In January, 3,479 child labourers were rescued from across the State through Operation Smile-X, a month-long operation organised by the Telangana police. The State police carry out this operation in January every year to trace and rescue missing and trafficked children. The Cyberabad police alone rescued 718 children.
According to the Cyberabad police, 329 children—301 boys and 28 girls—were from within the State whereas 389 children—360 boys and 29 girls—belonged to other states. While most children were rescued from child labour (640), the police was also able to rescue one child who was reported ‘missing’. This number was seven at state level.
The Cyberabad police commissionerate reunited 526 children with their parents/guardians and sent 192 to shelter homes. Throughout the period of Operation Smile-X (from January 1 to January 31, 2024), the state police commissionerates collectively reunited 2,947 children — 2,619 boys and 328 girls — with their parents.
At state level, 676 police personnel were deployed for this operation. They were split into 120 team of five, each comprising one sub inspector and four constables (including a woman officer), to rescue children from railway stations, bus stops, traffic junctions, mechanic shops, brick kilns, tea stalls among other places. The Cyberabad Commissionerate had 11 such teams under it, and they registered 254 cases during the operation.
The police worked in coordination with the departments of Women Development and Child Welfare, Labour and Health; Child Welfare Committees; District Child Protection Units; and NGOs to identify ‘black spots’, where children were found in vulnerable conditions, according to a press release.
