Following this paper’s expose of Palghar incident, a dozen families from a brick kiln and stone quarry come forward with their harrowing tales of public flogging, starvation and how small loans are used to enslave them for life
Villagers of Pilanje, Bhiwandi
In a tribal village in Bhiwandi, Thane, generations of more than a dozen families working at a stone quarry and brick kiln have been trapped into bonded labour. During a ground visit to Pilanje Budruk Chinchpada village, the families recounted to mid-day how their employers and the local police collude to harass them and subject them to inhuman conditions. The villagers have accused private contractors Chandrakant and Rajaram Patil, who are siblings, of making them work without proper pay, food or water and even publicly flogging them, tricking them into work to repay loans allegedly taken by their forefathers, prohibiting them from looking for other jobs. The list goes on.
They live in kucha houses, some of them making do with plastic sheets for roofs
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The residents of Pilanje Budruk belong to the Katkari tribal community. The Patil brothers run a brick kiln factory and supply stones to crusher machines after blasting mountains with gelatine sticks, said the villagers.
Currently, 18 tribal families comprising 43 members have been identified by the NGO Shramjeevi Sangathana to be released from bonded labour. The NGO has taken up the matter with the Bhiwandi Tahsildar.
The villagers told mid-day how they have to live in sub-standard conditions with inadequate pay, sleep on threadbare mats or on the ground, in houses covered only with plastic sheets, and cut off from medical facilities if injured.
Also read: NCP leader Ramdas Korde arrested for 'enslaving' tribal in Palghar
Sanjay Vaghe, 40
At the age of 15, Sanjay Vaghe was paid Rs 500 by the Patil brothers to graze their cattle in the fields. Vaghe continued the work for seven years but was never paid again for the work and was only given leftover food once in a while. “When I asked for money, the Patil brothers would beat and abuse me. When I stopped going to work, they dragged me to their house and forced me to work,” he said.
The tribal villagers of Pilanje Budruk Chinchpada. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
When Vaghe grew older, he was made to work in the stone quarry. “They made me break large stones which are sent to a nearby crushing machine. One day, a stone hit my left eye and it started bleeding. When I asked Rajaram seth for money to get treatment, he abused and thrashed me. Now I am blind in my left eye.”
Raghunath Pawar, 50
Raghunath Pawar was made to look after the Patil brothers’ cattle for Rs 100-Rs 200 per week, paid in advance. After he got married, Pawar told the brothers that he wanted to look for a job outside the village. “I was told that my father had taken a loan of Rs 5,000 which is yet to be cleared. I was told to continue working to clear the loan. My father never told me of a loan,” said Pawar who spent decades working in the fields and breaking stones for the Patils.
Jagdish Vaghe, 47
Jagdish Vaghe worked in the Patils’ brick kiln factory and when he grew older, was made to transport soil on a bullock cart. He accused the Patil brothers of not giving him food and assaulting him. “Once, when I did not go to work, Chandrakant assaulted me with bamboo sticks so badly that both my hands were fractured. Somehow, my sister arranged for my hands to be treated locally,” Jagdish said. “I was terrified after the incident and never dared to say no to him again. I continued doing what they ordered,” Jagdish said.
Shukriya Vaghe, 49
Shukriya Vaghe worked at the brick kiln between December and May. “There’s no proper rest. We hardly slept two to three hours a day. During rains, I worked in the field with minimal food and rest. Despite the harassment, I did not dare to seek work elsewhere,” Shukriya said. Shukriya claimed that the Patil brothers’ assault of his pregnant wife led to her death. “My wife was pregnant and my daughter was hardly 13 years old. The Patil brothers asked to send my daughter to work for them. When my wife refused to send her, they beat her up. The assault killed her,” Shukriya said. Shukriya used to live in a hut next to Chandrakant’s sprawling bungalow. Now he lives in a smaller hut in the tribal village. “Chandrakant often assaulted me at night with a belt and stick. So I left my house and came to live with other tribals,” he said. Now Shukriya cuts and sells grass to people who have cattle. “I live with my children. We eat less to survive on the government ration,” he said.
