This document summarizes the findings of focus group discussions and interviews conducted with brick kiln workers and owners in 4 districts of Uttar Pradesh. It discusses the key reasons workers choose to work at brick kilns despite difficult conditions, including lack of other employment opportunities and need for regular income. Major problems faced by workers included low wages, lack of basic facilities and safety equipment, common accidents and health issues. Women workers faced additional challenges of discrimination and lack of privacy/safety. Owners also faced issues like workers leaving mid-season and competition for labor. The psychological toll on workers living apart from families for months was also examined.

1. Qualitative Analysis of Brick Kiln Workers
in 4 Districts of Uttar Pradesh
This document is an appendage to a quantitative study of the focus group. It was formulated
after the initial study so that key issues identified during the research could be probed to gain
detailed/additional information to lend greater depth and clarity to the study.
Despite the possibility that conducting the FGDs at the brick kiln would cause the participants
some discomfort and that they would be unwilling to express their opinions fearlessly, it was not
possible to draw them away from the brick kiln—as most workers live on the kilns during the

2. production cycle. However an attempt was made to talk to workers who were living at a distance
from where the owner’s/contractor’s office was. This was made possible by the fact that the
kilns are spread out over large areas.
Although the study had initially envisaged FGDs with the brick kiln owners as well, it was not
possible to gather the owners at one place due to logistical reasons. Hence FGDs were
substituted with open ended interviews with those owners who were available and willing to
speak. The questions put to the owners covered the same subjects that were discussed with the
workers so as to examine different facets of the issues under consideration.
Participant selection: At each site 8-10 workers were selected for the FDG. An attempt was
made to include men and women—both local and migrant in the group. An attempt was also
made to include workers doing different categories of work at the kiln. While men were more
vocal in some groups, women were dominant in other groups. Participation in the focus group
was both voluntary and upon nomination by the project team.
Total number of respondents: A total of 39 workers (17 women and 22 men) were part of the
discussions. Two brick kiln owners and two contractors (all males) were interviewed. Of these
24 were migrants and 15 were local workers.
Methodology: Although six pre-formulated, open ended questions were put to the participants,
the discussion was freewheeling and guided by the responses of the participants.
These questions were:
1. Why do you prefer to work at the brick kiln?
2. What are the major problems you face?
3. What kind of facilities do you have access to at the kiln?
4. How are your relations with your employer?
5. Is it safe for women to work at the kiln?
6. What are the problems faced by migrant workers?
This was coupled with field observations.
FGDs were possible with workers at four brick kilns (against the six surveyed). At two kilns the
team was refused entry by the owners due to labour and production problems. The team did not
think it prudent to push for access as this would have meant trouble for the workers.
Interviews were conducted with four brick kiln owners. These were loosely structured around the
same issues discussed with the workers.
The average length of a FDG session was 30 minutes, as participants got restless to get back to
work after the said time.
Responses: This report is not strictly structured according to the questions asked. Instead
responses have been so compiled that it is possible to fit them into seven major heads. This has
been done to give better flow to the narrative.

3. MAJOR FINDINGS
Reasons for choosing to work at the brick kiln
The most commonly offered reason for choosing work at the kiln was the comparative
regularity of payments. This does not mean that the workers think that the payment offered is
fair, just that they find comfort in the fact that payments are given regularly (most commonly
once every fortnight). One worker said that in other jobs, he had to run after the employer for
days to get his wages.
When compared with government schemes like MNREGA brick kilns were considered more
reliable for work for the entire production season was ensured. Only 10 participants (that is
25%) said that they had found work for more than two weeks under government schemes.
Most workers (82%) admitted to have taken advances when committing to work at the kiln.
Thus while the advance payment system, which is criticized for giving rise to the system of
bonded labour, actually holds strong attraction for the workers. For some workers this
advance was taken to tide over some particular emergency/need (illness, wedding) for others
this was a yearly practice. When workers decided to change their kiln, the contractors of the
new kiln, paid off the balance of the advance that was due to the former employer.
Once an advance is taken, the worker gets a diary to note it and a corresponding entry is made
in the employer’s record. Since most workers are unlettered they trust the owner to make fair
deductions on the wages against advances taken. In case of discrepancies in the entries in the
worker and owner’s dairies, the matter is resolved through mutual discussion though five
participants (13%) alleged that the owner had made arbitrary changes in their diaries.
The second most common reason was the lack of employment opportunities in the worker’s
village. Most workers did not possess job cards that entitled them to work. Those who had job
cards did not get any work or got work very sporadically.
So acute is the lack of opportunities elsewhere that workers are willing to work in kilns
despite unpleasant experiences. For instance one worker was electrocuted at the kiln,
another was beaten up by the owner for extending a leave without informing the owner, yet both
chose to return to the same kiln to work. This happens because brick kilns operate on a high
degree of trust between employers and employees. Such workers are preferred who come
with references of other workers or are brought by the contractor and this serves as a kind of
guarantee on both sides.
For many workers, the kiln was where they could supplement their income as seasonal farm
labourers. Some workers (60 percent of the participants) in fact returned to work as farm
labourers during the production season as well.
Lack of skills and education was cited as another reason for choosing the kiln over other
work.

