NOVEMBER 23, 2005; 9.00 A.M.
Venue: August Kranti Bhavan,
Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi

It looks like a scene from a boys' school. Hundreds of 10-14 year olds are playing games in the cavernous courtyard. Some are playing frog race, others are simply running around, while the rest are excited spectators. There are high-decibel whoops of joy and despair as the games reach a fever pitch. But something's wrong. I can't quite put my finger on it at first; but as I keep watching, it suddenly hits me like a slap on the face. All the children look emaciated. But why am I surprised? This is no school I'm visiting; till yesterday, these kids were virtually bonded labourers.

Games over, the kids queue up for a photo shoot; not the regulation Children's Day photo op; the boys are being profiled before being produced before the Office of the Child Welfare Committee under the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Delhi, at Lajpat Nagar in the Capital. There are about 500 of them-all rescued the previous day from dark, dingy slums in East Delhi where they worked in the zari trade. It is one of the Capital's worst kept secrets: thousands of children work in sub-human conditions from morning to midnight, with hurried breaks only for a meal or two. Asks Zunaid Khan, Head of Pratham, the NGO that coordinated their rescue: "We gave the police a list of over 2,000 children. Where are the rest?"

The saviour with his flock: Zunaid Khan, Head, Child Unit, Pratham, with some of the children rescued by the police

Almost 90 per cent of the boys hail from the Sitamarhi district of Bihar. This region is steeped in poverty; it has no industries; most inhabitants are illiterate and a majority of families have seven to eight children. Result: many families have no choice but to send their children away to Mumbai, Delhi or Surat to work as child labourers. They are stepping out of the frying pan into the fire, but grinding poverty makes any alternative seem attractive.

Mohammad Saddam, 14, one of the rescued children is inconsolable. "Who will feed my family now?" he wails. Saddam has four brothers, three sisters and his mother to support. His rescue by the Pratham-police combine means he can no longer send money home. Gulista Rajput, Co-ordinator, Pratham, notices my consternation. "These kids have lost their childhood, burdened as they are by the responsibilities of feeding their parents and their families," she says.

And the unpalatable truth is that rescue operations, such as the one co-ordinated by Pratham, don't usually work. Says Mohd. Tufail, 12, another child worker: "The police rescued us from a zari factory in Mumbai two years ago, put us in a big hall, fed us for two months, and sent us all home to Sitamarhi." Why did he return to the trade, this time in Delhi? "Garib hoon. Kya karega? (I'm poor. What's the alternative?)" he asks. The answer hits me like a whiplash. These children-once trained-can earn anything from Rs 800 to Rs 3,000 a month; that money can make the difference between starvation and life back home.

The will to survive: In spite of working in sub-human and obnoxious conditions, these children can still smile	No hurried break this: All these children are responsible for feeding their poor and large families back home

Piyush Sharma, Joint Labour Commissioner, Delhi, estimates that the National Capital Region alone has 50,000 child labourers (including domestic helps). Laws like the Factories Act, 1948, and Child Labour Regulation and Prohibition Act, 1989, expressly prohibit the employment of children below the age of 14, while the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act, 1954, bans the employment of children below the age of 12 years. These laws provide for fines of Rs 1 lakh and imprisonment of one year, but prosecutions are rare.

In the instant case, about 50 small operators have been identified as the culprits. Sharma assures me that the guilty will definitely be punished. Interestingly, no exporter has been linked to any of these offending units. Says Vijay Mathur, Secretary, Apparel Export Promotion Council: "us and European buyers are demanding strict compliance to ethical workplace practices." Decoded, this means the slightest hint of child labour can cause irreparable damage to an exporter's plans of tapping these two markets. The example of the carpet weavers of Uttar Pradesh is still fresh in the memories of the exporting community.

Stunted: Parmod Kumar (left) and Mohammad Naeem both claim to be in their mid-teens, but look half their age

But the domestic market is at least three times the size of the export pie. And there's no Damocles' Sword hanging over suppliers who feed this huge market. This creates a huge demand for kids like Saddam and Tufail. Adds Sharma: "The unfortunate truth is that there is an abundance of child labour in the market. The moment they grow up and start demanding their dues, they are replaced by other children." And what do they do once they grow up? Almost all the kids dream of becoming seths (factory owners) some day. There are plenty of apocryphal rags to riches tales doing the rounds, serving as morale boosters for these kids. But is there any grain of truth in any of them? No one can tell me for sure.

For now, these rescued children will be released by the Child Welfare Committee to their parents. The Magistrate of their local districts will monitor their progress under the government's primary education programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. And the Delhi government has written to companies like Maruti Udyog and Bajaj Auto to train adolescents in their facilities.

Will their rehabilitation work this time around? I hope so. Then why am I getting that sinking feeling in my stomach?