Bengaluru police find 503 children at workplaces in statewide child labour drive

Bengaluru police found 503 children working at commercial and industrial establishments during a statewide enforcement drive that covered 5,897 premises in the city.

Teams inspected shops, factories, garages, construction sites, hotels, markets, restaurants, petrol stations, malls, grocery stores and warehouses across 188 police-station limits. Police registered 18 cases in Bengaluru under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act; employers in other instances received notices.

The operation involved police teams from all 11 city divisions and two Central Crime Branch teams. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said many of the children were found in hotels, eateries, petrol pumps, grocery stores and warehouses, where they were paid less than adults.

A separate inspection at Yeshwanthpur APMC market, launched after Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar’s September 8 visit, found 29 children at the market, including 19 working in shops. Four FIRs were registered against shop owners. The children found in the wider operation were placed before Child Welfare Committees for rehabilitation; some were returned to their parents.