Child labourers at India's Som liquor unit worked 11 hours a day, government says

Som Distilleries and Breweries

02/07/2024 07:10

By Jatindra Dash and Arpan  Chaturvedi
       NEW DELHI, July 2 (Reuters) - An Indian state
government's inspection of a Som Group distillery said child
labourers, some aged between 13 and 17, were made to fill and
pack liquor bottles and worked long hours. 
    Police are investigating the use of child labour at the
distillery in Madhya Pradesh state after the federal
government's National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
said last month it had found 58 children working illegally at
the factory.
    The commission released photos of some with hands showing
chemical burns and said some children were transported in school
buses for factory work.
    A day after the children were found on June 15, an
inspection report was drafted by the state's industrial health
and safety department based on interviews with 27 workers, the
youngest among them being 13 years old. The state says those
aged under 21 cannot work in a liquor factory.
    The report, which is not public but was seen by Reuters,
says children were working 11-hour shifts starting at 8 a.m. 
    Som and the Madhya Pradesh government did not respond to
Reuters' requests for comment.
    In a submission to the state government on June 18, also
seen by Reuters, Som said some children would visit the company
to deliver food and medicines to their parents, and no worker
was younger than 21.
    Som is one of the smaller distilleries in India's thriving
alcohol industry, where both foreign and domestic players
operate. Its website describes it as an "internationally
acclaimed brand" available in more than 20 markets including the
United States, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
    The incident has drawn attention to child labour in Indian
supply chains. In 2021, Reuters reported an external audit of
two Carlsberg warehouses found underage labourers at a location
in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Carlsberg at the time said it
had terminated the services of the third-party provider.
    In the Som inspection report, the state government said the
children working there were not given training on how they could
protect themselves from harmful chemicals.
    "Since it is hazardous work, there should have been a health
centre at the factory," the report said.
    The Madhya Pradesh government temporarily suspended the Som
distillery's manufacturing licences, but the company has
challenged the decision, saying there has been no conclusive
finding of wrongdoing. 
    After Som's challenge, a local court put the state's
decision on hold and said it would next hear the case later this
month.
    In a statement to the stock exchange last month, Som
Distilleries and Breweries Ltd  SDB.NS  said the Madhya Pradesh
plant was run by its "associate private limited company" and
used labour supplied by contractors who may not have carried out
proper age checks. The listed company's shares have fallen by 8%
since the children were found at the factory.

 (Reporting by Jatinda Dash and Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by
Aditya Kalra and Jamie Freed)
 ((Arpan.Chaturvedi@thomsonreuters.com;))