63 bonded labourers rescued from brick kiln

DINDIGUL: Revenue and police officials have rescued 63 people including 23 children from Odisha who were allegedly forced to work as bonded labourers at a brick kiln in Dindigul on Wednesday.
The rescued workers were brought to Dindigul from Akkaraipatti village where they were working in the brick kiln for the past eight months to be sent back to Odisha.The officials initiated the action after one of the workers had fled from the kiln and submitted a complaint to the police.
"They belonged to 19 families. Apart from 38 adults and two teenaged girls, there were 23 minors," said a police officer. Police, however, expressed doubts whether they were being harassed by the employer and said that they were in fact allowed to go freely anywhere. "Inquiries with the villagers revealed that the brick kiln workers were seen in village shanty every Friday. In addition, it was these workers - working in a nearby brick kiln - who had sought employment with the owner of this kiln," said the officer.
According to police, the rescued workers had joined Sagayanathan's brick kiln three months back. They were paid an advance of Rs 20,000 besides a payment of Rs 400 for every 400 bricks they make. One of the workers had fled from the kiln and visited Odisha where he told his relatives that he was being harassed. The relatives submitted a petition to the Odisha police, who in turn forwarded the complaint to Dindigul police.
Palani DSP Kuppuraj, tahsildar Sasikala and officials from the labour department visited the brick kiln and conducted inquiries. The owner of the kiln Sagayanathan defended that he had never harassed the workers nor underpaid them. He alleged that the workers were accusing him just to get exemption from repaying the advance they had obtained.
However, the workers preferred to leave the brick kiln and expressed their desire to return to Odisha. Subsequently, all of them were rescued from the kiln and taken to Dindigul from where they would be sent to Odisha.