SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 30: Labour department in a special drive rescued seven child labourers working in inter-state GT Road (National Highway-2) based dhabas and restaurants under Govindpur police station for years.
Labour superintendent Praveen Kumar said that following information of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Headquarter-1 Amar Pandey, a special inspection drive was launched on NH-2 based Dhaba and restaurant in which seven child labourers were found working.
The special squad rescued four child labourers from Santosh Hotel Govindpur, three from Gokul Sweets and one from Krishna Sweets.
“Dhaba owners were not only making the minors work but were also paying them less than the minimum wages,” said labour superintendent Praveen Kumar.
After rescuing the child labourers, the labour department issued a notice to the establishments under the Minimum Wages Act 1948.
On getting notice, all the three outlet owners (Dulal Mandal of Santosh Hotel, Raju Sab of Gokul Sweets and Dinesh Mahto of Krishna Sweets) appeared in the labour department and deposited Rs 84,720 pending wage dues to the rescued children.
“On the directive of the Joint Commissioner of Jharkhand, a special squad has been constituted to launch continuous inspection drive on NH-based dhabas and in city-based outlets,” said the labour superintendent.
Since child labourers of Giridih, Jamtara and neighbouring districts are available cheaply, the Dhaba owners of NH deploy them on large scale in the name of family members. The labour department official said rescued children are handed over to their parents after getting an undertaking that they would not deploy them again.
