RAYAGADA: In the remote villages of Uluma, Pulaputi and Jhumpapur under the Gunupur block of Rayagada district, Diwali celebrations have no meaning for families of five minors who were charred to death at a prawn farm in Lankavani Dibba of Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district in July last year.
The five - Mohan Sabar, Karunakar Sabar, Pandab Sabar, Pakana Gomang and Rammurty Gomanag - belong to farmer households.
Although the minors were enrolled in school, their parents said that the boys had gone to work at the prawn farm in Guntur to earn money.
“They were carried away by the promises of high wages that labour agents made,” said father of Mohan, Kabed Sabar.
He added that the government mechanism has not been able to stop the labour agents from taking vulnerable children to other states for the purpose of cheap labour. The compensation of Rs 10 lakh that the families received helped them set up pucca houses in their villages.
“But the money cannot compensate for our loss. We request the government to check the migration and ensure that children get a better future,” said Pakana Gomang, another parent.