40 bonded labourers, including nine children, of Odisha freed

Labourers allege kiln owner did not allow them to go home to vote

VIJAYAWADA. ANDHRA PRADESH, 17-04-2019. 
Assistant Commissioner of Labour D. Anjaneya Reddy interacting with the labourers at the brick kiln at Gottumukkala village in Krishna district on Wednesday. PHOTO: BY_ARRANGMENT

In a joint operation, officers of the Odisha and AP Labour Departments conducted a raid on a brick kiln at Gottumukkala village in Kanchikacherla mandal on Wednesday, and freed 40 bonded labourers belonging to Odisha.

Nine children aged below 15 years and a few kids were also reportedly detained at the kiln, the officials said.

Acting on a complaint from Odisha Labour Commissioner Anjan Kumar Manik, Andhra Pradesh Labour Commissioner D. Vara Prasad deputed Assistant Commissioner of Labour (ACL), D. Anjaneya Reddy, who visited the kiln and enquired into the bonded labour system at the kiln.

The labourers explained how the owner, Mahesh Patel, allegedly detained and forced them to work in the kiln.

Odisha ACL Bhagyasree, who participated in the raid said Mahesh Patel engaged about 20 families in December last year, and promised to pay ₹35,000 per labourer. “But, he paid only ₹5,000 per head so far. He paid the same amount for children also,” said a woman labourer Ghela Tandi.

No facilities

Nandigama Assistant Labour Officer (ALO), Maheswar Reddy, who visited the kiln, said there was no proper accommodation, drinking water, toilets and other facilities for labourers at the workplace.

A labourer, Purushottam Kumbhar, who escaped from the kiln explained the travails of the families in Andhra Pradesh, and alerted the Odisha labour officials.

“We urged to send us to our native village to cast our vote on April 11. But, the owner refused,” said Tandi's husband Gopo Bandhu.

Mr. Anjaneya Reddy said all the 40 labourers were freed and shifted to Kanchikacherla immediately. They were provided transportation to Balangir. The Labour department will verify if ny other labourers are working in the kiln, whether the kiln was registered and at how many places Mr. Mahesh was operating brick kilns, he said.

Case to be booked

“The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) is running two schools at Donabanda and Kanchikacherla for migrant labourers’ children. But, children of Odisha families were not allowed to study in the NCLP schools,” Mr. Anjaneya Reddy said.

Cases would be booked against the owner under Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Inter-State Migrant Labourers Act, 1979, Minimum Wages Act, 2016 and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, the official said.