: National Human Rights Commission today issued notice to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments, taking suo motu cognizance of a media report which claimed that over three lakh migrant workers from Odisha would be unable to vote in the coming Lok Sabha polls as they are "tied in brick kilns" in three states.
The Commission observed that the contents of the news report, "if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of labourers" and issued notices to Chief Secretaries of the three states, calling for a factual report within two weeks, an NHRC press release said.
The report claimed that because of debt bondage, more than three lakh migrant workers from western districts of Odisha were "tied to brick kilns" in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and may not be able to cast votes in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
It also said the labourers would have to work at the brick kilns till mid-June as they had taken loans from labour agents with the promise to work from November to June.
