In Kashmir’s Brick Kilns Children Lose Future as Parents Work For Meals

Budgam: A resident of rural Uttar Pradesh, Ram Bardan, is 49-years-old and has worked for nearly a decade at a brick kiln in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. He lives with his wife and two sons, who have never been to school, and will start work again in May, the time when brickwork begins.  

Bardan has three sons, but one of his sons works in their native village, where he also takes care of their house. “I have never sent my children to the school in my native village. Due to poverty, I could not afford the fees, and all my dreams were lost,” Bardan said. 

The children of labourers like Bardan’s who work in the brick kilns away from their home towns to earn their livelihood in Kashmir spend their time without access to primary education. The labourers earn less and find it hard to manage with no hope left to educate their children.

For others, the migration from one state to another state also hinders their education. 

Another 28-year-old labourer from Uttar Pradesh, Ilyas Ahmad, said that he earns a good amount of money in Kashmir based brick kilns. His five children and his wife have come with him to Budgam. “But the place where he works, there are no facilities like schools or Anangwadi centre for his children who are still very young,” he said. 

“All the small children live with us and play inside the kilns, which have no facility for children to read and write,” said Ilyas, who has been working at the kiln for the last five years.

An old labourer throws water on the earth before leaving to prepare the kachaa bricks inside the kiln.

The children of the brick kiln labourers, however, work for a period of four to five months only which is not enough for admission to local schools. 

According to the president of the Kashmir Brick Kilns Manufacturers Association, Zahoor Ahmad Malik, there are nearly 300-350 brick kilns across the Kashmir in which most of the brick kilns, nearly 200 kilns, are functional in the district Budgam. The work at kilns starts mostly from May to September, in which most of the migrant labourers come from the other states, especially Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. When the production work is started, the kiln owners hire migrant labourers as per the production work of the bricks. 

“The brick kiln owners provide proper transportation facility for labourers to reach Kashmir valley and also provide accommodation, food and other necessary things later,” Malik said.

Owais Ahmed became a father last year and his 18 months old baby and looking at the fate of most of the children, he is worried about his baby. It is not only proper access to education but also food that worries him. “We have not received any kind of nutrition through the Anganwadi centres as our children are not registered,” the 25-year-old laments. 

“My wife and I are both illiterate. We do not have any knowledge about food and nutrition a child requires and buy baby food from a local shopkeeper, but I don’t know whether it is good for my baby’s health,” Owais said.

Anganwadi is an Indian government initiative under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) to provide primary healthcare and education in rural India.

Ashfaq Ali, a 29-year-old who works at a brick kiln at Chandpora Village in Budgam, said that he could not send his children to other local schools due to time and other limitations from work. Ali’s two children studied at a school in his native village in UP, but after coming to Kashmir, they don’t go to school anymore. “There is no one from locals or from the government authorities who can is willing to take responsibility for our children,” Ali told NewsClick. 

A labourer prepares the clay for manufacturing kachaa bricks at a brick kiln in Chandpora, Budgam district.

Malik added that it is the responsibility of the kiln owners to provide basic facilities to these migrant labourers. However, they claimed that the children lost education due to the lack of awareness amongst the labourers. 

“The labourers come here to earn their livelihood; they are only focusing on their livelihood and not their children's education. We are providing a good amount of the wages to these labourers as compared to other brick kilns which are functional in other states,” he said.

“If the government will take any step to provide the basic education to these children here in the Kashmir valley during the staying period. The brick kilns owners are ready to provide the proper support in this purpose,” he said. 

A child moves kacha bricks in a hand cart for the preparation of their temporary accommodation inside the brick kiln premises.

The Labour Commissioner Jammu and Kashmir Abdul Rashid War said that the labour department does not have proper figures of the migrant labourers working in the different brick kilns across the Kashmir valley as the concerned brick kilns owners or contractors who bring kiln labourers from other states do not register them as per the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act. 

“It helps us to track their basic living standard and what kind of basic facilities the labourers receive in the brick kilns or other workplaces. This will help us resolve their basic problems as per the rules and regulations of the government,” War said. 

All photographs courtesy of Arif Rashid 

The writer is a freelance journalist based out of Srinagar, J&K