94 pc of child labourers rescued by Satyarthi's NGO were working in illegal factories in Delhi

As many as 94 per cent of child labourers rescued by nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi's NGO used to work in illegal factories running in residential areas in Delhi, the child rights body said, two days after the deadly Anaj Mandi fire claimed lives of 43 migrant labourers.

The Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), in a study, has identified 8,918 child labourers who were working in various illegal commercial units functioning in residential areas of Delhi since 2005.

According to the study, children mostly from underdeveloped and thickly populated states migrate to Delhi in search of work.

"More than one fifth (22 per cent) children were from Uttar Pradesh. More than half (54 per cent) of the children rescued were found to be from Bihar," the study said.

Districts from where minimal per cent of children were rescued are New Delhi (2 per cent), South West Delhi (4 per cent) and South Delhi (4 per cent). Maximum per cent of children were rescued from North East Delhi (18 per cent) followed by Central Delhi (16 per cent) and North Delhi (15 per cent), it said.

"Children are pushed to work in cramped, dingy, crowded, congested spaces which are inhospitable, mostly in residential areas of unauthorized colonies," Sampurna Behura, the spokesperson of BBA said.

"Anaj Mandi area is largely a residential area where the owners ran leather bag packaging units, toy packaging units, etc. On visiting such areas one can find that there is no safety exit available in case of a fire hazard or any accident," Behura said.