4. Freedom to choose time and duration of work was another reason cited. Thus during summers,
most moulders worked early in the morning and after sunset to escape the heat. However it was
observed that some form of work (eg. digging of clay) was undertaken the whole day as wages
were linked to production.
One worker who had migrated from a neighbouring block had chosen to work at the kiln only
because it was possible to build a shelter on its grounds. He had in fact stopped returning to
his village, except occasionally and stayed at the kiln throughout the year, even when
production had stopped. He said that he has done so because he did not like the gossip
surrounding his daughter’s character at the village. Since he was a widower, he had shifted to
the kiln with his daughter.
An elderly widow from Rajasthan had also settled at the same kiln because she had been
abandoned by her children.
A less commonly offered reason was to ‘experience’ work at the kiln. This was offered by
young men who had still not had the opportunity to decide on the kind of work they were most
suited for. They had come because others in their village/family also worked at the kiln.
Despite these perceived advantages, none of the participants wished that their children should
also grow up and work at brick kilns.
Commonly faced problems
All respondents were unanimous in that the wage rate was very low and the work was
extremely demanding physically.
At no kiln had workers been given any special facilities. Even basic facilities like clean
drinking water were missing. At one kiln workers had to tread to a hand pump some distance
away to fetch water.
Toilet facilities were not available at any kiln and the workers had to use the fields for
defecation and bathing.
Basic first aid kits were not present in any kiln. In case of work related injuries like cuts and
bruises, workers prefer to use homemade remedies. If an injury was sustained at work, the
employer’s role was limited to having the worker dropped off at the nearest government/private
hospital/medical centre. Even if a work related injury caused long lasting problems, no
compensation was offered to the worker.
Two participants said that their family members had died while working at kilns elsewhere, yet
no compensation was offered. In one case, even the body of the deceased was not sent home
by the employer. Neither knew the cause of the death.

5. At no kiln was any worker offered any safety gear. Only the firemen were given wooden clogs.
One owner said that equipment like protective glasses and helmets could be provided if the
workers so demanded but admitted that no such demands had been made till date.
Workers do not lay stress on safety gear and believe that a worker’s own alertness is the best
guard against mishaps. One worker said that seen fellow workers turn up for work drunk and
hence had only themselves to blame for accidents.
Accidents and injuries appear to be common at the brick kilns with 70% of the participants
reporting some form of the same. The most commonly sustained injuries were in the form of
deep cuts and bruises. Head injuries were also reported but no respondent had experienced
the same. Skin infections/allergies were also common given that the environment at the kiln
sees a lot of dust and smoke. 50% of the respondents admitted to dry skin, flaking and rashes.
Backache, chronic body ache and headache were also commonly reported with 60% of the
respondents claiming to suffer from the same. Almost all workers were loath to spend money on
a doctor and relied on homemade medicines for relief.
At two kilns workers said that they had to get their own equipment (shovels etc.) for work. If
they asked the kiln owner for tools, money for the same was deducted from their wages. At
the two kilns where the owners provided the equipment, in case of it being damaged during
work, the workers had to replace it with their own money.
The kilns are spread over a large area (3-7 acres), often at different sites and are not protected
by any boundary or fencing. Most kilns are sited some distance from the village and thus
become very lonely at night. There was no electricity in the temporary homes at the kilns
surveyed. This makes workers fearful. At one kiln, after an attempted robbery, workers had
started to stay awake by rotation to guard their huts.
Women workers were particularly worried about their children who had nothing to do during
the day. Older children were tasked with looking after younger children and adolescent girls did
the cooking and washing while the mothers were at work. Most children pitched in with some
form of physical labour (fetching water, carrying baked bricks, washing the moulds) in the brick
making process.
It must be noted that brick kiln owners deny the presence of child labour on their kiln and do
not employ the same. At none of the kilns did the team find any children below the age of 18
working independently—that is without the family. Children however work with their parents and
the parents do not view this as exploitation. They in fact consider work as a means to keep
children out of mischief during the day. Thus while child labour is present on the brick kilns, it is
neither acknowledged by the parents nor the owners.
Almost all the participants who came to the kilns with their children did not send them to local
schools or avail of anganwadi services. Only one woman, who had migrated from a
neighbouring village, responded in the positive about sending her children to school. This was
made possible only because the eldest child, aged 15, could accompany his younger siblings to
school. Other parents felt that there was no point in availing these services just for a few months

