Tender hands that work on your zardozi, get Rs 50 for 12-hr labour

The Labour Department rescued 24 child labourers working in various zardozi units in Surat city and the nearby Kim village and Bardoli taluka on Saturday. Aged between 9 and 13 years, the children have now been sent to the Children’s Home at Katargam.

The officials also discovered that two boys, who had been earlier rescued from zardozi units in Surat and sent to the Patna Child Welfare Committee, had again resumed work at units in Kim and Surat.

Assistant Labour Commissioner Kirti Patel said: “We had sent 60 child labourers to the Patna Child Welfare Committee on July 13. During our raids in Kim and the Haribhari zardozi unit in Sagrampura, we rescued two child labourers whom we had saved from the clutches of zardozi unit owners earlier. We will now lodge a police complaint against the owners of these zardozi units at their respective police stations.”

Acting on a tip off, the Labour Department conducted raids at Ayesha Nagar in Kim village of Mangrol taluka and rescued four child labourers working in zardozi units. The officials also apprehended one Azam Shaikh of Bihar from the place. The children told the officials that they had come to Kim from their native place in Bihar and had been staying in the house given to them by Azam Shaikh for the last six months.

Another team of Labour Department officials conducted raids at a zardozi unit in Asefanagar under Bardoli taluka. The officials rescued three children from this place where they were involved in zardozi work, and apprehended the firm owner Mohammed Niyaz Siddiqui, who belongs to Bihar.

In Surat city, the Labour Department conducted raids at a house in Maulvi Street and rescued 11 child labourers working in zardozi units. The unit is run by one Haider Shaikh.

Another team of Labour Department officials conducted raids at Alishan complex in Sagrampura from where six child labourers working in zardozi units were rescued. The officials said the unit was run by one Kaushar Shaikh.

Patel said all the rescued children belong to Purnea district in Bihar. They had come to Surat in search of work and most of them had been here for the last six months to one year. The owners of these zardozi units also belong to Purnea, he said.

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