Give priority to filling lakes with dam water

These people were previously engaged in bonded labour, says minister

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mandya

AS part of a major social empowerment initiative, the Mandya Zilla Panchayat distributed 13 essential identity documents to 86 officially identified released bonded labourers in the district, said Agriculture and District Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.

Speaking at a programme held in Maddur taluk to distribute documents and conduct health check-ups for members of released bonded labourer families, the minister said, "Though bonded labour is illegal, many innocent individuals still fall prey to the system due to poverty. The government has launched several schemes to eradicate this practice completely. Beneficiaries should make good use of these initiatives."

He said that out of the 86 identified individuals, four are women and 82 are men, who were previously engaged in bonded labour. Many of them lacked basic government documents, which prevented them from availing various departmental benefits.