Hyderabad – First Public Meeting of Brick-Kiln Workers’ Union, Feb 25
MEDIA INVITATION
First Public meeting of the Brick-kiln Workers’ Union of Ranga Reddy District
Date and time: 2:00pm to 9:00pm, 25 February 2013.
Venue: Near Bus Stand, Dundigal village, Quthbullhapur mandal, Ranga Reddy dist.
Contact Persons: A.Krishna-09959098737, Tathagata Sengupta-09440486707, Praveen- 09492431440, Raghunath Rana -09938607710
In and around Hyderabad, an estimated 4 lakh migrant workers are engaged in work of brick-kilns,facing severe exploitation characterized by very low wages, long working hours, child labour and sub-human living conditions. To address these issues, the brick kiln workers in Ranga Reddy district have come together to establish a union for the first time. The first public meeting of the Brick-kiln Workers’ Union will be held on 25 February 2013 at Dundigal village, Quthbullhapur Mandal, Ranga Reddy district. The speakers include representatives from the brick-kiln workers, Jeevan Kumar (Human Rights Forum), K.V.S. Ramachandra Rao (Advocate, AP High Court), B. Pradeep (I.F.T.U State president), G. Vijay (Hyderabad Central University Professor), Prafull Samantara (Eminent Human Rights activist, Odisha), Sudheer Kumar Katiyar (Workers’ Rights activist, Rajasthan), Charles Wesley Meesa (The Dalit Alliance), among others.
We heartily welcome you for the Brick-kiln Workers’ Union meeting, and request you to bring to light the deplorable economic, political and human conditions of the workers through your media.
Ever since the neo-liberal economic policies were unleashed in early 90’s , many of the urban areas in India has witnessed a rapid expansion marked by hectic construction activities– of flyovers, malls and a booming real estate market catering to the newly emerging upper middle class section of the populace. Another consequence of the very same set of policies has been the severe toll it has taken in aggravating rural distress. While the livelihood opportunities in the agricultural sector shrunk over these decades, millions of the rural poor have been caught in a cycle of distress migration to cities where they have been working in extremely exploitative and inhuman conditions of work and often subjugated to work under conditions of bondage.
About 4 lakh migrant workers are working in brick-kilns spread across the adjoining districts of Hyderabad. These workers are brought in from the districts of western Odisha by an elaborate network of contractors under conditions of bondage and semi bondage. These workers face severe exploitation – for instance, they earn less than Rs.200 for 1000 bricks whereas the minimum rate set by government is Rs.387; they face inhuman working hours from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.; child labour, physical and sexual harassment is rampant.
We hope that the formation of the union is the first step towards attaining basic human rights, dignified working conditions and better wages.
