14 bonded labourers rescued in Cuddalore district
Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising officials from the Revenue, Labour, and Police departments, along with social activists, conducted a surprise inspection at a sugarcane field in Pethunaikkankuppam village near Kurinchipadi on Tuesday afternoon.
CHENNAI: Fourteen bonded labourers, including three boys under the age of 15, have been rescued from a sugarcane field in Pethunaikkankuppam, located in Cuddalore’s Kurinchipadi taluk.
Acting on a tip-off, a team comprising officials from the Revenue, Labour, and Police departments, along with social activists, conducted a surprise inspection at a sugarcane field in Pethunaikkankuppam village near Kurinchipadi on Tuesday afternoon.
They found a group of men and women housed in a poultry shed adjacent to an agricultural field in the village.
“The issue came to light after one of the relatives alerted volunteers from the National Adivasi Solidarity Council, an NGO, about the plight of their kin and several other families working in the sugarcane fields in Pethunaikkankuppam.
Following this, the volunteers carried out a discreet visit to the site and informed the district administration,” said a member of the rescue team.
The inquiry led to the rescue of 14 individuals, including three children, along with their families, from bonded labour. Investigations revealed that they had received an advance of Rs 5,000 each and Rs 10,000 per couple to work as agricultural labourers for one Ramachandran, a native of Seyyankuppam in Villupuram district.
They were brought to Pethunaikkankuppam village nine months ago to work in the sugarcane fields in and around the area, and were forced to live in inhumane conditions in a poultry shed. The labourers, along with their children, shared the shed and were not allowed to move out during the period.
“Ramachandran provided only one proper meal a day and, for the other two meals, gave rice porridge with onions and green chillies. He deceived them throughout the period by claiming that their wages were being adjusted against the advance,” said a member of the rescue team, citing statements from the rescued labourers.
The revenue officials have initiated rehabilitation measures, while the police department has initiated legal proceedings against Ramachandran under the provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and other relevant acts.