Seven bonded labourers rescued in TN

CHENNAI: Revenue officials in Kancheepuram district on Monday rescued seven bonded labourers, including two women, from a woodcutting unit at Maduranthakam.
They had been doing boned labour for seven years. Acting on a tip-off, the officials rescued them.

Revenue divisional officer Malathy handed over the release certificate and financial aid for the seven people, belonging to two families.

She instructed her subordinate to register a case against the owner of the unit, Sumithra, under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.

Inquiries revealed that they had received an advance of Rs 2,000 from Sumithra. She paid each labourer less than Rs 20 per day. All of them together got less than Rs 600 weekly, said a member of the International Justice Mission, an NGO.

According to the guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu government in 2015, the vigilance committee should ensure that worksites of industries prone to bonded labour are visited and checked at least once in every three years.