Volume 15 | Issue 10
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Migrant family rescued from sweatshop brick kiln after 1200km SOS call Rishi Sabharwal A migrant family was rescued from a brick kiln factory amid claims they were being held against their will and without wages. The family , from Odisha, sent an SOS from the kiln plant, in rural Karnataka, to their family back home and a rescue was organised at state government level Baburao Sabar, 30, and his wife Bhagya Sabar, 25, were allegedly kept by force and compelled to work at the factory by its owner. The family hails from Kasinagar block, a very remote and under-developed corner in Gajapati district of Odisha. They have a fouryear-old infant son who was rescued with them. Bhagya Sabar, who has spent the last four months struggling to feed her fouryear-old son said, “The owner did not pay us our wage for past four months. We asked for his permission to go home but he did not allow us to go.” Her husband added, “A labour contractor came to our house more than two years ago and he told us that the pay will be good if we work for this factory in Karnataka.” Lokesh J, Labour Inspector of Malur, who was present at the raid, confirmed it. On being asked if any police case was filed against the factory owner, whose name is Pillapa, he said, “As of now, no police case is filed against the owner.” Even after repeated attempts, Pillapa could not be reached for his comment. But, according to Lokesh, the owner denies every allegation against him. “The owner did not pay us wage for a very long time. He did not allow us to go home either,” said Bhagya Sabar who was very happy upon being rescued and finally getting a chance to go back home. Along with the officials of the Labour department, Manoj Patra who is the Vice-President of Odisha Cultural association and Lakshmi Narayan, Project Director of Child and Women Welfare Department, Karnataka were also present during the raid. There was no police protection but they were kept on alert. On being asked to comment about today’s event, Manoj
Patra said, “Middle-men or the labour contractors are the cause of the problem. They employ destitute from various parts of Odisha like Malkangiri, Koraput and Gajapati and send them to places like this to work.” He further added, “Government must take quick action against such labour contractors to find a solution.” According to Manoj Patra, Pillapa, the owner of the factory owed the couple Rs.13000 which is a huge amount for people like Baburao who live in extreme poverty. He said that the owner has agreed upon to pay the entire deserved money to the couple. The couple and their son, who are now under the custody of Manoj Patra, will be sent back to Odisha tomorrow by train from Bangalore. The matter was brought to notice by Apparao Sabar, Baburao’s father, and was reported in an Odia newspaper on September 22. After this news came into limelight, the local MLA, K. Surya Rao had gone to meet the victim’s parents and had requested the Labour Commissioner of Odisha to take further action. More than a week ago, Odisha Government had written to Karnataka Labour Commission with a request to rescue the couple. Apparao Sabar, father of Baburao, who lives in Kasinagar alleged that his son and daughter-in-law only get a
handful of rice as incentive to work which only suffices their two meals. He further added that they are not allowed to make even a phone call. Apparao had also said that he himself had worked in the same factory for six months this year. “The factory owner
did not pay me my daily wages. So I wanted to leave and bring my son back with me.” He left the factory taking advantage of his employer’s absence but the rest of the family was not able to come back with him, he added.
BRIEFS Karnataka gets the country’s first sheep ambulance Government spends Rs 121.5 lakh to purchase 18 Boleros as ambulances for sheep. Page 2
City faces an increase in the number of internet addicts The NIMHANS de-addiction center for well being states an increase in the number of addicts Page 2
Boys drowned due to poor roadwork, says blind school Faulty road construction near a lake was why two students drowned recently, a blind school has alleged. Page 3
Baburao sabar with his family
City’s aged face harassment by families The number of complaints of harassment made by senior citizens against family members has gone up in a last two and a half years. Page 3
No salary, claim Ola cabs drivers Ola cab drivers in the city has claimed that they are deprived of payment for the past three months. Page 4 Local MLA, K. Surya Rao in a meeting with Apparao Sabar on September 24