Anita Vaghe, 55
Anita Vaghe with pictures of her sons, Dashrath (left) and Pandit
Anita Vaghe claimed that Chandrakant killed her sons, Pandit and Dashrath. “They painted the murders as accidental deaths by drowning. Pandit’s jaw was broken. How is that possible if he drowned? There were several other injury marks on his body but the police did not listen to my complaint and closed the file,” Anita said. Pandit died on May 5, 2015, while Dashrath died at JJ Hospital on March 3, 2018.
Kanha Jadhav, 45
Kanha Jadhav used to work in the brick kiln and was paid R500 in advance per week. “I would start making bricks at 1 am and end at 1 pm. After that, there was other work at the kiln. I would sleep only for a couple of hours by 10 pm or 11 pm. When I said no to work, the Patil brothers planned to teach me a lesson,” Jadhav said. “On June 21 night, around 10 pm, a few men came to the village and Patil brothers were with them. The men did not say a word and started to assault us with an iron rod and a bamboo stick. Apart from me, Santosh Gavit, was also assaulted that night,” he added. Jadhav told mid-day that they visited Ganeshpuri police station to register an FIR over the assault. “But the police did not name Patil brothers in the assault case,” he said. “I had been telling the police that all the unknown people who assaulted us were brought by Patils, who were present at a distance when we were beaten. Still, the police did not name them in the FIR,” Jadhav said. Jadhav claimed that he has
seen the men who beat them at the Patils’ bungalow. “Ganeshpuri police know everything but they are not doing anything,” Jadhav said.
Bheema Jhipper Pawar, 43
Bheema Pawar’s husband is paralysed and can walk only with support. She wants to work outside the village to earn money for his treatment as the Patils never provide it. “But I am not allowed to go out of the village. I am scared,” Pawar said.
Balaram Jadhav, 44
The Patil brothers also allegedly take advantage of the fact that the tribals can’t read and write. Balaram Jadhav has a diary with the details of his supposed wages but does not know what is written.
Balaram Jadhav shows his supposed wages
“I work in the brick kiln factory as I was given an advance of Rs 500. During monsoon, the Patils give Rs 2,000 or Rs 1,000 to prevent me from going to work elsewhere,” Balaram said. “I am not allowed to go anywhere else. If I were to go, the Patil brothers would beat me,” he said.
Release for the labourers
“The bonded labourers were brought to the tahsildar’s office in Bhiwandi on Tuesday. Their statements were recorded. Initially, the tahsildar were not ready to give them a release certificate but later, he agreed after he met our leader Vivek Pandit. The tahsildar was apprised of all the rules and regulations related to the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,” said Balaram Bhoir, a member of Shramjeevi Sangathana.
Brothers Rajaram and Chandrakant Patil have been accused by the tribals of subjecting them to bonded labour
Vivek, who is the chairman of a state government-appointed committee to look into the status of schemes for tribals, said, “This indicates that feudalism exists, even if in small numbers, just outside Mumbai. The administration knows nothing about the enforcement of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. I hope that now the executive magistrate, that is, the tahsildar, issues a release certificate within 24 hours and provides immediate relief of Rs 20,000 to each bonded labour. I also expect that the police will take cognisance of the offence.” Vivek claimed to have rescued 24 bonded labourers from Bhiwandi, Dindori, Igatpuri, Panvel and Ulhasnagar during 2019 and 2020.
Tahsildar speaks
Tahsildar of Bhiwandi taluka, Adhik Patil, told mid-day that he was studying the legality of the matter. “I am going through the rule book before issuing release certificates to them,” Patil said.
What the Patil brothers say
Rajaram, alias Rajendra, said, “The matter is pending before the tahsildar, so I will not make any comment. But all the allegations made by the tribals are false.”
Chandrakant said, “I have been bringing in my workers from Jawhar to run our business. The tribals who have been making false allegations against me and my brother Rajaram stopped working for us 10 years ago. Some people are using the tribals to defame me and derail my plan to contest the upcoming election. We have never subjected the tribals to bonded labour,” Patil said.
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