VELLORE: As many as 16 bonded labourers, including women and nine children from the Irular community, were rescued from a farm in Puttavari Palli village in Gudiyatham taluk on Sunday, in a coordinated rescue operation led by the Revenue Department.
According to the official sources, the operation was carried out on Sunday afternoon by Gudiyatham RDO Subbulaxmi and Tahsildar officials following a tip-off. The rescued labourers, originally from Pallipattu village in Tiruvallur district near the Andhra Pradesh border, had allegedly been working under bonded conditions on agricultural land owned by three individuals—Ezhamalai (39), an ex-army man, Darumana (37), and Pichandi Naidu (60)— all residents of Puttavari Palli village.
According to the investigation, Sivaiya (40), his two wives, seven children, and nephew Nani (19), along with members of another family, had been engaged in labour at the farms for over a month. While Sivaiya, his first wife, three sons, a two-year-old daughter, and nephew worked on the lands of Ezhumalai and Darumana, his second wife and four daughters were found working on the farm owned by Pichandi Naidu.
Preliminary findings indicate that the workers, belonging to the Scheduled Tribe Irula community, had migrated from their village in search of livelihood but were subjected to exploitative conditions. The RDO’s inquiry confirmed that the families were earning their living through daily wage labour and had been kept under bonded conditions.
After the rescue, all 16 individuals were brought to the RDO office for formal inquiry. The landowners were handed over to the Bharatharami police for further investigation. Assistant Inspector Shekhar subsequently escorted the rescued individuals back to Pallipattu and handed them over to the Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and Revenue Inspector (RI) for rehabilitation.
Although sources close to the landowners claimed the workers were engaged voluntarily, officials maintained that the circumstances warranted intervention under bonded labour prevention protocols.