Click to play videoNew Delhi: A few weeks after the IBN network aired a report on how children were being used to till land owned by Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's family, the Bihar Labour Commissioner has now held the minister's brother guilty of violating labour laws.
While the minister had dismissed the report but the footage clearly showed that children were being used in place of oxen to plough the land in Vaishali district.
The man who was using the children to till his land was none other than Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's brother, Raghuraj Prasad Singh and now he is in trouble.
An enquiry ordered by the Bihar government has found him guilty of using child labour.
"We have sent the whole report to the Advocate-General and the Advocate-General will take the legal view under which section, under which provisions case can be lodged against the concerned persons," Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy CM, Bihar. said.
Action against his brother will mean a big loss of face for Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. When the report was first aired, the minister had called it a media plot to defame him.
"Dekha rahe hain ki bada bhaari julm ho gaya. Ki bal mazdoor ho gaya. Wo to tamasha kiya hai log wahan (It is being shown that a grave injustice took place and we employed child labour. All this is a big sham)," Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had countered.
There were also allegations that the TV crew bribed the children to fake the whole story. But the state labour commission's report lays to rest these accusations.
"Yes the report was true. And the top officials of teh labour department and other departments visited the spot and they found that for many years people are using children for ploughing the field," Modi clarified.
Humans being used in place of oxen and tractors are a common practice in Bihar's riverine belt.
Whether strict action is taken against Raghuraj Prasad Singh or not it definitely draws attention to this deplorable practice.
(With inputs from Prabhakar Kumar, Sumon Chokraborty and Neenaz Ichaporia)
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