6. in the year. Yet, very young children could not be left behind at their homes in other villages
either as there was no one to take care of them. Thus, these children were denied any form of
schooling either in their native village or at their parents place of work.
However, no worker felt anything would come out of complaining to the owner and most of
these problems were accepted as part and parcel of life at the brick kilns.
Problems faced by owners
At all the surveyed kilns the practice of getting workers from other states had almost stopped.
Though this was preferred earlier as the owners felt it prevented unionism, they have now
realized that it is difficult to keep track of workers who take advances and then leave work
midway to return to their native state. Such workers often provide wrong addresses at the kilns
and the owners are unable to locate them.
One owner said that though the problem of taking advances and dropping out of work also
occurred with local workers or those who had migrated from neighbouring
villages/blocks/districts, it was easier to locate such errant workers. He also admitted to the use
of force to get back advances and regarded this as fair. “Every year we lose a couple of lakhs
and need to guard ourselves against this”, he said. He admitted to using henchmen to make
recoveries in such cases.
Another owner said that sometimes fights erupted (over petty issues such quarrels between
children) between groups from different villages he had to personally intervene to stop them.
The employers are sometimes saddled with incompetent workers. Since technically once the
brick is out of the mould, it is the property of the brick kiln owner, full payments have to be made
even against defective pieces. It is not easy to throw out incompetent workers because of the
advances given. In some cases threats were used against the workers but this had no impact
on the quality of the work.
There is some competition for workers between kiln owners and large farmers as the
harvesting season falls during April-May when work at the kiln is at its peak. One owner said
that this had led to bad blood between the two groups and also that the workers use this to
bargain for better wages.
Brick production is an expensive process and the kiln owners are resentful of the high taxes
they need to pay to the government. These taxes were cited as the reason by two kiln owners
on why they could not offer their workers any special facilities.
The owners did not display any knowledge of environmental concerns and did not consider it
useful to shift to less polluting chimneys as they feared that production costs would
correspondingly rise.

7. Problems specific to women
Though women moulders work as hard as their male counterparts, they are not recognized as
workers in their own right and are only viewed as wives of the male workers whose names are
mentioned in the employee register. Thus wages are paid to the men and women workers feel
discriminated against.
Yet the women do not think that this issue needs to be raised before the kiln owner. One woman
said, “Mahila ko kya zarrorat bolne ki” (why should a woman speak?)
Women were also offered work only as moulders, even if they were physically capable of
performing other work such as loading. Only one of the woman participants said that she
hammered and broke coal pieces that went into the furnace.
Since workers live in great proximity on the kiln ground, women workers (especially the younger
ones) admit to a sense of unease in the company of so many strange men. They also feel a
lack of privacy more acutely than their male counterparts. This is heightened in certain cases
such as the need to take a bath in the open as the kilns lack bathrooms.
Women also find it difficult to adjust in the temporary, cramped shelters and are pained by the
absence of familiar symbols such as trees for worship.
Fuel wood was the preferred method of cooking at the temporary homes of workers and
women complained that as the kiln owner did not provide it to them, they were tasked with the
additional burden of fetching the same.
Initially women respondents denied facing any kind of harassment at the hands of co-
workers/employers but when probed they admitted to facing some abuse that ranged from the
use of vulgar language and gestures to some form of physical harassment. However as
most workers live with their families, this is relatively rare (30 percent of the respondents
admitted to it). They admitted however that they had heard of cases of molestation and even
rape on other kilns.
It is more common for women to be abused by their husbands. This includes both physical
violence and abusive language. Although many female respondents (80 percent of the
married female respondents) admitted to being subject to this, they were also clear that they did
not want others to intervene in such matters for they believed that these were ‘private’ and thus
best resolved between the couple.
At one kiln, a woman complained that her young daughter was harassed by some young men
who would often come to visit a fellow worker at the kiln and that though she had complained to
the co-worker; nothing had been done to stop it.

8. One male participant said that his sister had been kidnapped from a brick kiln in a neighbouring
district.
Though no female participant admitted to facing any kind of harassment at the hands of the
local villagers, they did acknowledge that they had heard of such cases in other kilns.
Psychological concerns
Although most workers stay at the kiln during the production season that does not automatically
translate into a feeling of community and kinship.
Women respondents particularly admitted to a feeling of loneliness because of the absence of
the extended family which offered support back home.
While male workers also admitted to feelings of loneliness, they found solace in alcohol,
tobacco and in some cases intoxicants. Most males admitted to being prey to at least one
addiction. They said that it helped them overcome physical fatigue, sleep better and feel
mentally better.
The respondents found it difficult to share their problems with other workers at the kiln despite
living in close proximity. In some cases this was attributed to differences in castes among the
workers. Although most workers belonged to the backward and scheduled castes, workers
tended to stick together with their caste men.
For workers who have migrated from another village/block/district, there were concerns about
loss of identity. Some workers felt that they were less respected in their villages because they
had chosen to work at a brick kiln. At least two workers spoke of having no say in major family
decisions because of the physical distance from home. They also had to keep away from
important family celebrations like weddings.
A feeling of helplessness in family matters was also expressed. At one kiln for instance, a male
worker could not go home to search for his sister who had been kidnapped because he could
not afford to miss work.
An absence of facilities for entertainment and recreation means life at the kilns is dull and
monotonous. The only form of relaxation comes in the form of a weekly trip to the village
marketplace to get food supplies and other necessities.
In cases where adolescent children had been left behind with relatives while their parents
worked at the kilns, there were concerns about the safety and well being of the children, even
though they had been left behind with relatives or the extended family. One participant said that
he had left behind his motherless children only so that they could guard the house while he was
away as otherwise it would be forcibly occupied by local miscreants.

