31 bonded labourers from Chhattisgarh rescued in TN

Erode (TN), May 14; Thirtyone persons, including three women, employed as bonded labourers in a hallow brick manufacturing unit near here have been rescued by officials.

The workers, hailing from Chattisgarh, were made to work for meagre wages and forced to stay in damaged sheds for the past one-and-half years in the factory at Chinniyampalayam, district officials said.

They were rescued yesterday by a team of Revenue and Labour Welfare Department officials led by Tahsildar Surendrakumar who raided the brick unit on a directive from District Collector S Prabhakar.

Officials said another labourer had recently managed to escape from the unit and lodged a complaint with the concerned district authorities in Chhattisgarh, who in turn alerted the Erode District Collector.

The rescued labourers were now accommodated here and would be sent to their homes in a day or two, they added. A case had been registered against the factory owner and further investigations is on.

PTI