NEW DELHI (AFP) — Fourteen children working in a textiles factory have been rescued after media reports said an Indian clothing supplier to US retailer Gap was employing underage workers, an activist said Tuesday.
Police carried out the raid after alerts by a non-profit organisation which acted on a British newspaper report that Indian children as young as 10 were working for a Gap supplier in New Delhi.
The children who were rescued late Monday worked in the building that houses the Gap supplier, but did not produce clothes for the US label, said the Save the Childhood Foundation, which works to rehabilitate child workers.
"When we went there, we found a room where they had been living and working. Some children were ill and some were not being paid at all," said Bhuwan Ribhu of the group.
The children, aged between nine and 16, came from the eastern state of West Bengal.
"Work timings were from 9 a.m. to midnight. We were given only half an hour off for breakfast and dinner," one of the child workers, 12-year-old Haseebul, told the Indian Express newspaper.
"Since I was a trainee, I was paid only 400 rupees (about 10 dollars) per month," another 15-year-old worker was quoted as saying.
The children will now be presented before a magistrate and given 20,000 rupees for rehabilitation.
"We will ensure they go back to their parents in West Bengal," Ribhu said.
Gap withdrew some garments from sale after Britain's Observer newspaper said an Indian supplier in New Delhi's Shahpur Jat area employed child workers.
But Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said Indian suppliers "have informed us that Gap officials have seen their plants and applauded their manufacturing practices."
He also said he was "seriously concerned" that the allegations could prompt restrictions on India exports, warning of "retaliatory measures" if this happened.
Some 12.6 million Indian children work as domestic helpers, in roadside restaurants and in factories making clothes and other items, according to the government, while activists say the figure could be as high as 60 million.
"It is because of the economics of cheap labour. No one hires the parents, but the children get work after families are tricked into believing the child will have a bright future," Ribhu said.
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