Child labour crackdown: 120 minors freed from Raipur mushroom facility

By A Representative 

More than 120 children were rescued from a mushroom processing unit in Raipur in a joint operation carried out by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Women and Child Development Department, the police and the Association for Voluntary Action (AVA). 

The four-hour raid led to the rescue of over 80 girls and 40 boys, aged between 14 and 17, who were found living and working in harsh and exploitative conditions. Many of the children, trafficked from tribal regions of West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam, had been confined to the unit for years, with some reporting they had been there since the age of 11.

The rescue followed a complaint from AVA to the NHRC, alerting authorities to allegations of child labour, trafficking and bonded work at the unit. Children told the team that they lived in cramped rooms on the factory premises, were made to work 12 to 15 hours a day, and were often denied proper meals. NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo immediately directed district authorities to intervene, after which a team led by DSP Nandini Thakur conducted the raid. The rescued minors have been moved to safety, and counselling and legal procedures are under way.

Just Rights for Children (JRC), a national network of child-rights organisations of which AVA is a partner, praised the swift action. Its founder, Bhuwan Ribhu, called the situation a stark example of organised trafficking and urged authorities to fast-track the case, ensure rehabilitation and fix accountability for systemic failures.

Officials involved in the rescue described hazardous working conditions at the unit, where children allegedly handled mushroom packets on multi-storey metal racks without safety gear and were exposed to soil treated with formalin, a toxic chemical known to cause severe health risks, including cancer. 

Manish Sharma, Senior Director at AVA, said the operation revealed severe neglect and repeat violations, noting that this was the second raid on the same establishment in three months. He criticised the absence of stringent charges in the earlier FIR and stressed the need for action against those profiting from such operations.

A previous raid in July reportedly resulted in the rescue of labourers, but no penalties were imposed on the owners. AVA continued monitoring the unit and presented detailed evidence to the NHRC, prompting the fresh action that led to the large-scale rescue.