{
  "id": 2382312,
  "title": "40 tribal workers rescued from bonded labour in Sri Sathya Sai district",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/40-tribal-workers-rescued-from-bonded-labour-in-sri-sathya-sai",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-21T13:32:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/40-tribal-workers-rescued-from-bonded-labour-in-sri-sathya-sai-district/article71373685.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The administration of Sri Sathya Sai district has dismantled an inter-State trafficking network that ensnared impoverished tribal workers from Maharashtra, confining them to charcoal kilns and forcing them into bonded labor. On the orders of District Collector A. Shyam Prasad, task force units conducted covert operations resulting in the rescue of 40 individuals, comprising two minors, who were allegedly lured from Koshimbale village in Nizampur taluka of Maharashtra's Raigad district. Under Puttaparthi RDO P. Suvarna's direction, a team seized four workers, including two minors, at a charcoal production facility in Talamarla village within Kothacheruvu mandal. Similarly, T. Ananda Kumar, supervising from Penukonda RDO, coordinated raids in Chintalapalli of Mutharayani Thanda, Gorantla mandal, and near Puleru Road, rescuing the remaining 36 individuals. The victims spanned from a four-month-old infant to a 63-year-old person, according to an official statement. It was revealed that they had been duped by main contractor Ramesh Taru Rathod from the Ahmednagar district and his associate Prakash Devichand Rathod from Ashti taluka, under the false pretense of settling debts. They were reportedly held in makeshift shelters without access to water, electricity, or sanitation, and compelled to labor day and night in the kilns amidst thick smoke and extreme heat. The workers were denied wages and subjected to forced labor. The victims attributed their exploitation to their poverty and lack of awareness, expressing fear that they could have perished if not for the authorities' intervention. They were subsequently released from the debts allegedly imposed by the contractors, under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. The administration provided food, protection, medical check-ups, financial aid, and transportation for the rescued workers to Nizampur taluka in Raigad district. Investigations have been initiated under pertinent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. Collector Shyam Prasad vowed that no one, regardless of their standing, would remain unpunished for violating human rights by trafficking tribal workers and subjecting them to bonded labor.",
  "summary": "Inter-State racket busted; victims allegedly trafficked from Maharashtra and forced to work in charcoal kilns",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}