The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tough times for kiln workers

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Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tough times for kiln workers

J.B.S. Umanadh

Many of them are brought by contractors from backward districts of Orissa

They work in hot sun by the side of burning kilns
Some workers rescued by officials from Orissa

Photo: Mohd. Arif

For a square meal: Labourers from Bolangir district of Orissa working at a brick kiln in Aannaram village of Jinnaram mandal in Medak district. –

Jinnaram (Medak): Increased construction activity in and around Hyderabad has created a new class of migratory labour that works at the beck and call of contractors in the adjoining Ranga Reddy and Jinnaram of Medak districts.

Contractors bring thousands of labourers, particularly from the most backward Bolangir and Nuapada districts of Orissa, to work in the brick kilns located mostly in the Jinnaram mandal of the district.

Innocent and illiterate men and women, along with their children, usually arrive here in large numbers after the contractors book them in Balangir by paying Rs. 30,000 for a batch.

Most of them stay in the makeshift shacks, partly covered with polythene sheets, and work in the hot sun by the side of the burning kilns all through the day.

The fear of the contractors and their henchmen is so severe that many of the Oriya workers were not willing to talk to this reporter.

However, one Lalith in Annaram village near Dundigal Air Force Academy said that recently, some officers from his native district arrived in the Banda Madaram village and rescued a few dozens of workers who made a compliant about the deplorable conditions under which they were kept by a contractor.

Lalith said that the conditions here were good and the administration had even provided an Oriya-speaking teacher at the local school for educating their wards.

Sanjeeva Reddy, a local leader presenting a different picture, said that the Orissa workers, who otherwise would have starved to death in Balangir, were leading a better life here and only a few trouble-mongers blackmailed the contractors. He pointed out that many contractors had lost money when the labourers didn’t turn up for work.

Partho, another worker from a nearby kiln, said that he was getting Rs. 70 per day for his work and the payment had been prompt thus far. Agreeing that living in the open is tough, Partho said that the work was available only till the beginning of the monsoon and they all would have to return to Orissa by June.

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