Brick-kiln units attracting Odisha workers

Srikakulam: Brick-kiln industries are attracting migrant labourers from Odisha. Seasonal business activity normally starts in December every year and continues till the entry of South–West monsoon.

Labourers from border areas of Odisha migrated to the adjacent mandals of Itchapuram, Sompeta, Kanchili in Srikakulam district. The nature of soil is favourable for making bricks in Itchapuram, Kanchili and Sompeta mandals. The demand for these bricks is more from different places of Odisha and north coastal Andhra districts.

Traders from Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts are concentrating on brick manufacturing in these mandals for the past several years. The traders are signing lease agreements with local land owners and manufacturing bricks in these lands. They are engaging workers mostly from the adjacent areas of Odisha state.

With the recent developments in both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states concerning rules pertaining to labour, the brick-kiln traders are consulting local officials, leaders and elders before engaging labourers from Odihsa. This change is being useful to the workers and their family members if any untoward incident takes place, besides giving them financial security.

However, children of these workers are unable to get education or admission in schools at the bricks making units. Speaking to The Hans India here on Sunday, S Suryanarayana, supervisor at the brick-kiln making unit at Loddaputi, said: “We are working under our owner Nagaraju, who is a native of Nellore district maintaining brick-kiln units here.”

By Chowdari Lakshmana Rao