TS to conduct Operation Muskaan VIII from 1 to 31 July

Hyderabad: The Telangana police is set to conduct the 8th edition of 'Operation Muskaan' from 1 to 31 July. In view of this, a virtual meeting with all stakeholders was conducted by the Telangana police on 28 June. The main objective of the meeting was to discuss strategies to trace missing children and bonded/child labour.

A total of 785 officials participated in the virtual meeting. Of them, 480 were from the police department (99 sub-divisional teams), 49 were from the CID, and the remaining 256 were various stakeholders and NGOs.

Rescued children will be reunited with their families or sent to child care institutions or hostels. Some will be sent to specialised schools in coordination with the education department.

"The menace of child/bonded labour, trafficked children has many ramifications on society and the rescued children should be provided good education or working skills to make them self-reliant," said Swati Lakra, the additional director general of police, women safety wing, Telangana. She added that only then would the children be able to lead their lives with dignity and respect.

Reiterating the importance of the programme, she asked all stakeholders to coordinate with each other.

As per the guidelines of the Central government, Telangana has been conducting month-long programmes, Operation Smile and Muskaan, twice a year in collaboration with other stakeholders since 2015 to rescue, rehabilitate and reunite missing/kidnapped children, runaway children, street children, bonded labourers, child labourers, trafficked children, abused children, and child beggars with their parents.