9. At all kilns, the workers admitted to keeping away from the local villagers as they believed that
these looked down upon them. “Bhatte par kam karne wale” (those who work at kilns) was
locally used as a term of derision.
This distrust is mutual and the workers do not expect the villagers to help them in case of a
crisis. One worker blamed a local villager for having stolen from him. “When I tried to report the
matter to the police, no one believed me”, he said.
A compounded effect of the above was that the brick kiln owner was viewed as a commanding
figure and the workers felt that they were at his mercy.
Brick kiln owners are economically powerful and politically well connected (in the surveyed field
four Members of the Legislative Assembly were also brick kiln owners) and have used this
combination to hold the workers in fear.
Employer-employee relations
No written contracts had been enforced at any of the kilns surveyed. The owners only
maintained a work register in which the units of production were noted on the day that wages
were paid. None of the owners interviewed were willing to show the said registers to the team.
Wages are set by the brick kiln owners collectively and are often below what the state has
mandated for workers in the unorganised sector. However these are often above what the
workers get elsewhere. All respondents replied in the affirmative about getting the wages that
had been promised (although all believed that the wages were too low for the physically
demanding nature of work).
Though a high number of participants (32) had complaints against the owner (related to delay in
payment of wages, lack of facilities and non compensation in case of injuries) none had lodged
a complaint either with the local police or the Labour commissioner. All workers felt that there
was no use trying to fight against the all powerful owner and also that if word got around
about the worker causing trouble, he was unlikely to find work in the same block.
There is minimal contact between the kiln owner and the worker. The contactor or the munshi
is the main point of contact for both. In fact most owners do not even come to the kilns regularly.
Yet both male and female respondents said that if they wanted to approach the kiln owner, they
could do so. However it is mostly the men who talk to the employers. Even the
owners/contactors said that they preferred dealing with the men. One owner said that he dealt
with women only in cases where the husband was “of a weak mind”.
There were no structured opportunities available for communication. Whenever a worker had
a problem (most commonly related to wages) he would first approach the munshi and only if the

10. problem could not be resolved at that level would he have the opportunity to approach the
owner when the latter was available.
Among the male workers too, the firemen have greater access to the owners. This happens
because while the firemen are skilled, the others perform tasks that require little skill and are
thus easily dispensable. Hence employers are anxious about losing good firemen and keep
them in good humour.
All workers had minimal expectations of their employers. They only expect to be paid on time.
Kiln owners say that they treat their workers as family and give then sweets and new clothes
during festivals (all workers denied this). One kiln owner said that he gave good workers cash
rewards once the production season was over.
Kiln owners claimed to treat all workers uniformly. They denied any discrimination on the basis
of caste. Some workers (23%) however said that the owners were more kindly disposed (in
matters of advances and leaves) to such workers who had been known to them for some time
or belonged to the same caste.
One worker said that while the kiln owner (a Muslim) did not discriminate among the workers,
he could not imagine eating with his employer for he belonged to a different religion.
Issues of migrant workers
The term ‘migrant’ in the context of brick kilns applies to those who come from neighbouring
villages/blocks/districts and states. Taken thus, 62 percent of the participants were migrants. Of
these, the greatest chunk (50 percent) had migrated from a neighbouring block.
It is also interesting to note that at each kiln the migrant population came from different areas,
as though the kiln owners had so deigned it (kiln owners refuted this). This prevented both unity
and unionism in the workers.
At one kiln though the share of in migrants was negligible as the kiln owner was a local politician
and used his position to dispense benefits of government schemes (eg. houses for economically
weaker sections) to his workers.
However, every worker in the kiln can be considered a migrant in that even local workers
prefer to stay at the kiln, in temporary shelters, during the production season so that they can
maximize their hours of work. Such workers visit their extended families just once in a fortnight.
The responses from migrant workers were similar to those of local workers.
Some additional information, as given below, was also gleaned from them.

11. The most commonly cited reason for migration was lack of employment opportunities and
irregular wages at the worker’s native village. Interestingly, even if brick kilns were available at
the workers’ native villages, they preferred not to work at them as working in the kiln was not
considered a matter of prestige.
One worker said that he had migrated to escape the caste politics in his native village.
Of the FGD participants, 40 percent had members of their immediate family who had migrated
to other villages/blocks/districts/states to work in brick kilns.
The lack of communication with family members was cited as the most important concern.
This is surprising given that almost all workers professed to own a mobile phone. Further
probing revealed that family members refrained from sharing problems over the phone out of
concern for their loved ones. And hence they felt that their communication was lacking.
Two workers had family members who had migrated for work and never returned.
Communication had also stopped and they feared that they might be dead.
Other worries cited by migrant workers were forcible encroachments of their home, not getting
a fair share in the harvest on the common family land and (in cases where children were left
behind) safety concerns.
The issue of lack of physical safety was very pronounced in migrant workers. They felt that if
the brick kiln owner or local workers would beat them up, they would not have any local support.
It was found that when men migrate to work in kilns, women either migrate with them or else do
other work in the village. They do not work at the kiln. Only two women (one from outside the
state, another from the same village) were such who worked at the kilns without male members
of their family. This is because brick moulding is not an individual task and requires the whole
family unit to pitch in.
A. Conclusion
Illiteracy and rampant poverty due to lack of economic opportunities force a vast majority of rural
workforce to migrate to brick kiln industry located in the outskirts of urban areas. The families of
brick kiln workers survive on less than USD 2.5 per day. The income from the brick kiln
contributes 73 percent to the overall household income and therefore the dependence is high on
this work. The only benefits that they have received under government programmes and
schemes are the periodic wage employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme. Less than 25 percent of the overall respondents had
membership in self-help groups or trade/ labour unions.

