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Thursday, Jul 05, 2007
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They were rescued from hell

Bageshree S.

Raid on brick kiln near Anekal exposes horrific working conditions

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

NO REDEMPTION: Workers from Orissa at a brick factory in Anekal taluk, near Bangalore, waiting to move out after Wednesday’s raids.

Bangalore: It takes no more than a 30-km drive from the high profile Electronics City on Hosur Road to another world where people live and work in conditions that recall the dark ages.

This came to light in a raid conducted by the Labour Department in a brick kiln at Doddahagade village near Anekal. The workers described the horrific conditions under which they were held, even as thugs manhandled the workers and tried to prevent them from leaving — all in the presence of social workers and the media. Reporters, photographers and camera crew who had gone to report the event with representatives from three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were pushed around and threatened by the same people. Reporters were abused and attempts made to damage cameras. A youngster who claimed to be the “writer” (accountant) at the kiln forcibly opened this correspondent’s bag to see if she had any photographic evidence.

There were nearly 50 workers at the kiln from the Padampur subdivision of Bargarh and Bolangir districts of Orissa, two of the most impoverished regions of that State, which sees large scale migration. The workers at Doddahagade had been working for periods ranging up to a year. Labour violations such as low payment and even non-payment of wages, besides child exploitation and physical abuse were reported by the workers in heartrending accounts. Mamata Suna, who clutched a one-year-old malnourished baby in her arms, said she had been detained for three weeks and was prevented from nursing the child all because she had asked the owners why her husband had been locked up. Ten-year-old Geeta said that she worked in the kiln owner’s house for Rs. 3,500 a year. Tulasa (12) and Urvashi (13) said they were not paid, but worked with their parents at the kiln.

Vasant Kumar Hittanagi, Assistant Labour Commissioner who conducted the raid and took statements from the workforce, said that all of them had “expressed the desire to leave the place”. They would be transported to Bangalore in two trucks. They would be temporarily put up with the NGO APSA and later sent back home. There were “obvious violations” he said, and charges would be framed under labour laws such as the Minimum Wages Act and the Child Labour Act. He said that it was the second such raid being conducted in four months. The Friends Association for Rural Reconstruction, from Orissa, SICHREM, and APSA, were the NGOs that brought the issue to light.

The situation took a dramatic turn as the truckload of workers attempted to leave the kiln premises. A group of thugs appeared out of nowhere and started pulling the women, men and children with their meagre belongings out of the trucks. Bijay Kumar from the Orissa-based NGO was hit as he tried to prevent an old woman from being pulled out of the truck. There were only two constables accompanying the team and they could do little to prevent them.

Nanjundiah, the kiln owner who arrived late on the scene, said he had looked after the workers well “like my own children” and never harassed anyone. It was much later that an additional posse of policemen arrived to bring the situation under control. It was 8 p.m. by the time workers could be brought to Anekal police station.

Mr. Kumar, who was heckled and attacked by the mob, said: “If this is the condition in the presence of so many people and media, can you imagine how life is for them on an ordinary working day?”

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