Most of the workers, including
women, are recruited against monetary advance by local labour contractors who
traffic them to far-off locations all over South India, but when they arrive at
the worksites, they face many unexpected things like over duty without paying
wage, torture, wage-cut and exploitation. As they are taking advance money,
they have to keep mum against the employers’ whip.
Shockingly, Sardars (owner of
brick kiln) and his supervisors scold women workers and her children in abusive
languages and sometimes physically abuse them at the worksites to get more
work. If anybody dares to complain against the Sardars, they leave no chance to
crack them down.
A similar incident happened in
the case of Gayatri who was working at a brick kiln of Dundigal area in
Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. The woman from Kalimati village under
Komna block in Balangir district was beaten up black and blue by a labour
contractor while she and her families reached Kantabanji. Their fault was- they
called a social activist over phone regarding their exploitation at worksites.
The social activists rescued them
and sent them to Odisha. When they were returning to Bolangir by train, the
contractor caught all the four families at Kantabanji and took them to a rice
mill to take revenge. After giving torture in a dingy house, they again sold
them to a mill owner at Rs 70,000. Later, it was informed to the labour
department, but the complaint was not received by the officers.
Finally, with the help of social
activists and some local people, they got released and stayed in their village,
sources said.
Similarly, Revti Putel of Belpada
village under Bongamunda block in Bolangir district committed suicide along
with her three children after being pressurised by the owner of an Andhra
Pradesh based brick kiln to come to work against the bonded debt.
A woman working at a brick kiln
in Karim Nagar of Andhra Pradesh, requesting anonymity, alleged that the
supervisors of brick kilns exploit them sexually by threatening them to kill
their children and husband. The Sardars even engage fair complexioned girl and
good looking minors in household works at the sites away from their parents so
that they can persuade the minors to exploit sexually. If the girl tries to
complain against the Sardars, she will be thrashed and will be thrown out of
the kiln forever, said the woman.
Most of the time, the women
workers bear the filthy behaviour and physical exploitation fearing husband’s
honour and children’s future, said the woman and added that they are always in
tension due to advance money.
Recently, a 12-year-old girl
Phula was forcibly kept by a brick kiln owner in his temporary house at the
worksite of Karim Nagar district in Andhra Pradesh by beating up girl’s
parents. The owner attacked the parents by using goons and then kept the girl
for a few days in his temporary house. After intervention of social activists
from Odisha, the girl was released from the owner’s clutch in a severe
condition. She was shocked after assaulted by the owner, said the woman.
These are just samples of many
incidents happening with women and minor girls in various kilns in south India
States. The owners of the kilns do not give chance to send the workers children
to schools and lure them to engage the children in brick making.
“It is serious violation of child
rights and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but our State Government is
yet to address the issue in a fruitful manner,” said Lok Shakti Abhiyan
president Prafulla Samantara.
According to Raghu Rana, a
Bolangir-based activist working in the issue, the brick kiln workers of western
Odisha are in a trap of labour contractors working in the districts. “The State
Government has no data regarding the status of migrating labourers working in
the brick kilns in south India States which is very unfortunate,” he added. A
racket of labour contractors is active in the western districts, especially
Bolangir, which supplies workers with benefit of thousands of rupees. They
usually hand over the workers to the broker of kiln owners and return to Odisha
after getting their payment. They trickily lure the workers by paying advance
money and persuade them to pay more at the worksites which is false, said the
activist.
According to Jan Jagran Dadan
Sangh (JJDS) president Khagapati Kumbhar of Khaprakhol area in Bolangir
district, he was also a brick kiln worker in Bangalore .
He along with his wife and four children were working as bonded labourers. When
he wanted to send his children to school, the owners of the brick kiln denied
and forced him to engage them in the work.
The labour contractor had
promised him to give Rs 350 for making 1,000 bricks, but when he reached there,
he got just Rs 150 per 1,000 bricks. They were not getting health facility,
proper food and shelter. They were living in a small dingy tent covered by old
tarpaulins after working 14-16 hours work, he said.
Many a time, Kumbhar demanded his
money from the kiln owner, but he was not getting good response. When he
protested at the site, the owner threatened him along with other workers.
Finally, Kumbhar was released
with help of the Labour Officer of Bolangir district and activists.
“It is the sorry state of affair
that every year around 40,000 children including minor girls migrate from
Bolangir district alone to help their parents in the brick kilns,” revealed child
rights activists Santosh Padhy, adding,
“They perform all sorts of hazardous works living in perilous conditions and
facing exploitations of all kinds, physical, mental and other abuses.”
The labour contractors never
register their names in the office of district labour officer fearing they
might get caught later if any worker lodges complaint against him. The failure
in proper implementation of MGNREGA scheme in the State increases the migration
of labourers, alleged the sources.
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