12. In brick kiln industry majority of the respondents were employed as moulders. In 65 percent
cases the respondents were accompanied by their family members, including children in 37
percent cases. The work in the brick kiln is seasonal and usually lasts from four to six months.
The workers face a number of problems such as poor sanitation facilities, lack of quality
healthcare, injury at work, etc. Though the workers face an array of social, physical, health and
psychological problems, given their low socio economic status, the problem they find worthy of
attention is the low wage rate.
Employer-employee relations are based on trust and the employee is at the mercy of the owner.
The expenditure on health care amounted to approximately 4 percent of the total income of the
household. Health problems are common given the physically hard nature of work. Some of
these are likely to turn chronic but kiln owners make no allowances for health care and do not
even consider it important to have first aid kits at the kiln. Serious accidents are not unheard of
but these are not very common.
Child labour is not a visible problem because kiln owners do not employ children directly. Most
children work with their parents. The nature of exploitation is thus hidden.
About two-fifth of the total respondents interviewed were in-migrants. However the nature of in-
migration is usually from within the district or at best from the adjoining districts. The nature of
the problems they face is largely similar to that faced by local workers (as both belong to the
same socio economic strata and to similar castes). However lack of communication and fears of
physical safety are more pronounced in migrant workers.
Brick kiln owners are locally powerful. They enjoy economic power, are likely to control other
sources of production (eg kiln owners are likely to be large farmers on whose lands the locals
work as laborers) and are politically well connected. This convergence is put to good use in
controlling the workers and keeping them in fear. Yet at all kilns labour related losses were a
major cause of concern for the owners. Kiln owners display little knowledge of environmental
concerns and labour laws.
Some of the female respondents had been victims of sexual harassment at the place of work
however such incidences largely go unreported. The workers have a verbal contract with the
kiln owner and therefore there are very little opportunities available to assert their rights and
entitlements.
It is needless to say that the workers are forced by circumstances and less by choice to work in
the brick kiln industry. The life is not easy and fraught with problems ranging from poor living
conditions to poor working conditions. In addition lack of safety mechanisms prone them to risk
of injury and health hazards associated with the nature of work. Lack of collective identity as
well as formal recognition of their work adds to their vulnerability. Still the brick kiln workers are
unlikely to rally against them for they are battling more immediate concerns of survival.

13. The life of brick kiln workers is difficult and physically demanding, yet the work is sought after
because of the relatively better wages paid and the relative regularity of such payments.
B. Recommendations
Illiteracy, dependency on agriculture and labour work and the resultant lack of employment
opportunities force a vast majority of rural workforce to migrate to brick kiln industry located in
the outskirts of urban areas. It is a work where even the family members support the male
earning member and accordingly the work makes a substantial contribution in the family annual
income. It is therefore needless to state that the dependency on brick kiln work is high.
Therefore what is required is introducing mechanisms that can improve the work conditions and
give the workers an opportunity to organize themselves to assert what they are entitled to
receive. Improvement in sanitation condition and access to health care facilities would be an
important area of work. The workers at the moment do not have written contract and the lack of
organizing reduces their options for negotiating with the brick kiln owners. Therefore efforts
towards organizing them could prove to be crucial in improving their overall working conditions.
Specific interventions (especially capacity building on gender related aspects) for female
workers can also be envisaged. However given the nature of relationship that exists between
the workers and owners it would be important to initiate the work around less controversial
aspects such as sanitation, healthcare, education of children, etc.
Case Studies
The following case studies were taken from the six brick kilns in which the survey was
conducted.
An attempt has been made to make these as representative as possible. Thus the studies
include local and migrant workers (men, women and children) and a brick kiln owner.
While the project team was asked to help in identification of case studies, most of those
documented were chosen after conversations with brick kiln workers at the sites.
To lend greater breadth to the study as a whole, such respondents were chosen for the case
studies who had not been questioned by the survey team and also those who were not part of
the focus group discussions. An attempt was also made to document such issues that were
either not identified previously or those that were identified but could not be captured by the
survey.
The studies focus on different problems encountered at brick kilns.
The respondents were interviewed on the sites of the brick kilns where they work as it was not
possible to draw them away from the kiln on a work day. Also, as is the practice with most kiln
workers, they stay in temporary shelters at the kiln itself during the duration of the yearly
production cycle; hence the kiln was the most convenient place to meet them.

