Kala Ramesh is 40 and is now her own master. A freed bonded labourer of Tiruvallur district, she is the mother of four children. Thanks to the initiative of the district administration and an NGO, she is one of the 40 members who own a brick kiln. Named Siragugal, meaning wings, the members of this common livelihood group make bricks on two acres of land from the seed money provided by the government.
“We stopped taking loans after we were freed from the clutches of bonded labour and have been surviving as daily wage labourers. Now, the District Collector and other government officials have made us owners of brick making unit. I now have the freedom to fix my own work time. Nobody questions me when I go home to make breakfast and send the children to school,” she said. A couple of days ago, Collector Alby John Varghese, along with District Rural Development Agency Project Director V. Jayakumar, visited Veeravanallur near Tiruttani, where the unit has been established. “We celebrated the occasion beating our traditional drum, the Dholu. In the month of Aadi, we will thank Kanniamma, our ‘kula deivam’, with pongal in this unit and thank the gods for sending such nice officials to our help. I have no words to thank them,” said Ms. Kala, who belongs to Irula community.
