BHUBANESWAR: A group of labourers from Balangir, who were allegedly assaulted at a brick kiln in Makthal village of Telangana, have appealed to the governments of Odisha and Telangana to rescue them.
The migrant labourers belong to Sukuan village under Deogaon block of Balangir district. Sources said at least 26 labourers including seven children were brought to a PVC brick kiln in Makthal in October last year allegedly by labour sardar of Belpada block of Balangir, Biranchi Kumbhar, after payment of an advance of Rs 20,000 per person.
On April 28 this year, when the labourers urged the brick kiln owner Ajay Chaudhury to let them return to their village as they had completed six months of work and made bricks worth the money paid to them as advance, the latter assaulted one of the workers, Tankadhar Kumuria.
Subsequently, some of the workers reported the matter to local police. “The next day, Chaudhury forced them to make a video stating they were fine and wanted to continue working. However, after this episode, the workers again sent a message to us stating that the owner continued to assault them,” said a relative of one of the labourers, Angada Chinda.
Chinda along with relatives of the labourers have written to Telangana Police and labour officials seeking their intervention in the case. They further alleged the brick kiln owner forced all the labourers and the children to work for 14 to 15 hours a day under inhuman conditions. Sources said none of the workers had registered themselves with Balangir police or labour officials before migrating to the neighbouring state for work.