Over 100 minors, held as bonded labourers, rescued from Raipur factory
Over 100 minors who were allegedly being forced to work under exploitative conditions in a mushroom-manufacturing unit in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur were rescued on Monday (November 17, 2025) following an intervention by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
On Tuesday, NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo, in a post on X, said the children – mostly tribals from Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha – were being held as bonded labourers and forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. They were exposed to formaldehyde, a chemical known to cause cancer.
“In a mushroom factory in Raipur, a raid was conducted yesterday evening on my instructions, rescuing more than 100 minor boys and girls from bonded labour. A large number of tribal children are among them… According to the information, the factory owner and agents were bringing the children by giving advances and making them work for less than the minimum wage, and the children were kept in extremely cramped rooms,” a part of his post read.
He wrote that on the complaint of an NGO, Association for Voluntary Action (AVA), instructions were given to the local collector and district police to take action, leading to the raid.
AVA said that the children were trafficked and employed in the factory by local agents. “They were subjected to severe exploitation, restrictions on movement and coercive practices amounting to human trafficking and bonded labour,” it said in a press release.
When the team rescued the children, they informed that they lived in tiny, dingy rooms in the factory and were often made to work for 12 to 15 hours. They were hardly provided any dinner, the NGO said.
In his post, Mr. Kanoongo demanded action against the factory owners.
“Unfortunately, the administration only takes action against middlemen agents while letting influential factory owners off the hook, which is why these crimes do not stop,” he wrote. He sought the intervention of the State governments to ensure the safe return of the children.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Raipur) Lal Umed Singh said an inquiry was on following which police will take action.
At present, the children are housed at childcare institutions in Raipur.
