14 bonded labourers rescued from Noida, say police

All of them, who hail from Madhya Pradesh, alleged that they were brought by a contractor to the construction site in Noida after being paid an advance of Rs 500.

They also claimed that they were often not given salaries and were forced to work at the site.

On October 10, the BLLF team — in the presence of a Noida police team — reached the site , after having received a complaint in this regard the previous day.

“They were given either Rs 100 or Rs 500 once in eight days and were forbidden from going to other homes or sites to work. Despite saying that they wanted the money due to them and wanted to return home, they were prevented from doing so,” a senior BLLF leader said.

BLLF chairman Swami Agnivesh said that while strict action must be taken in this case, the root cause of the problem was poverty.

“The labour class contributes immensely to our GDP,  yet they are given no dues whatsoever. Among a slew of new measures, a minimum wage must also be set up for the unorganised sector. If this does not happen, cases like this will always be prevalent,” he said.