Small hands work to polish Ganesha idols

HYDERABAD: Their small frames crouch over a 10-feet tall Ganesh as Vikas and Raju work non-stop to smooth out rough edges of the idol. Covered from head to toe in plaster-of-paris dust, they claim to be 18 years old, though they hardly look like adolescents. Hailing from Maharashtra, many youngsters like them are part of migrant artisans who throng Dhoolpet, months before Ganesh Chaturthi.The drive by the Labour department to declare Secunderabad a child-labour free zone has rescued a large number of children employed in the twin cities but little thought has been spared for children of migrant workers who work on construction of the idols.The children usually carry out tasks such as polishing idols and are reluctant to answer queries regarding their education, hours of work, wages or age. The migrant artisan families reach Hyderabad three to four months prior to the festival.“We are aware of the situation and we will send a team to verify whether minors are employed by idol makers,”  said joint commissioner of labour, Hyderabad zone, MN Varahala Reddy.