CHENNAI: For Kala (41) and her husband Mani, who were rescued from bonded labour in 2008, their 14-year struggle to stay away from being sucked back into a capricious, vicious cycle ended on a happy note when the Tiruvallur district set up a brick kiln for them and other such families on two acres of land at a cost of Rs 4 lakh with a Rs 5.9 lakh seed fund to operate the unit at Veeraganallur in Tiruttani in the district.
“I hail from Suriyanaragaram panchayat near Tiruttani. When I was pregnant in 2003, my husband borrowed Rs 5,000 for my delivery expenses and agreed to work to settle the debt. We worked in Murugambedu till 2008 when officials rescued us. We were not able to send our first two children to school as we were employed in a brick kiln. My next two children, a boy and a girl, are now studying in Class 10 and Class 9,” Kala said.
To create sustainable livelihood for 100 families (300 people) of mostly Irula tribals, who were rescued from bonded labour since 2008, the Tiruvallur district administration has formed three Common Livelihood Groups (CLGs).
“While one CLG of 40 families will take care of the brick kiln, two other groups of 30 families each will be involved in wood cutting. We have currently provided them with 25 power saws for chopping wood. We are planning to increase it to 75,” said V Jayakumar, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA).
According to officials, the wood chopped by the members will be used to bake bricks, and the bricks will be procured for building houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and other government schemes. A shed will also be built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme at the allotted land.
“While they will get a salary from the corpus fund, they will also get a share of the profit from the bricks produced. They have made about 7,000 to 8,000 bricks so far and will make 50,000 bricks in a week,” Jayakumar added. They will get a salary of Rs 960 for every 1,000 bricks that are produced, officials said.
‘We are sure business will be a success’
The elated beneficiaries said, “Officials told us that this would be our own business. We suffered without sleep and basic amenities for so long and now our hearts are filled with joy. As we were traditionally making bricks and involved in wood cutting, we are sure about the success of the venture.” Tiruvallur Collector Alby John said,
“This is a new model where we have given land-use permission and working capital. We will monitor the progress of the initiative and address issues if there are any. Such projects will also help increase the trust of the people in government systems.” Similarly, a project to provide housing for 100 families of bonded labourers and create livelihood opportunities for them was executed in Tiruvannamalai district last year.