Eight bonded workers freed

CHENNAI: Eight bonded labourers and their family members were rescued from a rice mill in Madhavarami Taluk of Ponneri Revenue Division in Tiruvallur district, according to a district administration official. S Kandasamy, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Ponneri Revenue Division in Tiruvallur District, told Express that after a tip-off from the International Justice Mission (IJM), a joint rescue operation took place at the rice mill and 17 people, including eight bonded workers, were rescued after seven years in bondage. He said that this was the fifth such rescue in recent time. On April 27, 2011, the district administration had rescued about 500 bonded workersfrom Orissa. In this case, all workers released were from TN and belonged to the Irula community, he said.He also said that the operator of the rice mill, Gurusamy paid the victims approximately Rs 33 per person, per day well below the Tamil Nadu minimum wage of Rs 136.02 per day.Kandaswamy said the labourers were issued Release Certificates, officially identifying them as bonded labourers and entitling them to governmentrehabilitation money.