Uttar Pradesh: Child trafficking for labour goes up as Covid-19 restrictions end

LUCKNOW: With the state governments easing norms following a drop in Covid-19 cases, child activists and police have reported a sudden spike in child trafficking for labour.
In the last 13 days, at least 132 minors, mostly from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, were rescued while they were being taken for being engaged as labourers. The police also managed to arrest 34 child traffickers.
In Moradabad alone, 38 children were rescued from Amritsar-bound Karmabhoomi Express while 34 were recovered from three different trains at Aligarh junction. Similarly, 33 were rescued from Saket Express in Prayagraj and 15 from Lucknow, including 12 from a private hired bus.
Teams of RPF and GRP also recovered eight minors from Gorakhpur and four from Firozabad following a tip-off by the activists of Bachpan Bachaao Aandolan (BBA).
State coordinator for BBA, Surya Pratap Mishra, said: “After easing of Covid restrictions, demand for labour has risen in Delhi and Punjab. Child traffickers are making every attempt to cash in on this opportunity.” “The accused lure the parents by claiming that their children would be provided education and job. Before boarding train or bus, children are asked to share incorrect information if caught by the police. Children receive minimum wages and get trapped in the never-ending cycle of exploitation,” he said.
Activists claim that the minors are paid up to Rs 3,500 per month and are forced to work 16 hours a day in factories.
Coordinator of ChildLine in Lucknow, Krishan Pratap Sharma, said: “Traffickers have changed their modus operandi. Though they work in groups of 4-5 members, one trafficker associates himself with two-three children posing as their close relative.”
“We have found that minors are taken from backward areas of Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and West Bengal,” said Zafar Alam, a CWC member from Firozabad.