14. The case studies were recorded in the nature of one-to-one conversations, with the project team
filling in any specific details (such as dates) where required. Also, where required family
members and co-workers were asked to corroborate and supplement information. These case
studies were recorded over a period of five days. While 12 case studies were noted, seven—
which are most detailed and representative have been documented.
1. WHY LALLI LIVES IN SHAME
Three years ago, Lalli Patel’s father Moreti (45 years), died at the Sahu Brick Field where he
had worked for two years. The senior Patel was digging clay when he collapsed. “There was
blood from his nose and mouth. The kiln owner had his body thrown at our doorstep”,
remembers Lalli, now 21 years old.
The Patel family lives in Sauraiya village (Kaushambhi district) which lies next to the brick
field and includes, three children, of which Lalli is the second born. Moreti was the only earning
member who alternated between working in the kiln and tending to other people’s farms.
No compensation was offered to the family. “They gave us five kilograms of ghee (clarified
butter) which they said could be used for the last rites. The owner did not bother visiting us”,
says Lalli who had to drop out of school to support the family. The family had to take a loan of
Rs 6,000 to meet the expenses for the cremation.
“There was no question of complaining. The kiln owner could have sent his goons to beat us
up. He did not even pay my father’s remaining wages”, shrugs Lalli.

15. Lalli Patel holds up a photo of himself with his father’s dead body. In the background is the brick kiln
where he works
For some time after his father’s death, Lalli tried finding employment around the village.
The alternatives on offer were either ill paid or required traveling far. Bereft of any skills, Lalli
was forced to work in the same brick kiln to support his mother, sister and brother.
“Every day is difficult for me. I avoid going to the area where my father died”, says Lalli
holding up a picture of his father’s dead body. Lalli was compelled to choose the brick kiln for
work as it was closest to his home. He felt it was the best option if he were to keep an eye on
his mother and sister. His mother Phoolmati Devi tried to dissuade him but Lalli says, “We had
to eat.” His decision was also influenced by the brick kiln contractor who told Lalli that the kiln
owner would ensure that Lalli’s wages were paid on time.
As a molder he earns around Rs 2,500 per month. His mother has also been working at
other people’s farms. Eight months ago the younger brother, Videsh Kumar, found work in a
Surat textile factory. “He earns well and now we are saving to get our sister married off”, says
Lalli. The sister, Meera Devi, is an unlettered 22 year old who is past the “marriageable age”
and her status has given rise to village gossip.
The unmarried young man says he lives under “disappointment and shame”.
He believes he could have studied and become a tailor or a security guard. “My father
never wanted me to do this work. I could have gone out and earned enough money to make a
pucca house for ourselves.”
For now though, Lalli is forced to mould the bricks that will go into making other people’s
homes.

16. 2. GEETA FEARS FOR HER CHILDREN
Geeta Raidas and her husband Sewak Ram at the brick kiln
For seven months in a year, Geeta Raidas (36) leaves her home in Manjanpur village
(district Fatehpur) to travel 30 kilometres to the Santosh Brick Field located in the village of
Alipur Jeeta (district Kaushambhi). She comes with her husband Sewak Ram and three children
aged between one and a half and six and a half years. The husband and wife work as moulders.
Till December the three children would loiter around the kiln while their parents worked till a late
night robbery forced the couple to move out of their temporary shelter on the kiln.
“I lost my gold ornaments worth Rs 10,000. My mobile and torch were also taken away”,
she says. For a season of work at the kiln, the couple will earn between Rs 12,000 and 15,000.
The brick field where Raidas works lies on a state highway at the border between
Kaushambhi and Fatehpur districts. Like other kilns it is unfenced. Workers who migrate from
other villages live in temporary mud shanties at the kiln which has no electricity at night.
On the night of the robbery, three men entered the brick kiln. They were armed with
country made pistols. Raidas says, “They kept a pistol on my head and said that I would be
killed. When I pleaded they slapped me. My youngest one was thrown off the cot”
Four other shanties were robbed that night. The remainder of the night the workers
remained huddled together. When they telephoned the kiln owner, he refused to come.
Next morning, when the kiln owner appeared he forced Raidas and the others to put
their thumb impressions on what he said was a report for the local police station. That was only
action taken by him.

17. Raidas says her loss was the greatest, but the kiln owner mocked at her claim. “He told
me that I was lying and that my ornaments were not gold but silver. He also said that it was my
fault to have brought gold ornaments to the kiln. But how do I leave them at my home which
remains locked for seven months?” she asks.
So shaken were the workers by the robbery that they decided to move out of the kiln
despite the owner’s assurance of employing security guards.
Now the Raidas family lives with a relative at the village of Badahiyapur which is three
kilometers from the kiln. Every morning the couple walks to work.
“I was scared for my children”, says Raidas. The eldest child does not do go school as
he has to look after the younger siblings.
Yet Raidas is not looking for employment elsewhere.
“The best thing about the kiln is that we get paid on time. At other places, we work for 10
days and are made to run around for 20 to claim our payment”, she explains.
That little comfort is the best that Raidas aims for.

