compare the conditions of a worker in a brick kiln, a permanent worker and a contract worker in a factory
Answers
Usually, an entire family is involved in brick production and they get Rs 400-500 for 1,000 bricks. Although the industry provides employment to a large number of people, it violates their rights as the labourers are underpaid and exploited. “The labourers become bonded after they take advance. They are physically tortured by the contractor if they wish to leave their job. Even their payments are stopped, making it hard for an entire family to survive,” Sudhir Kumar Katiyar, project coordinator of the Udaipur-based non-profit, Prayas Centre for Labour Research and Action, said at the dialogue.
His organisation carried out a survey a few years back to study the health effects of brick kiln workers. “We found that besides posture-related problems, the labourers have difficulty breathing as they are more exposed to dust,” Katiyar added. The long hours of hard work don’t pay off either as the workers and their families do not have proper housing and sanitation facilities.