Tirupur: The district childline unit has rescued 14 adolescent labourers and a child labourer during the first 10 months of this year.Childline officials said they had received at least 72 phone calls on helpline number 1098 during the period regarding child labour issues in the district. Most calls were related to exploitation of adolescent labourers, who were aged between 14 and 18.“As per the Child and Adolescent (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, children aged between 14 and 18 should not be forced to work beyond six hours, and they should be supported to pursue at least non-formal education. Importantly, their freedom should not be affected. But in some companies, which have obtained certificate to employ adolescent children, they were exploited, said N Dinesh Babu, of the childline unit.This information was revealed on Tuesday as a part of Childline Se Dosti week celebrations organized by the district unit of childline. He said they had rescued 14 adolescent labourers from textile spinning mills and television mechanic shops between January and October. It is to be noted that not a single case of exploitation of adolescent labourers has been reported in knitwear units.“In many cases, the children were given false promises about their wages or nature of work, or sometimes, their freedom to make decisions on the job. The rest of the complaints were related to others hoaxing them, said Baskaran, project director of the district childline unit.The district childline unit has also rescued a 13-year-old boy from a motorbike repair shop on Dharapuram road in the city. In that case, shop owner was booked by the labour department, Dinesh said.

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