A team of officers from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), police and Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Sunday searched an aqua processing unit near Pamarru in Krishna district and said they found about 24 “minor” girls engaged for work in the company.
It may be noted that a 13-year-old girl from West Bengal died under mysterious circumstances near the company on September 20. The Pamarru police are currently investigating that case.
The search was in response to allegations that minors were being engaged to work in the aqua export company. The team comprised SCPCR chairperson K. Appa Rao, Krishna CWC chairperson K. Suvartha and officers from the departments of Women Development and Child Welfare and Police.
“During the search, we identified about 24 minor girls from Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and other States. They were engaged for work in different sections in the company,” Ms. Suvartha said.
“The search will continue on Monday,” Mr. Appa Rao told The Hindu. “CWC will arrange for a special bench in the company on September 25 (Monday) to check the age-proof certificates of all the workers and take necessary action,” said Ms. Suvarna. She added that they would check if minor boys too were engaged to work in the company.
Community social worker B. Kumari, who visited the aqua plant, said the minor girl who died was staying with her mother. The company staff claimed that the girl was not a worker in the unit. The HR executives of the firm said the workers were engaged based on the Aadhar cards produced by them.