18. 3. AKHILESH’s LOST CHILDHOOD
Akhilesh Saroj (16) and hisbrother Abhishek (13) work at a brick kiln to add to the family income
Akhilesh Saroj was 14 when he dropped out of school two years ago. “My parents had
no money to pay the Rs 8 fee at the school. The principal said I could not take the class 7
exams” he says refuting his parents’ stand that he was never interested in studies. “My sir told
me I was first in class six. I liked Maths and Hindi”, he says proudly.
Saroj now works at the Sahu brick field in Kaushambhi where his father Ballu and
mother Shivkali have worked for the last 15 years. It is work he sees as essential if the family is
to reach its target of moulding 10,000 bricks a week and earning Rs 300 for it that will support a
family of 9. His father suffers from epilepsy and experiences fits once or twice a month.
“Sometimes he remains unconscious for hours. Once bricks fell on him and he lay here
bleeding. If I am not around, no one will discover him. Anything can happen”, says Saroj whose
job includes keeping an eye on his father.
Saroj dislikes the work and says he would rather be in Mumbai where he spent seven
months last year working in a restaurant. “I worked in the nights and got good food to eat. I
could walk on the sea beach. Here I have to toil in the sun the whole day”, he says.
His father however resents the fact that the boy did not get back any of his salary from
Mumbai. “He blew it up all on himself. What is the use of working so far from home when you
will not give the family anything? It is better that he stay here and work with me”, he shoots.
Of the family’s meager earnings, every month Rs 500 goes towards the medicines that
Ballu has to take everyday. The kiln owner has provided no support. “He says I can only pay
you for what you work”, says Saroj.

19. Sometimes when the father is extremely unwell, the second son, Abhishek also joins the
work and forgoes school. Like his elder brother he dislikes the work. “If I don’t get the chance to
study, I will work at the brick kiln when I grow up” he despairs.
The owner of the kiln, Rajendra Sahu denies that any children are employed in his kiln.
“I discourage children from working in my kiln. However if parents force their children to
work, there is nothing I can do” says Sahu.

20. 4. A CRISIS OF IDENTITY
Savitri with her six year old daughter Sharmila
For the last two years Savitri Devi (40) has been coming to the SK Brick Field in village
Daulatpur (district Fatehpur) from her home in Chalsa Ferozpur village 100 kilometers away.
She could have found work in the brick kilns at home but says, “I feel very ashamed to be
working at a brick kiln when my other relatives are so well off”.
For 25 years her husband, Budh Raj Raidas, worked as a labourer in Dehradun earning
Rs 2,500 for a family of eight. But when ill health brought him down, he shifted back to the
village. The couple tried running a small kiosk selling tobacco but the earnings were too meagre
to supplement their income from work as agricultural labourers. Then last year their eldest son
Ravinder Kumar got married. The family took a loan of Rs 20,000 to build a room for him. The
loan was taken from a brick kiln contractor who brought them to Daulatpur to work and repay
the loan.

21. “Earlier my son would send Rs 1,000 to us every month from Noida where he was
working in a factory making automobile parts. After the marriage he stopped that”, she says.
Despite financial hardship, the couple educated their son and had hoped that he would
ease their burdens when grown up. Now that the eldest son has chosen to look away, there is a
deep sense of disappointment.
“When I talk to my sisters on the phone they cry at my plight”, says Devi who admits to
feeling lonely at the kiln. Although there are 12 other families living at the site, she has been
unable to find much in common with them.
Her youngest daughter Sharmila, aged six refused to stay back at the village. “She cried
so much that I had to get her here. She had to drop out of school”, says Devi who insists that
next seasons she will convince her to stay back with her sisters.
The eldest daughter Arti is studying in class 10. “She has tried to hide it from friends in
school that her parents work at a brick kiln. She keeps pestering us to return” admits Devi.
But the couple, who have job cards say that it is very difficult to find work in the village.
“The gram pradhan gives work only to those who belong to his community. Women are
discriminated against”, says Devi.
“Who does not want to live with one’s friends and relatives? I keep worrying about the
safety of my two daughters left back. Life at the brick kiln is hard. But what options do we have”,
asks Devi who works nine hours a day moulding bricks.
After living expenses have been deducted, the couple is unlikely to pay off the loan this
season. Thus Devi is prepared for another season of loneliness and despair at the brick kiln.

22. 5. WORK BUT NO WAGES FOR RAMKUMARI
Ramkumari, a low caste woman working at the SK Brick Field in Daulatpur (Bithora block,
Fatehpur) is battling loneliness and an abusive husband. “We work together but he gets all the money.
When I ask him for money, he beats me up. I cry myself to sleep every night.”
Ramkumari’s predicament is not unique—as brick kiln owners see the family as one unit. Thus
while both the husband and the wife work equally hard, the man is paid the wages (calculated on number
of units produced) for both. Kiln owners prefer to deal with the men and the women do not question it.
However what makes Ramkumari’s condition more poignant is the fact of her illness. She has
fibroids and suffers from constant pain, although that is not how she explains it.
“My uterus is swollen. My stomach pains all the while. Even daily chores are difficult. I feel like
dying”, she despairs.
Despite constant pain, Ramkumari is forced to work for 15 hours a day
Her 36 year old husband Rajendra Kumar Raidas is an alcoholic. Ramkumari does not remember
any time in their 15 year old marriage when he was not abusive. Five years ago Ramkumari complained
to the police about his daily beatings. “I thought that would knock some sense into him. But my in-laws
began resenting me. Some years ago they washed their hands off us and said that we were on our own”,
says Ramkumari (32).
Since then the couple have worked at different brick fields around their village of Narayanpur.
They have a small patch of land in their village but the soil is infertile so the yield is negligible. The
couple has three children between the ages of 14 and 5 who live on the brick kiln.

