KRISHNAGIRI: Officials from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Wednesday inquired about the bonded labour issue at a brick kiln, following a petition that was filed by a man from the Irular tribe.
“According to a petition from C Sakthivel (28) of Perunkaadu in Dharmapuri district, his family and relatives allegedly worked as bonded labour in a brick kiln unit near Hosur for more than a year and his two-year-old son died due to electrocution in the workplace in the first week of May. He filed the petition to Collector Dr V Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy, who asked the Hosur RDO to enquire about the issue. But, the complainant was not satisfied and levelled allegations against the RDO and sought compensation for his child death,” Police Inspector B Kanchana from SHRC told TNIE.
An inquiry was conducted with ten people, including five children, and steps will be taken to issue a release certificate through the district administration. SHRC will also issue summons to Hosur RDO and Thalli police station for negligence in handling the bonded labour issue.
P Ranjith Kumar and CR Veeravendan, district coordinators (Namakkal) of bonded labour system abolition project from Rights Education And Development (READ) and S Janaki, textile worker project coordinator (Erode) of READ, who identified this issue, were also enquired by SHRC.