Alipurduar, Sept. 4 -- Allegations of bonded labour and the employment of minors have surfaced in Alipurduar's cold-storage industry, prompting a joint operation by the district administration, Labour Department and police.
Three people, including a worker allegedly trapped in bonded labour for nearly 25 years and two 16-year-old boys, were rescued from a cold storage in the Palashbari area on Friday.
The two minors have been sent to a government-run children's home in Jalpaiguri for the time being. During the operation, however, the administration could not trace the owner of the cold storage, who was reportedly absconding.
The rescued adult worker was identified as Kalipada Mondal, a resident of Nandkumar pur in the Sundarbans area of South 24-Parganas. According to the allegations, Mondal had been working in different cold storages across North Bengal for nearly 25 years after being recruited through a local contractor against an advance payment.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that he was allegedly given Rs 25,000 as an advance. He was subsequently made to work at different cold storages across the region, officials said. According to the allegations, Mondal was not allowed to return home even once during the past two-and-a-half decades. Acting on the complaints, a joint team of the Labour Department and district police conducted the operation on Friday and rescued Mondal. Alipurduar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Shaw said: "This is a very serious allegation.
The law does not tolerate the practice of bonded labour under any circumstances. If the allegations are proved, the police will take strict action against the cold-storage owner."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.