23. Although alcoholism is common among the men working at the brick kilns (they say it helps
drive away fatigue), Rajendra’s addiction is unusually strong. “Most of our weekly earnings go into
buying liquor. When I ask for money for medicines or to go to the doctor, he abuses me”, says
Ramkumari.
Rajendra’s habit also means that the couple mould fewer bricks than the other couples. “He sleeps
till late afternoon”, says Ramkumari who depends on her daughter to help with the cooking and washing
at the couple’s temporary shanty.
The other men at the kiln have tried to make Rajendra see sense but as Ramkumari explains,
“Why should they care beyond a point?”
For Ramkumari there is no solace to be found at the thought of going home—where she has to
face hostile in laws. “I am on my own. Had it not been for my children I would have killed myself”, she
says.

24. 6. REPAYING A LOAN THEY DID NOT TAKE
This is the first time that Shiv Prasad (60) and Shanti (53) are working at a brick kiln.
They were forced to do so because their son Ramesh took an advance of Rs 25,000 from the
contractor.
“The plan was for the three of us to work together and pay off the loan this season. But
after a week of work, Ramesh said he would not do it”, says Shiv Prasad who has gotten back
to work after six years. He earlier worked as a farm help but stopped when he contracted
tuberculosis—a disease for which he was taking medicines till he was forced to come to the
Surya Brick Field (Allahabad), 20 kilometres from his home in the village of Markhamau in the
same district.
Though most workers at the brick kiln take advances before the work begins, Shiv
Prasad and his wife have been forced to work for money they never saw. In fact, they did not
even know that their son had taken money, till the contractor showed up at their home with
threats to take Ramesh away.
For the couple the forced migration from home has brought many emotional problems.
Shanti says, “In the village people are there for each other. Here no one has the time. We do
not interact with the villagers as they look down upon us. Suppose we were to fall sick in the
middle of the night, who would look after us?” she wants to know.
Shiv Prasad and his wife Shanti work to pay off a loan they did not take
Her husband misses the camaraderie of the village. “At this stage of life, it is very difficult
to be away from home. I miss the familiar faces of my village”, he shrugs. When the festival of

25. colours—Holi came in March, the couple was very despondent. “There were no new clothes. No
special treats. It is almost as we live only to work at the kiln”, says Shiv Prasad.
Ramesh never returned to see how his old parents were doing. They say that they have
heard he is planning to go to Dubai in search of a job. “Maybe he took the loan for that”, shrugs
Shiv Prasad.
The couple has another son—a 30 year old who works at a power loom in Surat but they
do not expect any financial help from him. “He has his own family to look after”, they explain.
The duo say that it is unlikely that they will be able to pay off the loan this season—both
because of the sum involved and because they are slow workers.
They do not think of leaving work mid way and escaping to their village. “If we leave, we
will suffer. He is our son. We have to pay for his deeds”, is how Shanti consoles herself.

26. 7. SAHU PUTS HIS POWER TO USE
Rajendra Kumar Sahu’s position as the owner of the Sahu Brick Field is strengthened by
the fact that he is also the pradhan of village Sauraiya (Kaushambhi district).
Sahu has put this confluence of economic and political power to maximum use—lording
over the workers at his brick kiln, promising them benefits from government schemes if they
work hard to increase production at his kiln. His position as the village head has given Sahu the
advantage of employing locals at his brick field- a practice shunned by most brick kiln owners
who fear that locals will form unions.
“For the last eight years I have not had any outsiders at my kiln. Earlier workers from
Bihar would take hefty advances, work for a few weeks and then disappear. Tracing them was
impossible”, he says.
Sahu declares himself to be a kind employer. As proof he says, “If a worker at my kiln
hurts himself, I arrange for him to be taken to hospital” even though there is no first aid kit
available at the kiln.
According to the workers at the kiln, in his role as village head, Sahu is extremely
partisan and pays attention only to those who belong to his own caste.
Rajendra Sahu shows a copy of the model contract to be enforced between owners and workers

27. “Jobs and pensions go to a select few in the village. Even development works are
carried out in some selected areas”, despairs a worker at the kiln. But Sahu says, “I try to give
maximum benefits to my workers. My family has been in the field of public service for long so I
know how important it is to keep the general public happy for political survival.”
Sahu is a member of the Kaushambhi brick kiln owners association—a representative
body of 150 brick kilns. The association has recently formulated a set of guidelines which will
serve as the basis of contract between owners and workers. However while the guidelines
include details on advance and wages, there is nothing by way of benefits for workers.
Sahu sees nothing wrong in that. “Workers are unreliable and notorious. We lose so
much money in advances. Also the production losses are all ours. We need to have some form
of protection or else the workers will get out of hand”, he explains.
Till Sahu continues to be in a position of power, he will not allow that.