Wanaparthy Superintendent of Police Apoorva Rao received praise from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday as the latter tweeted about her efforts in rescuing migrant labourers.
A team of Sidhi district worked with Ms. Rao’s team after being alerted about 43 migrant labourers from MP who were stranded at Peddagudem village in Wanaparthy Rural mandal. They were working as ‘bonded labourers’ at Peddagudem Sarpanch’s sugarcane fields. Mr. Chouhan said the labourers were on their way home and congratulated the officials for their ‘good work’
“I congratulate the team of Sidhi Dist. Admin. & @SPWanaparthy Ms. Apoorva Rao for the prompt response. Keep up the good work!” he tweeted.
Speaking to The Hindu about the rescue operation, Ms. Rao said that a labour contractor brought the workers to the district to harvest sugarcane crops and work at a sugar factory. However, he developed some issues with the factory owner and abandoned them.
“As a result, the Sarpanch was treating them as bonded labourers and was getting work out of them at his sugarcane field,” she said. After getting information about the stranded workers on February 3, a senior police officer from MP contacted Ms. Rao and sought her help in rescue and relocation of the workers.
“A team was sent to the village, and their wages were settled before we booked the train tickets,” Ms. Rao said, adding that adequate ration was also supplied to the workers.
They were sent to Mahabubnagar in a bus and from there in a train to Madhya Pradesh, which started at 8.20 a.m. on Tuesday, the officer added.