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Bal Prafulta: A Salesian institution involved in rescuing child labourers

 

Sourced from BIS, Mumbai.  For further information contact through donboscomumbai.org website 

MUMBAI: 4th June 2005-- 3 NGOs, 5 months of preparation,150 policemen, a 2-hour raid, 226 workshops combed, 42 employers arrested, 463 children rescued –  in short, the story of one of the biggest-ever raids in the country held on June 1, 2005 to rescue child labourers from Madanpura in Central Mumbai where children were forced into illegal child labour.  Bal Prafulta, run by the Salesians of the Province of Mumbai, played a very important role in this rescue operation.

Our BIS correspondent interviewed Mr. Santosh Shinde who has been working with Bal Prafulta for the past 5 years.  Mr. Shinde was the main coordinator on behalf of Bal Prafulta.  He was present right from data collection to the planning and execution of the rescue operation.

     BIS:  What Role did Bal Prafulta play in this rescue operation?

    Mr. Shinde:  Bal Prafulta was fully involved in the operation from the start to the end. We met the children, brought the issue before the concerned officials, contributed in the preparation of the blue print for the raid and helped in rescuing the children on the day of the raid.  Fr. Baptist, who is actively involved in Bal Prafulta played an equally important role because he was present with us throughout the operation and gave us the necessary support and guidance.

     BIS:  What was the ground work involved in the rescue operation?

    Mr. Shinde: There are about 70,000 child labourers In Mumbai of whom 25,000 to 30,000 children are Zari workers.  For the past five months we had been collecting information about these children in Madanpur, in Central Mumbai.  We met these children through study classes and gathered the necessary information.  We discovered that 349 units were functional in this area where illegal child labour was carried out.  The children were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Nepal and Bangladesh. Many of these children were involved in Zari work, steel, textile and leather works.  This formed the basis of our Rescue operation.

     BIS:  How was the rescue operation carried out?

    Mr. Shinde:  Four raids have been conducted in Mumbai till date.  But this was the biggest ever rescue operation where 463 children were rescued.  This was possible because of the networking with different NGOs (Bal-Prafulta, Pratham, Saathi) and the police.  We (the NGOs) realized that by ourselves we would not be able to tackle the problems that would come our way.  So we combined our energies to fight this menace.  The problem areas were identified and then with the help of the police these places were raided. 

    BIS:  What were the problems you faced in the process of conducting this rescue operation?

   Mr. Shinde: The moment the officials heard the name ‘Madanpura’ they were a bit reluctant because it is a very sensitive area and there would be a lot of risk involved, including the possibility of riots.  And so we met the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. R.R. Patil and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Javed Ahmed, who asked the police to cooperate with us.  Though we were prepared to conduct the operation 15 days earlier but were not able to do so because the police withdrew at the last minute as they did not have sufficient force. But this time we were fully prepared.
VOCABULARY
Zari:  a thread made of fine gold or silver wire and used in making traditional Indian garments, weaving it through to make intricate patterns.
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