Adolescents from poor families of villages in and around Usilampatti and other parts of rural Madurai, are caught in a new form of ‘slavery,' and a good number of them have unknowingly become bonded labourers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh working in ‘murukku'-making units.
This is a new phenomenon that has emerged in the last two decades when farmers in Madurai and other southern districts were affected owing to crop failure, started migrating to these States and set up snacks-making units. Snacks, including rice ‘murukku' and honey toffees are popular across northern and eastern States.
With the help of brokers, these men who migrated to these places managed to rope in children, mostly school dropouts, from poverty-stricken areas and employed them as bonded labourers, said a couple of non-governmental organisations that studied this phenomenon.
Though it is basically an economic phenomenon, the social reality is that most of the children employed in these units are drawn from the lower rungs of the society as they are more vulnerable. Places around Madurai and Dindigul are more prone to this form of bonded labour, and most employers hail from Usilampatti taluk.
In fact, Usilampatti has lathes that have been making ‘murukku' moulds for more than five decades, Raja, whose family is exporting moulds to far off States such as Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and across India, is also exporting it to California in the United States.
The man says he has 100 varieties of moulds and among them are ones that help in economical usage of dough. However, when questioned about children and adolescents being sent from nearby villages, he was uncomfortable and did not open up.
A 17-year-old boy from Vilampatti near Usilampatti, who was rescued from Gujarat, had allegedly become mentally affected owing to the torture he underwent at a ‘murukku' making unit.
His father, K. Thavamani, who used to sell tender coconuts had a fall when he was climbing a tree. Since then he has become economically unproductive and his wife T. Chitra used to work as an agricultural labourer. Finding it tough to beat poverty, they had sent their only son to a ‘murukku'-making unit in Gujarat in 2007 and now they are left with intolerable suffering.
School dropouts in poor families have become easy targets for brokers/agents who lure with promises of money for the parents and good food to eat for the children at the units.
Madurai Rural Police, in a recent breakthrough, rescued five Dalit adolescents, Manicka Raja (15), Mariswaran (12), Mari Kannan (12), Vijay (12) and Ajit Kumar (15) from Perungudi who were engaged as bonded labourers in ‘murukku' making units in Jharsuguda district, Odisha.
The issue came to light when 15-year-old Manicka Raja escaped from the clutches of his employer and managed to reach home. His mother, Vetriselvi, was caught in a dilemma but mustered courage and lodged a complaint with the police.
Superintendent of Police Asra Garg formed a special team which was led by K. S. Ravichandran, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Tirupparankundram), Inspector Jayachandran, Sub-Inspector Chellapandian and arrested four persons, including a broker, on charges of forced labour and wrongful confinement of adolescent children. Perungudi police have registered cases under IPC Sections 294 B, 324, 506 (1) read with 316 and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act as the rescued boys were Dalits.
Vetriselvi said that she was enticed by the agent and the rescued children were all bunking classes and found to be loitering around showing no interest in studies. “We thought of sending him so that he learns a job and also contributes to the family,” she said.
Vetriselvi, like most of the women in the Dalit neighbourhood, is engaged in basket making. She weaves baskets and sells them to flower vendors, a basket would fetch her Rs.3, she says, “We can hardly weave 10 baskets a day, so the maximum we could earn in a day is Rs. 25 to 30.”
Vetriselvi's husband Manickam is a daily wage labourer with seasonal employment. So the promise of cash in hand and a job for her son made her give way to the luring tactics of the broker. Identity becomes an important issue here, as the broker masquerading himself as a Dalit has lured the parents that he had send children from “our” caste from all over the State to these units.
Manickam Raja has been psychologically affected by the torture that he had undergone at the unit. He had suffered burn injuries almost on all parts of his body. Reluctant to speak or react, he slowly said that, in cramped small rooms the boys worked for at least 20 hours a day with little food and rest.
Ajit Kumar (15), another boy, who was also rescued by the police said, “We were given loathsome food to eat and were allowed to sleep only four hours a day, we were promised that they would give us blankets to cover our body, but all they gave us were old clothes.”
Mariswaran (12) is completely unaware of what has happened to him. All he said was it was a very frightening experience, the rooms were very hot, frying ‘murukku' in hot pan for long hours caused burns and any slackness at work resulted in harsh beating. “If they find us eating a single piece of ‘murukku' they would not feed us the whole day.”
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Madurai Range) B. Bala Naga Devi and Mr. Garg have claimed that at least 100 adolescents from Madurai, Theni and Ramanathapuram districts are suspected to be engaged in ‘murukku' making units. Mr. Garg said that parents, who had sent their wards through brokers, can furnish details of their children to the police and assured that stern action would be taken against this practice.
