Wednesday, 28 FEBRUARY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand police will commence Operation Mukti from March 1 across the State. This month-long drive will be conducted by the Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all districts. The Railways will also form a separate team to work and raise awareness under Operation Mukti. The officials informed that the main objective of the campaign is to effectively prevent beggary, child labour, crimes against children and to make the public aware of not giving alms to children and motivate them to get an education and for their rehabilitation as per the rules. They said that the police will also seek cooperation from departments and organisations concerned to raise awareness among people, especially children and youth. They will organise events under the drive in various public places like main junctions, marketplaces, cinema halls, bus stations, railway stations besides schools and colleges. The officials said that citizens can also cooperate in this drive by giving information about a child beggar on 112. The police will take appropriate actions to rescue children who are forced into begging, child labour, and selling items on the street. If the police find they are being pushed into beggary or any crime by a gang, they will take legal action under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code and Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Beggary Act 1975 along with other relevant acts. The officials further informed that this operation was started in 2017 and since then, the police have rescued a total of 7,670 children from beggary out of which, 3,603 children have been enrolled in schools. The officiating director general of police Abhinav Kumar directed all the officials concerned to ensure the drive is successfully conducted at all vulnerable places of all districts from Friday.
