NHRC notice to Maha govt, police chief

New Delhi: The NHRC has sent notices to the Maharashtra government and the state’s police chief over 11 labourers allegedly being kept chained in Osmanabad district by a contractor to dig wells and prevent them from escaping, officials said on Monday.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a statement observed that the provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act have been “grossly violated” by the contractor in this case.

The incident clearly indicates the “failure of the local administration to safeguard the labourers from such brutality committed upon them by the contractors, without any fear of the law”. The officers who failed to do their lawful duty are required to be dealt with according to law, the rights panel said.

The content of the media report, if true, amounts to a grave violation of the human rights of the labourers, the commission said.

The NHRC has taken “suo motu cognisance of a media report that 11 labourers were kept chained by the contractor to dig wells and prevent them from escaping in the Osmanabad district of Maharashtra,” it said in the statement on Monday.

The labourers were allegedly forced to work for 12 hours a day to dig a well without any wages. They got food once a day and were forced to answer nature’s call inside the well itself.

Reportedly, they were rescued on June 17 after one of them managed to sneak out, reached his village in the state’s Hingoli district and informed the police about the torture, the statement said.

Mere rescue by the police and arrest of some of the accused in this case is “not going to serve the purpose”, the rights panel observed.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the state’s chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report within four weeks.

“It should also include the status of the investigation being conducted in the case, action taken against the perpetrators and steps taken/proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future anywhere in the area,” the statement added. with agency inputs