Udaipur Anti-Human Trafficking Unit & Child Commission Rescue 92 Tribal Children Forced Into Surat Textile Labor

Jaipur: Carrying out a major operation in Surat, Gujarat, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of Udaipur and a team from the State Child Commission rescued 92 tribal children aged 7 to 14 years on Wednesday.

Intel over past month confirmed tribal children being trafficked

The children were being forced to work as laborers in small factories or units of Surat's textile market. Some children were engaged in intricate thread work on sarees, while others were operating machinery.

Former member of the State Child Commission Shailendra Pandya said that for the past one month, there was information regarding poor children from the tribal areas of the Udaipur district being transported to Surat and subjected to forced labor.

“Acting on this information, a 20-member team executed a meticulously planned operation on Wednesday, conducting a series of raids—one after another—across various locations to rescue the children. Out of a total of 92 rescued children, 4-5 are from Bihar, Jharkhand, and other states; the rest are from tribal areas of Udaipur,”

Monthly pay as low as ₹5,000-8,000; most are school dropouts

The children were being paid as little as 5,000 to 8,000 rupees per month. Several of these children had traveled to Surat to work as laborers just a few months before, and the majority of them are school dropouts. The operation was conducted across six locations, including Sitaram Society and Muktidham Society, under the Puna Police Station of Surat.

Pandya said that the rescued children will be counseled and handed over to the Child Welfare Society for further action.