Provide basic amenities to brick kiln labour: High Court

The Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy heard the public interest litigation filed by Rtd. Lecturer S. Jeevan Kumar, seeking a direction to the State Government to shift nearly 1,50,000 labour working in 810 brick kilns spread across different parts of the State namely, Rangareddy, Sangareddy, Medchal, Malkajgiri, Warangal, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Rajanna Sircilla, Nizamabad, Nalgonda, Khammam and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts.

The counsel for the petitioner, Vasudha Nagaraj, informed the Bench that the Contractors brought these poor labour from Odisha to Telangana to work in brick kilns in the month of November. The labour work in these brick kilns until mid- May or the first week of June till mainly onset of the monsoon or the advent of the sowing season.

Due to Lockdown, the Contractors are disowning them and are refusing to pay them their due payments citing lockdown woes and under extreme heat and arduous conditions, these labour are walking on the Medchal highway anticipating any transport either bus or train, to reach their native places as the sowing season has commenced.

The Bench after hearing the contentions of the petitioner counsel, directed the State Government to take care of these poor labour and provide them proper shelter, water, food, medicines and basic necessities till they are put in trains or buses to enable them to reach their native places.

Moreover, the CJ Bench directed the Registry to tag this public interest litigation with a similar PIL filed by retired. Prof. Rama Shankaranarayana Melkote, which is on similar lines.The matter is adjourned to Tuesday for further hearing.