Mansi Bariha saved 6,000 bonded laborers

Don't tell your courage how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your courage is. 

Mansi Bariha of Orissa's Balangir district has taught a similar lesson to more than 6,000 bonded laborers in Tamil Nadu by rescuing them from the tyranny of bonded labor in brick kilns.

Bonded labor refers to when a person labors or renders services for a creditor in exchange for repayment of a loan. Bonded labor system has been running in India since ancient times. While bonded labor is illegal and completely banned in India, we often come across such incidents.

Mansi Barsha, 19, from Odisha's Balangir district lived with her father and 10-year-old sister. Rs. 28,000 loans were taken by his father to meet the treatment cost of his late mother. The agent took him along with 355 other laborers to the GDM brick kiln at Pudhukuppam in Tiruvallur for not repaying the loan taken on time. There the laborers were paid between Rs.250 to Rs.300 per week. They were made to work from 4.30 in the morning till noon. In the afternoon they were given time to rest for two hours and again work started which continued till late evening.

When the coronavirus pandemic broke out and the lockdown was imposed, the laborers wanted to return to their homes as soon as possible. So they all started working day and night. Despite completing the work, the owner refused to let them go. In the month of May, when the workers protested, the owner sent some of his goons to beat them all with sticks, injuring many other workers including Mansi's sister.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the courage to overcome fear, the brave is not the one who is not afraid, but the one who overcomes this fear. And at that time, raising her courage, Mansi resolved to end this oppressiveness. With her self-confidence and patience, she not only saved her sister and father but also saved more than 6,000 laborers.

She quietly recorded it all with her mobile camera and took pictures of the injured people and kept sending them to her contacts. Soon it all went viral on social media. As soon as the state government came to know about this incident, immediate action was taken. Within no time, the police went to rescue the workers and an FIR was registered against the kiln. However, the owner is still absconding. On further investigation, the police found that 30 other brick kilns were employing illegal bonded labor. After this, the state government arranged 150 buses and sent 6750 laborers to their villages.

It is true that you can never defeat the person who never gives up. Salute to the wisdom and courage of Mansi Bariha.