Brick-making is as old as the Indus Valley Civilisation. This is proven by the discovery of fossils, utensils, broken bricks and other material during the excavation at the Mohenjo-daro and Harappa sites and other places. Brick-making is a cottage, micro- and seasonal industry.

There are 1,50,000 brick manufacturing units, including brick kilns, Bangla Bhatta country bricks and tiles, in India. The number of workers employed in these different units is approximately 2,00,000. Most of them are agricultural workers; after completing their cultivation and agriculture work, they come to work in brick kilns. They prefer to be engaged in brick kilns because they get work as per their choice, ability and conditions proposed by themselves. The season for brick-making begins in October, lasting until April for moulding and from January to June for firing. The manufacturing of bricks is performed in four stages.

1. Moulding of bricks
2. Loading of bricks in kilns
3. Firing of bricks in kilns
4. Unloading of bricks from kiln and stacking in the yard

The bricks are then ready for use and sale. In 1993, the Hon. High Court passed an order following the PIL of N.C. Mehta to remove 146 brick kilns from the surrounding areas of Delhi. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, have banned the production of bricks, using the moving chimney technology in all states.

 

 

The All India Bricks and Tiles Manufacturer Federation’s (AIBTMF’s) New Delhi representative requested the ministry to allow time for conversion of moving chimneys to pucca chimneys, as per the designs and guidelines of the CPCB. The Environment and Forests Ministry very kindly agreed to extend time for conversion by 10 years, from 1993 to 2003.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the CPCB, New Delhi, issued a directive to mix 25 per cent fly ash generated from thermal power with the soil used for brick-making, which was not practical or acceptable to the workers, for health and technical reasons. Fly ash contains injurious particles that caused breathing and skin problems. The workers, therefore, refused to mix fly ash with soil. Again, AIBTMF requested the Ministry to reconsider. Currently, an environmental clearance (EC) is to be procured from the concerned department, and brick-kiln owners have to make an application to obtain a no-objection certificate to install brick kilns and take consent for operation from the state pollution control board. An AIBTMF delegation met the Minister with a request to not impose conditions that are not feasible, practical or healthy for the workers, industry and society.

Workers engaged in brick kilns in Jharkhand are largely locals, with only 5–10 per cent migrants from Chhattisgarh and Bihar. They are provided with pucca housing, drinking water, electricity, child care, and enrollment of children in a nearby school. They have also been provided medical facilities. The owners have spent 4 to 5 lakhs in the construction of houses and other welfare amenities, which have improved the productivity and health of the workers. Most workers are now directly employed in the brick kilns, not through contractors, who owing to their selfish interests were damaging the industry as well as the workers’ interests. Middlemen used to take large advances from several owners before the season began, to supply workers. When the season began, they would often never turn up again. Therefore, the owners prefer to employ workers directly.

The central government and state governments have undertaken initiatives to reduce vulnerability to bondage in India through the promotion of decent work. They have formed the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (BOCWWB). A code of conduct has been signed by owners in association in different districts. A state-level code of conduct has also been signed in Jharkhand by the Jharkhand Pradesh Brick Manufacture Association and the Labour department, as well as in other states.

Schemes of the BOCWWB Available to Brick-kiln Workers Distribution of uniforms to school-going children Cycles for girls going to school Scholarships for children attending school Equipment assistance scheme Sewing machine support Child labor education motivation Employable skill training Janashree Bima Yojna (Insurance) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY, Health insurance) Medical treatment support Maternal facilities support Cremation/Burial support National Pension Scheme Pension scheme of BOCWWB Marriage support Disability pension Family pension Orphans’ pension

  

 

 

Schemes of different departments such as the Department of Women and Child, Food and Civil Supplies department, Department of Education, Revenue department and the Ministry of Labour and Employment are to be implemented for the welfare of the workers of brick-kiln workers
Departments	Rights Enabled and Entitlements/Schemes Accessed
Ministry of Labour and Employment	RSBY
	Skill Development Initiative–Modular Employable Skills (SDI–MES)
	Information about Minimum Wages Act
	Implemented provision of amenities under the Inter-state Migrant Workers Act (ISMWA)
	Registration of Brick Kilns
	Registration of contractors, sardars
	Enumeration and registration of brick kiln Workers under Building and Other Construction Workers Act and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)
	Coordination of all awareness campaigns
	Providing uniforms to children in worksite schools
	Providing uniforms to children in worksite schools Providing statutory registers to employers in Andhra Pradesh (AP)
	Payment of RSBY premium (by BOCWWB in AP)
	Logistical support to the project
Department of Women and Child Development	Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)
	Anganwadi centres
	Mid-day Meal Scheme
	Care of pregnant and lactating mothers (nutritional food, medical check-ups and immunisation, as needed)
Development Food and Civil supplies	Access to Public Distribution System (Rice, pulses, kerosene)
	In some states, the department issued coupons to the workers for taking provisions, instead of issuing cards to them, which made it easier for the workers to get their supplies.
Department of Education	Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, SSA, (Education for All Programme)
	Worksite schools through Rajeev Vidya Mission (RVM), in coordination with two NGOs that will be responsible for providing Oriya teachers for the schools and getting students with the learning material in Oriya.
	Mid-day Meal Scheme.
Revenue Department	Guided, supervised and monitored the activities of all government departments

The central government and state governments have taken the initiative to reduce vulnerability to bondage in India through the promotion of decent work. We should be hopeful that in the near future it will not only be reduced but it will be abolished. An MOU between Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh was signed as part of an initiative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and concerned governments.

We are appreciative of the ILO’s Decent Work Country Programme Team and their interest in and work for brick-kiln workers. ILO has organised a number of workshops and seminars all over the country, including a seminar on ‘Reducing vulnerability to bondage in India through promotion of decent work of India’. The team worked as catalytic agent between the government machinery, employers, workers and trade unions. Welfare amenities were provided, mutual confidence, understanding and a healthy atmosphere were created between employers and employees, as well as concerned government departments—a relationship that had been missing in the past. As a result, the social and financial status of workers has improved, the productivity of workers has increased due to the healthy atmosphere, and kiln owners feel good about these developments.