Bargarh: A number of poor and unemployed people from Padmapur, Gaisilet, Paikamal and Jharabandh blocks in Bargarh go outside the district and state to work as bonded labourers.
According to sources, they are inhumanely exploited at different work-places. The district administration has identified 77 such panchayats in Bargarh district from where rampantly poor and unemployed villagers often go outside in search of jobs, report said.
However, it has been decided by the district administration to create awareness among local villagers against bonded labour through various folk arts. The state government has also chalked out several schemes to make poor and unemployed people self-reliant here.
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has provisions under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to provide 200 days of employment and pay wage of Rs 286 per day to local beneficiaries, DRDA project director said.
Likewise, 377 families of Paikamal block have been identified by the district administration as bonded labourers. About 125 villages in Bargarh have been short-listed for awareness programme through folk arts. Nearly 4427 beneficiaries have been allocated funds under different housing schemes. The huge amount of bricks needed for construction of those houses can be made here by local people.
Similarly, over 147 villagers belonging to Padmapur block have been identified by the district administration as bonded labourers. Adequate steps are being taken by the local administration to provide employment to the poor and unemployed of 83 revenue villages in the block.
Worthy to note, 30 bonded labourers from Gaisilet block who had gone to Kunoor area in Tiruvellur district of Tamil Nadu were tortured and only 29 of them returned home recently. It is known that, a kiln owner did not allow the body of a labourer who died there.
Notably, forced labour and debt bondage are common practices across all the economic sectors in our country with widely reported cases in brick kilns, mining, carpet weaving, agriculture, manual scavenging, embroidery, textile and garment manufacturing units.
