Migrant labourers face exploitation at brick kilns across Telangana

Brick kilns across Telangana allegedly exploit migrant workers recruited from four eastern and northern States. Rights groups cite debt bondage, poor living conditions, withheld wages and inadequate facilities, while activists demand stronger monitoring, rescue operations and rehabilitation support for workers

Mancherial: Brick kilns across different districts in Telangana continue to exploit migrant laborers from north Indian States despite laws to eradicate the menace.

Come August, agents descend on lodges in rural parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal to hire anywhere between 5 and 6 lakh labourers from poor families to be engaged in the six-month long seasonal job of manufacturing bricks at hundreds of kilns operated in agriculture fields on the outskirts of several villages in Peddapalli, Jagtial, Mancherial, Khammam, Warangal, Nalgonda and other districts.

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The agents lure gullible poor families from the four States into what rights organisations describe a vicious trap of labour exploitation by paying handsome advances in cash. They shift the families from their villages to nearby railway stations by cramming them in tractors before transporting them by trains to these districts. Basic amenities are promised at the worksites.

However, the migrant labourers are provided with temporary tin-roofed rooms built with broken bricks at sites of kilns located on the peripheries of villages and towns to ensure optimum productivity.

They reside at the worksites facing a slew of challenges and untold hardships and are forced to live in the congested rooms, risking their lives as they are prone to be bitten by venomous snakes.

“Typically, the labourers begin their day at 4 am with abusive language used by supervisors and are prohibited from taking rest during the day. They don’t have privacy to spend with their spouses nor allowed to visit local markets to buy rations on weekends. They are always tracked by the men of the operators,” member of a voluntary organizations.

Similarly, the worksites lack basic amenities such as drinking water, lighting, sanitation and schools. For instance, the water used for molding bricks is supplied to the families. Many are hospitalised after consuming contaminated water and food at the worksites at regular intervals. Children miss their education during the period of migration.

The kiln operators offer Rs 100 per 1,000 bricks to the families and set a target of 1.50 lakh bricks in six months. “The operators add cash given to purchase rations every week to the advance. The laborers don’t earn a single penny, but end up in dues to operators even after toiling for 12 hours a day in dangerous working sites,” a representative of migrant laborer rights organisation regretted.

Meanwhile, minor girls and women are reportedly subjected to sexual harassment by staffers and owners of kilns. However, the incidents go unreported. They are rescued and shifted to their native states only after a heinous offence takes place. They draw the attention of officials only when crimes against girls and women are highlighted in the media newspapers and channels.

A standard operating procedure is not being followed during rescue and rehabilitation operations in Telangana. The rescued laborers should be offered monetary support by the State government and provided with rehabilitation measures as per migrant labor norms laid by the union government.

“The concerned departments and district authorities show negligence in documenting details of the laborers and executing the process of rescue and rehabilitation. The officials are reluctant to take support from voluntary organizations that strive for protecting the rights of the labourers in the State. As a result, the exploitation of the migrant laborer goes unabated in Telangana,” a rights activist remarked.