CHENNAI: They were extended a loan of Rs 30,000 and were asked to work at a brick kiln to pay off the debt. That was nearly a decade ago. Since then, they were paid a meagre wages of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per week for the entire family. They were told to buy essential commodities only from the shop identified by the employer, with the expenses being added to their debt, effectively preventing them from clearing the amount owed.
Hence, despite years of hard labour, their employer allegedly claimed that the debt had grown to nearly Rs 1 lakh. Now, after being trapped in a cycle of debt bondage for almost 10 years, nine persons, including four children – the youngest of whom is just two months old - were rescued from the brick kiln in Tirupattur.
The rescue operation was carried out on June 17 at KCN Brick Kiln in Bairapalli village near Ambur by a team led by District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) secretary and Senior Civil Judge J Nagalakshmi and Revenue Divisional Officer (in-charge) A Thanikasalam. Revenue officials, police personnel from Omerabad station and members of the district's newly formed One Stop Crisis Team (OSCT) participated in the operation.
Among those rescued were a two-month-old infant, a one-year-old child, a three-year-old child, and a 16-year-old boy. The victims were taken to the Revenue Divisional Office in Vaniyambadi, where release and rehabilitation procedures were initiated.
According to officials, information about suspected bonded labour practices surfaced during the first meeting of the OSCT held at the DLSA office on June 16. Acting on the tip-off, authorities launched an inquiry the next morning and conducted a raid at the brick kiln.
The rescue is the latest in a series of bonded labour cases unearthed in Tamil Nadu's brick kiln sector. Earlier this month, authorities rescued eight persons, including three children, from a brick kiln in Karur. In May, 39 labourers from Odisha were rescued from a kiln in Tiruvallur, while 51 Irular labourers, including 28 children, were freed from a brick kiln in Cuddalore.