What is Bachpan Bachao Andolan?

Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) is amongst the first civil society initiatives in India against child labour, child trafficking and for quality education for all children. Since its inception in 1980, BBA has been responsible for the rescue of over 78,000 child labourers and bonded labourers from conditions of exploitation including trafficking and bonded labour/slavery.

BBA is also a very strong advocate for the rule of law in favour of child rights and especially against trafficking of children. For this reason, the All India Legal Aid Cell on Child Rights (established under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority-NLSA , an autonomous body of the Supreme Court of India), is mandated to be run from the BBA offices.

Also, BBA has prepared the Standard Operating Procedure for Investigating the Crime of Trafficking for Forced Labour for the Ministry of home Affairs, Govt. of India and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. This is the procedure to be followed by all law enforcement agencies while dealing with cases of trafficking for forced labour in India.

During the course of our work, we are often asked questions like –

• Who is a child labour?
• What exactly is a rescue operation? ;
• Why do you conduct rescue operations for child/bonded labourers? ;
• What is the need for a rescue operation – children can also be brought out by negotiation/dialogue with the employers/traffickers? ;
• What procedures do you adopt for the rescue/recovery of a child? ;
• Is the government involved in a rescue operation? ;
• How do you monitor the numbers and details of children being assisted? ; etc.

Here we have tried to answer all these and other related questions:

Who is a child labour?

Any child below the age of 18 who is forced to work for another and is being economically exploited in the process is a child labour. The work has to be in contravention of the anti child labour laws in India, international instruments and treaties, against the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution, against human rights, and is detrimental to the child’s physical, mental, social, intellectual, cultural and moral well being.

Thus, Child Labour is a crime and each case of child labour is a basket of several crimes under several national laws.

Is a child labour also a victim of trafficking?

The basic reason why children work is the economics of cheap labour supply and due to this reason, often, children are trafficked away from their native place for the purposes of exploitation. All children rescued by BBA are victims of trafficking, whether they are alone, or a part of the family of all trafficked enslaved members.

For example, in the rescue operations being conducted in garment manufacturing/ value addition units in Delhi, majority of children have been trafficked from Bihar. Most of these children are found working for 12- 16 hrs a day for little or no wages, no freedom of movement, sometimes living and working in the same room for months.

Thus, each child is doing the work of almost 2 adults on a daily basis in absolute slavery like conditions.

If children are working to support their poor families – what is wrong with that?

Majority of child labourers are lured away from their families through deceitful means. As a result, most of them are not even aware of their place of employment and of the way to return home. While most of them are not paid any wages and just given food to survive after around 12-16 hours of work every day some are paid a meager amount of Rs 200 (around 4 USD) per month along with food and a promise that they would be offer better wages after 2-3 years when they become experts. They never earn/save enough to send back any money home and are actually not supporting the families at all.

Minimum wage in Delhi for an unskilled worker is Rs. 5500 (almost 120 USD) and thus, each establishment employing 10 trafficked child bonded labourers is earning a huge profit in lieu of this slavery.

What is Bonded Labour?

Bonded or forced Labour is a form of slavery where a person is working for another for little or no wages and having no freedom. In India, if a person is working for a consideration which is less than the minimum wages and has no freedom, the presumption is that such a person is a bonded/ forced labour. The onus of proving this presumption wrong is on the employer or the state.

What is a rescue operation? What is the difference between withdrawal and rescue?

A rescue operation is a legal process for the recovery of a trafficked child/ adult, who is working in contravention of any (or several) law in India.

A rescue operation is conducted by a law enforcement agency and in cases of child labour it is generally one or several of these agencies: District Magistrate’s (D.M.) / Sub Divisional Magistrate’s (S.D.M.) Office; Police; Labour Department of the District concerned.

The involvement of these departments depends on the nature of the complaint being filed and extent of crime being conducted, etc. For e.g., in a case of trafficking of children for forced labour, several laws are implemented simultaneously for the rescue/recovery and subsequent rehabilitation of the child. Under Indian Penal Code the Police arrests the employer/trafficker, under the Bonded Labour System Abolishing Act the D.M./S.D.M. conduct the investigation and issues a Release Certificate for economic rehabilitation of the child/victim, and under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act the Labour Department initiates the proceedings for recovery of a fine (maximum of Rs. 20,000 per child) from the employer that would be utilized towards education/rehabilitation of the rescued child.

Thus, every rescue operation is a complicated legal process during which several government departments have to act simultaneously and together in the interest of the child.

