More than 50 children were found working in a liquor factory named Som Distillery in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) registered an FIR against the factory owners following the discovery, news agency ANI reported on Saturday. 


Reacting to the incident, NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo told ANI, "We had received a complaint from Bachpan Bachao Andolan that in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district, at a liquor factory named Som Distillery, children were found working in the manufacture of liquor."


"More than 50 children were found there... They were asked to work for 15 hours in situations where we would not be able to even stand... This is a non-bailable offence. We are getting an FIR registered & the owners will also be arrested," he added. 


On Friday, a PTI report citing officials noted that 25 girls and 11 boys were rescued from three factories in Raisen district. An FIR was registered against the factory owners for employing child labour.


The rescue operation in Mandideep industrial area was led by the NCPCR, in coordination with police teams and the Association for Voluntary Action, also known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA). The report stated that the factories were sealed, and an FIR was lodged later. 


An official told PTI, "The operation was initiated on a BBA complaint. The 36 children looked vulnerable, malnourished, and sleep-deprived. They were made to work for 12-14 hours every day. They are in the 15-17 year age group and hail from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and neighbouring districts in Madhya Pradesh. Most of the rescued girls belonged to the nearby tribal areas". 


The rescued children were produced before the Child Welfare Committee and were being counselled, as per the PTI report. The three units included a bakery producing biscuits and rusks, a food processing establishment, and a facility making plastic electronic products. 


BBA director Manish Sharma told PTI, "Owners of such units are blinded by the greed for cheap and docile labour, with parents failing for fake promises made by traffickers and employers".  


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