one train had not been rerouted and another had not been delayed by at least 12 hours. There have been multiple instances where at least 20 teenagers/children are rescued from railway stations,” added a source at CHL.

The inspections are conducted as part of a MoU between Southern Railway and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (alias AVA), which is an India-based children's rights movement.