Withdrawal of a child labour is a non-legal process where civil society actors generally speak to the employer/community of the child labourer for getting him out of labour and into a school for education. Majority of civil society interchangeably uses the terminology of “rescue” and “withdrawal”, which is unjust. “Rescue” is a law enforcement process – everything else is “withdrawal”.

Why rescue?

Because a crime cannot be allowed to continuously happen, especially against children. Child labour is not only a social evil, it is a crime. A trafficked 8-10 year old child has no hope or even an idea that help exists and what is being done to him is slavery and is wrong. In many instances, finally when BBA activists have managed to intervene through law enforcement, the children have been found in serious medical conditions.

Parents of the majority of trafficked children have no idea of where their missing children are. Many have lost all hopes of ever seeing their children again.

What is the role of an NGO (like BBA)/ individual in a rescue?

The biggest role of the civil society against child labour is to raise its voice against this crime and stop it from happening wherever possible. Any person/civil society organization (like BBA) can file a complaint for the rescue of a child labourer before a law enforcement agency, e.g. police, magistrate, etc. The law enforcement agency will then act according to the process of law to recover the victim.

Which is better – “rescue” or “withdrawal”? What strategy does BBA use?

There is no clear black and white here.

A trafficked child is a victim of several crimes including kidnapping/abduction and related offences, wrongful confinement and related offences, unlawful compulsory labour (bonded/forced) and related offences, physical/sexual assault related offences and child labour related offences.  The perpetrators of these crimes must be punished to create a legal deterrent.

BBA is amongst the foremost organizations in the world leading rescue operations of trafficking victims (children), prosecution of employer/traffickers and use of law in favour of child rights. Since its inception in 1980, BBA has (till 25th May, 2010) led to the rescue of over 78,154 child/bonded labourers through the processes of law enforcement.

However, for out of school children, children on streets and other vulnerable children, it is important to try and change the environment in which they live in favour of child rights.

For this, BBA uses the Child Friendly Village or Bal Mitra Gram (BMG) concept in which there is no child labour, all child labourers are withdrawn from work and enrolled in schools for mainstream, formal education, the children elect their own children’s assembly, which is given an official recognition by the adults’ (village) assembly.

Since the inception of this program in 2001, and also through its many campaigns, BBA has been instrumental in withdrawal and enrollment of thousands of other children (in 2009- 2010, BBA was working directly with 30,017 children in over 120 villages).

What procedure/law is used by BBA in filing of complaints and subsequent rescue?

BBA uses a multi–dimensional legal approach for filing complaints. We use the Indian Penal Code, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and other relevant laws.

BBA also encourages the use of the Standard Operating Procedure for investigating the crime of Trafficking for Forced Labour published by United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime and Government of India.

(http://www.unodc.org/documents/southasia//Trainingmanuals/SOP_-_Investigation_-_Forced_Labour.pdf).

What happens to a rescued child and the trafficker/ employer after a rescue?

A child is immediately provided with care and protection after rescue. After the child has become normal, her/his statement is duly recorded by the appropriate authority, e.g., a Magistrate if the complaint is under the Bonded Labour law.  Attempt is made to locate the parents of the child and repatriate the child to them after completion of legal formalities. Child is entitled to various rehabilitation packages by the government under various schemes depending upon the initial investigation. For example, in cases where it is established that the child was working in bonded labour conditions, she/he is issued a Release Certificate under the Bonded Labour Act that entitles her/him to an economic rehabilitation package of Rs. 20,000/- that could be used to continue her/his education amongst other things. 

Employer/trafficker is arrested and cases are registered against her/him as per the law/s. The cases proceed as normal criminal cases.

What is the follow up of the rescued children?

After rescue, periodical follow up is done by BBA activists directly (where possible)  or with the help of local NGO partners to check  the socio- economic and other condition of the child’s family, analyze the risk of re-trafficking, educate the community against the perils of trafficking, etc.
 
How is the number of children rescued established/ monitored?

As explained above, the number of children rescued by a law enforcement agency upon a complaint filed by BBA and in which ( rescue operation) BBA's Victim's Assistance team or other activists have participated is the number of children rescued by BBA.

BBA has a centralized Database Management and Information System (being developed by BBA since 2007 and inaugurated formally in May, 2010 by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Delhi) which keeps a track of all children that BBA comes in contact with.

What is a Bal Mitra Gram (BMG)?

A Bal Mitra Gram (BMG) or ‘child friendly village’ is a micro model of a macro vision to make a child friendly world.
A BMG is one where :

How many BMGs are there in India?

There are around 260 BMGs located in 8 states (Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh) in India.