Minor boy working in brick kiln dies in mishap; Kaushambi admn on alert

A 13-year-old boy allegedly working as a casual labourer died after falling off a tractor and coming under one of its wheels near Dai-Ka-Pura village under Kaushambi police station area in Kaushambi district on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident has created quite a stir in the police and administrative departments while the Labour Enforcement Department along with the district police have started an investigation, officials said.

As per reports, the 13-year-old boy from Gurauli village of Kaushambi lived with his family at a brick kiln located at Majra Kalani area of Jugrajpur village. The victim, as per his father, used to work as a casual labourer at the kiln.

He used to load and unload bricks in the tractor trolleys. In return, he was paid daily wages by the kiln owner, claimed his father.

According to victim’s father, on Tuesday afternoon, his son had gone to Dai-Ka-Pura village located close by to unload bricks from the tractor trolley. While returning, the tractor suddenly jerked on a speed breaker and the teen sitting next to the driver fell down.

By the time the driver applied the brakes, the rear wheel of the trolley ran over him resulting in his death on the spot. However, other labourers rushed the teen to Kaushambi CHC where the doctors declared him dead. The police too arrived at the spot and sent the body for postmortem examination.

SP Kaushambi Brijesh Srivastava said that anti human trafficking unit (AHTU) police station in-charge has been ordered to investigate the matter and take necessary action. Raids will also be conducted on all brick kilns across the district to stop child labour, he said.

Labour Enforcement Officer Mahant Prajapati said that a thorough investigation will be conducted at the brick kiln on Wednesday. Help of SDM-Chail too has been taken. The brick kiln concerned will be sealed, he added.

As per officials, there are a total of 205 brick kilns in Kaushambi district out of which only 186 are operational while the remaining are closed due to various reasons.

Meanwhile, DM Kaushambi Madhusudan Hulgi has issued a formal warning to the labour enforcement officer concerned. According to the warning letter, on April 4, the DM had ordered checking and stopping of child labour in the kilns as well as making aware of the threats to pregnant women and children staying with their families in the kilns.

Orders were also issued to enrol all children of the brick kiln workers in Anganwadi centres or schools. However, even after three weeks, no action has been taken by the labour enforcement officer. The DM has given one week additional time for action and has warned that after this, adverse entry will be awarded to the official and a letter will be sent to the department’s senior officials recommending departmental action.