MADURAI: In the summer of 2000, all that 14-year-old T Thangpandian looked forward to was good sleep. Toiling away in a private manufacturing company in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district for 18 hours on the trot daily from 4 am to 11.30 pm, he barely slept. He would be drenched in boiling water if he failed to wake up on time, any day.
Thangpandian was among the four child labourers who were sent from Tamil Nadu. Whenever there was an official enquiry, the kids were threatened to say that the owners were their parents and that they worked at the factory willingly. However, their prisoner life came to an end the very next year when two advocates from the Madurai-based Society for Community Organisation (SOCO) brought out to the world the atrocities they suffered as bonded labourers, in June 2001.
Today, Thangpandian is a commerce graduate working in a private firm in Madurai, living happily with his wife and kid. For him, the SOCO Trust — founded by advocate A Mahaboob Batcha — is a godsend. The Trust worked tirelessly for 40 years, making efforts to uproot the bonded-labour system in India and provide free training on human rights.
Batcha had drawn inspiration from two striking incidents. In the early 1980s, former TNIE Resident Editor Sambandham, reported on a speech by former Srivilliputhur MLA R Thamaraikani on bonded labour suspicions. A curious Batcha visited the area with his friend, unearthed the truth and wrote to the judge. Justice PN Bhagwati considered the letter as a writ petition and ordered a three-men commission including Batcha to investigate.
Three years later, in 1983, a worker who was rescued from a brick kiln in Shenbagathoppu in Srivilliputhur could not identify a Rs 5 note that was produced in front of him by the police. He was one of over 100 ‘Paliyar’ tribal families who were bonded labourers working in a mangrove for half padi (roughly 375 gram) rice, a dozen betel leaves and tobacco. These families could finally breathe after the commission’s efforts. Soon enough, Justice Bhagwati inaugurated the ‘Paliyar’ colony in Srivilliputhur, indicating that they can break free.
“It was a great achievement in my life,” says Batcha. He covered a stir staged by autorickshaw drivers in Madurai for a month, when he lost his camera. Cops took him into custody, suspecting he was a part of the humdrum and booked him under TN Public Property Act. Batcha found that many prisoners were mistreated and multiple Constitutional rights were broken by authorities.
When released, he came out as a different man and hoped to free them from shackles. Thus ‘SOCO’ was born on October 11, 1982. From then on, there was no looking back. Over the years, SOCO became the reason over 100 boys who were captured as bonded labourers in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Chattisgarh, and 157 Sri Lankan families stuck in estates of Kodaikanal tasted liberty.
Many, including pregnant women, held up in chains knew nothing but restrains at a Sivaganaga brick kiln. SOCO’s work brought it to the notice of former TN Chief Secretary Shanmugam, the then Sivaganga Collector. He then rescued them and show them there is light beyond their confines to in 2019.
Another ongoing battle for SOCO is the ‘Sumangali Scheme’ — a veiled child labour manoeuvre in the textile industry that traps girls aged 15 to 20 by assuring them a large amount for their weddings. “The scheme is modern slavery where girls are forced to work for over 12 hours and sexually harassed by the male workers and officials,” says S Selva Gomathy, SOCO’s Joint Director and Advocate.
Her decades of research says these kids are compelled to change their menstrual cycles, making them prone to depression and anxiety disorders. “We sent recommendations to the State government. Our hands will always be extended to help these little hands in need,” she adds.