Brick kiln workers ‘denied’ wages,labour dept steps in

“However,the owners kept on delaying payments for a month. When we persisted,they threatened us of dire consequences. So we had no other way but to approach police and district collector on May 20,” Dinaramji Bavri,a leader of the workers’ group from Kaldu and nearby village in Nagor district of Rajasthan said on Wednesday.

The leader further said they were not paid any expenses since April 20. The labourers have also lodged a complaint against the owners for allegedly issuing death threats.

After the workers staged a demonstration at the collector office in Nadiad,collector M V Pargi ordered labour officials to settle the issue immediately. Accordingly,Gajendra Dalvadi,assistant government labour officer (GLO) of Kheda and Matar talukas instructed Mukesh Makwana,Raju Makwana and their father Magan Makwana to pay wages to the labourers immediately.

“As agreed on Friday,the owners paid Rs 3.20 lakh to the labourers as partial payment and committed that they would clear the remaining amount on Tuesday. However,on Tuesday he informed us that they had not managed the money and sough a day’s time. Now,today he told us that the labourers would have to wait till Saturday,” the GLO,in whose presence the payment,was made said on Wednesday.

The GLO said the workers and the employers had entered into an agreement before starting work and he would take action if the owners did not honour their commitments.

“We have already served a notice on RC Bricks asking if they were paying the workers according to the Minimum Wages Act. We shall go into the agreement and take action if found necessary,” Dalwadi warned. Despite several attempts,the owners could not be reached for comments.