Nine Freed from Bonded Labour in Mancherial Brick Kiln
Hyderabad: A team led by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) of Mancherial, in collaboration with local police, rescued nine people, including three children, from bonded labour conditions in a brick kiln at Indhanpalle village of Janaram block in Adilabad.
The families were lured from Balangir district in Odisha a month ago with false promises of Rs 40,000 per family for six months for loading and unloading work.
They had been living in inhuman conditions in the brick kiln. Upon arrival, they were paid a paltry Rs 500 as an advance and forced to mould bricks—a task for which they had no prior training.
CCTV cameras monitored their movements, and only one person from the group was permitted to leave the facility at a time to buy essentials. In the past month, only one worker was allowed outside the facility briefly.
Their mobile phones were taken away, cutting off any contact with the outside world. The labourers endured long hours of toil from 5 am till 8 pm, besides verbal abuse and physical assaults. Women faced particularly
horrific treatment, with threats of further violence looming over them.
Despite these hardships, the kiln owner provided only 30 kilograms of rice and a meagre Rs 1,000 per family for 20 days of work.
The case exposed egregious human right violations, including bonded labour, forced labour, wrongful confinement, and physical abuse. The workers were promised Rs 40,000, but paid only Rs 500, and Rs 20,000 was handed over to the middleman.
They were confined and threatened when they requested to leave their place of work. While they were promised Rs 60,000 for six months of work, they were paid only Rs 1,000 per family after 20 days. The workers were forced to work for 15 hours a day under duress.
The rescue was initiated after Jayanta Kumbhar, brother of one of the victims, approached the State Legal Services Authority in Odisha, which coordinated with their counterparts in Telangana.
Led by Arpitha Maryam Reddy, secretary, DLSA, Mancherial and supported by local police, the team successfully freed the workers from their plight. The rescued individuals are now under the care of local authorities and are being safely repatriated to Odisha.
Legal action is being taken against the brick kiln owner and the middleman to ensure justice is served.
"Incidents of bonded labour are most prevalent in Ranga Reddy, Karimnagar and Siddipet districts. This was the first case coming from Mancherial this time," said Nagaraju from Divyadisha NGO, that was part of the rescue team.
"Individuals looking for work in neighbouring states are brought to Telangana in lure of better work opportunities by middlemen, who promise exorbitant amounts to them.
The middlemen bring them in groups and flee the place after handing them over to the employer. The families lose contact with their relatives in home states and are unable to come out of their deplorable conditions," he added.
He said that although the state police conduct rescue operations twice a year--Operation Smile and Operation Muskaan-- more concerted efforts need to be carried out in collaboration with neighbouring states.
