Senior officers of the Andhra Pradesh Labor Department today raided houses of top several business people, industrialists, software professionals and some cine actors, producers and directors in the posh Srinagar Colony of Hyderabad City and freed more than thirty child workers employed illegally by them in contravention of child labor laws of the land.
That some VIPs have employed child workers has shocked the entire city and NGOs have demanded strict punishment to the VIPs acting against the child labor laws.
The city of Hyderabad, fondly called by people as International city and Hitec City, would certainly go on record as the city employing highest number of child workers among all the cities in India in general and among all the cities of the world in particular.
Child employment is totally banned all over India and several Central and State Governmental Acts are in force against child labor. But officials never bothered to implement the laws in letter and spirit despite the occasional reminders and complaints by NGOs like the ‘Disha’ in the recent past. Today’s action comes in the backdrop of several complaints lodged by some NGOs of the city.
What is surprising is that the VIPs, against whom action is being initiated by the Government for violating the laws, have argued that they were only helping the child workers by giving them employment and pleaded for their release.