RANIPET: To prevent individuals from being subjected to bonded labour and improve the livelihoods of those rescued from such situations, Collector S Valarmathi on Wednesday convened a district-level monitoring committee meeting with various departmental officials, especially the Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department.
Since 2017, the collector said, 77 bonded labourers have been rescued, of those, 27 are natives of Ranipet district. They were made to work in rice mills, farmlands, logging sites and as domestic help. She directed the officials from health, social welfare, labour welfare, and rural development departments to provide immediate support to the 27 rescued, including facilitating rehabilitation relief funds, ration cards (PDS), housing pattas, community certificates, government medical insurance cards and smart cards for unorganised workers. She instructed the rural development department to issue MGNREGS cards to the rescued individuals and directed the respective revenue divisional officers to visit the homes, assess their economic status, and submit reports by June 10. She sought a similar report from the assistant commissioner of the labour department as well.
Valarmathi said the bonded labourers rescued through Mahalir Thittam should be integrated into women self-help groups to boost their economic stability through rural self-employment training institutes, where they would receive training in handicrafts production. The social welfare department and school education departments were told to ensure the children of the rescued receive education. The Health Department should provide medical services necessary to the rescued, she said.
The District Child Protection Office, along with the labour welfare and social welfare departments, was instructed to identify any instance of child labour in the district.