Click to play videoMumbai: Seventeen-year-old Chandu works at a Mother Dairy factory in Goregaon. He left his hometown and came to Mumbai when a contractor offered him a summer job, but after he started work, he was forcibly kept there.
He and several other boys, mostly from Vidarbha and Bihar, say they are inhumanly treated at the factory and also allege that they are fed inedible food. The boys also said that the promised salary of Rs 60 per day is rarely given to them.
“I want to go home. I am treated like an animal. I am being forced to work here,” Chandu said.
While another worker, Homer Soman, said, “We don’t get a holiday and the food is terrible.”
Ironically, this Mother Dairy juice factory is located on the premises of the government-owned Mahananda Dairy. The matter was brought to light when CNN-IBN’s sister channel IBN Lokmat visited the factory at the behest of an NGO.
When IBN Lokmat confronted authorities at Mother Dairy, they initially claimed they had no knowledge of child and forced labour at their factory. However, later they agreed to let the children go to their respective hometowns.
Nearly 61 children have now been released, but the incident is a reminder of how little is being done to deter child labour in India.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.