A loose alliance of government and private organisations working to check child labour on Thursday rescued 39 boys from nine different sari embroidery factories in Thankot, a few km west of Kalanki in Kathmandu.

The action follows a Post report on Thursday that said a number of children rescued from embroidery factories in Bhaktapur last year have started working in Thankot-based factories.

The Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB), Labour Office and Nepal Police, and NGOs Child Development Society (CDS), Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) and CONCERN, collectively raided nine different factories, where underage children had been working under “harsh conditions.” Of the 39 children, 30 are below 14 years of age, while the rest are between the ages of 16 and 18. According to the CCWB, 16 rescued children hail from Sarlahi district, 18 are permanent residents of Mahottari and the rest hail from India’s Sitamani.

The children have been kept at four different shelter homes run by the CCWB in Kathmandu. According to CCWB officials, the primary purpose of the rescue operation is to re-integrate the children with their families.

“All the bodies concerned, however, are yet to come up with a clear plan on how the children could be counselled and taken back to their families,” said Yubraj Roka of CDS, who has been working with the CCWB and other government agencies to curb child labour . rescued from Pg 1

“In a meeting tomorrow, we will take a decision on how the families will be contacted,” he said. According to Programme Manager of the CCWB Nita Gurung, only re-integration with the families cannot be taken as a sustainable solution to the problem. “We have to come up with specific programmes to support the families and send the rescued children to schools,” she said. Last July, similar raids had been carried in various embroidery factories in Bhaktapur. As many as 150 children employed there were rescued then, all of whom were sent back to their villages. While some of them have reportedly settled down well after the government’s support programmes, many have already returned to areas like Thankot and Lalitpur to work. According to a recent data compiled by the CDS, there are around 100 embroidery factories in the Capital where around 500 underage children work.

According to Gurung, the government has been running an immediate relief fund programme to support parents of children who are sent back home from their workplaces.

Published on: 14 June 2013 | The Kathmandu Post