Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Saturday directed government agencies to ensure proper working conditions for migrant workers at brick kilns, in compliance with the law, to check instances of labour exploitation.
Further, the court directed the Telangana state legal services authority (TSLSA) to coordinate with the agencies concerned to ensure strict compliance with orders to ensure the welfare of workers.
The directions were issued by the division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda, while dealing with a suo motu PIL on the circumstances of workers at brick kilns.
The court based its orders on a field survey undertaken by the member-secretary of the TSLSA and a subsequent report filed on workers' grievances.
The court also directed the TSLSA, mandal legal services committees, law students, paralegals and village legal aids to inform about labour laws and welfare programmes for the migrant workers through posters, pamphlets, brochures, print and electronic media.
The court said this would help officials keep a track of workers, as well as check the activities of illegal contractors and their agents.
The court said that toll-free helplines must also be made available to the workers, to connect with medical, health, labour, education, rural water supply, ICDS, and the district supply officer through a single line.
“It is necessary to enhance the cooperation between the labour, revenue, and police departments so that it is simpler for the authorities to act deterrently and book unlicensed contractors and brick kiln operators for statutory offences,” the court noted.
