Nine bonded labourers freed from borewell unit

Bengaluru: In a joint operation Bengaluru police, along with Madhya Pradesh police and Jan Sahas, an NGO from Madhya Pradesh working to free bonded labourers, rescued nine bonded labourers, belonging to different states, from a borewell digging unit in Hebbal.

The joint raid was carried out on February 5, a team from Jan Sahas and two police officers from Madhya Pradesh travelled to Bengaluru and raided Ganga Hi-Power Borewell. The teams successfully rescued four bonded labourers, three from Madhya Pradesh and one from West Bengal. However, the remaining five were not found in the area, as they were working at a different location. The police instructed the owner to produce them at the Amruthahalli police station.

On Wednesday, the owner of the borewell company reported at the police station along with the remaining five labourers. Out of those five, four were from Madhya Pradesh and one from Chhattisgarh.

The bonded labourers were not paid any wages and made to sleep in the digging truck and were tortured.

Rs 10 lakh as back wages
After the inquest, the Labour Department ordered the borewell company to immediately pay all nine labourers a total sum of Rs 10,12,312 as back wages.

Each labourer got Rs 15,000 to Rs 1.90 lakh depending on how long the he had worked and the advance he had taken.

Probe reveals that only three labourers had received an advance and they got back wages ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs. 50,000. The remaining six did not get an advance and they received back wages ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.9 lakh.

Duped by agent in TN
The nine labourers had arrived at the site different times and have been working at the borewell unit for the past 11 to 21 months. They were deceived by an agent from Tamil Nadu who promised them a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 and brought them to Bengaluru. However after they began work they were not paid any wages, apart from Rs 200-Rs 500 they got occasionally as basic expenses. When the labourers asked for their wages they were threatened and when one of them escaped he was traced by the manager and brought back. They were also not allowed to return home or seek alternate employment in Bengaluru.

Apart from the meagre payout the labourers only received rations two to three times a month from the owner. They were also not given any place to stay and were forced to cook and eat around the truck and sleep atop the vehicle after the day’s work.

They were constantly on the move from one location to another in Bengaluru digging borewells. They were made to work for 16 hours from 5 am till 9 pm, seven days a week.

Alert by kin
Jan Sahas received information about their plight from one of the labourers’ brother, who called them at their Mazdoor 24/7 Helpline.

As soon as they received the information, Jan Sahas formed a three-member team and two policemen in collaboration with the Superintendent of Police and travelled to Bengaluru.

Wahid Khan, Communication Officer, from Jan Sahas who travelled to Bengaluru, said, “We will repatriate the labourers back to their village and assist the government to rehabilitate them after they get their Release Certificates from the Karnataka Government. An FIR is yet to be registered against the owner under the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (1976).”

The Bengaluru Urban District Administration under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner L.C. Nagaraja, handed over release certificates for all nine labourers absolving them of any agreement they may have had with the employer.