Malkangiri: Childline officials Saturday rescued 12 minor girls from a place near the collector’s residence here when they were being taken to be engaged as labourers.
The rescued minors are residents of Salimi area under Mathili police limits and were on their way to work as construction labourers in MV-79 village under a contractor, it was learnt.
The matter came to light when the officials inquired about the incident after finding the minors assembled at one place. The labour contractors who brought them to Malkangiri managed to flee, while the rescued children have been kept at the Childline office. They would be handed over to the child welfare committee, said Sukanti Biswal of Childline.
Trafficking of labourers to other states by the middlemen and is a regular affair in the district. The labour contractors often manage to escape in the absence of any action against them, locals alleged.
Hundreds of youths of tribal Bonda community who have left for other states to work as bonded labourers are yet to return, said a Bonda youth Hadi Manda.
The youths had to leave the state to eke out a living as the administration has failed to provide them job, he added. PNN