Children Worked 11-Hour Days at Som Group Liquor unit : Report

An alarming report from Reuters has unveiled distressing details of child labour exploitation at a distillery operated by Som Group in Madhya Pradesh. According to police investigations, children between the ages of 13 and 17 were forced to engage in hazardous tasks such as filling and packing liquor bottles, enduring grueling 11-hour shifts.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had previously flagged the issue, revealing that 58 minors were illegally employed at the factory. Shocking photographs released by the commission depicted children with chemical burns on their hands, highlighting the unsafe working conditions they endured. Some children were reportedly transported in school buses for their shifts, raising concerns about their safety and welfare.

Following these revelations, the state’s industrial health and safety department conducted an inspection, interviewing 27 workers. The inspection report corroborated the exploitation, noting the prolonged work hours and lack of safety measures, including the absence of a health center at the facility despite the hazardous nature of the work.

The state government criticized the distillery for failing to provide proper training to children on handling chemicals safely, further compounding the severity of the exploitation.

Som Distilleries and Breweries, in response to the allegations, clarified that the Madhya Pradesh plant operates under an associate private limited company and utilizes labor supplied by contractors. The company admitted that these contractors may have neglected proper age verification checks, implying systemic failures in ensuring compliance with child labor laws.

The exposure of child labor at Som Group’s distillery underscores significant ethical and legal concerns. It calls for urgent regulatory action to enforce stringent labor laws and protect vulnerable minors from exploitation in hazardous industries.

Sources By Agencies