152 children rescued in three years; FIRs against offenders

Mysuru: The Mysuru District Administration, maintaining a relentless vigil against child labour, has rescued 152 children in the past three years and filed FIRs against an equal number of offenders.

Senior Labour Inspectors have also booked 123 cases against owners who illegally employed children.

Karnataka holds the distinction of being the first State in the country to launch a dedicated programme for eradicating child labour by establishing Child Labour Project Societies in every district to enforce the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.

Over the last three years, officials have conducted 3,500 intense and continuous inspections across the district, targeting those exploiting children for labour. These efforts have led to the rescue of over 150 children and strict legal action against the violators.

In the last year alone, Rs. 4.78 lakh has been collected in fines from offenders. A unique provision requires violators to deposit Rs. 20,000 in the rescued child’s name as a fixed deposit, matched by an additional Rs. 10,000 from the State Government — totalling Rs. 30,000 per child.

If the fine is not paid, the offender faces two years imprisonment. Employers paying below minimum wages to adolescent workers are penalised 10 times the wage shortfall, with the amount directly given to the child.

For rescued SC/ST children, the Social Welfare Department provides food and education kits worth Rs. 5,000. Orphaned child labourers are admitted to Morarji Desai Residential Schools and given                                accommodation in hostels run by the Department.

District Labour Officer Chethan Kumar urged the public to report child labour cases via helpline 1098, emphasising the administration’s commitment to stamping out this exploitation.

Year-wise rescues

• 2022-23 – 9 children under 14 and 58 children under 18 rescued.
• 2023-24 – 2 under 14 and 30 under 18 rescued.
• 2024-25 – 3 under 14 and 50 under 18 rescued.