The state government issued a second order stating that the labour department would be tasked with looking into the situation and that the plant’s manufacturing permits would be temporarily suspended. Exemplary Image
two minutes to read Last updated @ 11:27 PM IST on June 19, 2024
Following the discovery of 59 youngsters working at the Som Group distillery unlawfully by the federal child rights agency, Indian officials announced on Wednesday that they were impounded a distillery owned by the company and temporarily suspended the plant’s manufacturing licences.
Following the discovery last week that there were 20 girls and 39 boys employed at the factory by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), police opened an investigation into Som. The organisation also made public images of kids’ hands that it said displayed chemical burns.
“We have dispatched law enforcement to guarantee that there are no problems during the sealing procedure,” senior Madhya Pradesh police official Vikas Kumar Shahwal said to Reuters.
In a separate decree, the state government said that the labour department would be conducting an investigation into the situation and that the plant’s manufacturing permits would be temporarily suspended.
When asked to comment, Som remained silent.
Som Distilleries and Breweries Ltd. said in a statement to the stock exchange earlier this week that the problem stemmed from a plant operated by a “associate private limited company” that employed labour provided by contractors who might not have done the appropriate age checks.
According to Som, their services have been terminated, and they are working with the police. This week, the company’s stock has dropped 7%.
School buses were used to bring some of the kids who were discovered working at the distillery to the factory, NCPCR Chief Priyank Kanoongo told Reuters on Wednesday.
“They rode school buses and were enrolled in an institution. Thus, as they worked in the spirits factory, people mistakenly believed they were attending the school, according to Kanoongo.
One of the smallest distilleries in India’s burgeoning alcohol sector, which is home to both local and international businesses, is called Som. According to its website, it is a “globally recognised brand” that is sold in more than 20 regions, such as the US, UK, and New Zealand.
India is concerned about child labour. Underage labourers have been discovered at a facility in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, according to a 2021 Reuters story about an external audit of two Carlsberg warehouses.
At the time, Carlsberg stated that “the third-party provider was terminated immediately in 2018 following the findings in the internal report.”