Aritra Bhattacharya

Journalist and Researcher. PhD from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

[Aritra Bhattacharya @b_aritra]

4-part investigative series on modern #slavery & trafficking in #India. Labour of love with @saurabh4592, made over nine months.
One: https://t.co/S1CTZ5GUxG
Two: https://t.co/YVUNWzzs0V
Three: https://t.co/yOScCOYyoy
Four: https://t.co/qT2SRpaA6m

[Fetisov Journalism Awards @fjawards]

💫Shortlisted stories for the 2024 #FetisovJournalismAwards
Category: Outstanding Investigative Reporting
🔹Series on modern slavery and organised crime networks in India
🔹Authors: @b_aritra and @saurabh4592 (India)
Learn more about the story: https://t.co/Foijn1Ik21
Find more shortlisted stories here: https://t.co/1hHo1GDEYn #FetisovJournalismAwards2024 #shortlist #investigativejournalism

[Betwa Sharma @betwasharma]

Our four-part series on modern slavery & organized crime networks in India by @saurabh4592 & @b_aritra has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category at the 2024 Fetisov Journalism Awards. Brilliantly edited by @iyerkavi Read: https://t.co/uENKJ0EB71

[saurabh kumar @saurabh4592]

Our series on modern slavery and organized crime networks in India for @Article14live has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category at the 2024 Fetisov Journalism Awards.
@b_aritra

[Samar Halarnkar @samar11]

Lack of diversity
Political interference in appointments
Police officers probing human-rights violations
Not cooperating with civil society
As @Ganhri1 defers @India_NHRC accreditation for 2nd yr running, @b_aritra reported why it was deferred last year
https://t.co/5OW7NLcgry

[Aritra Bhattacharya @b_aritra]

@paulclements I'm unable to send you a DM. Could you please share an email for pitching?

[Aritra Bhattacharya @b_aritra]

@sandiptodg This looks super @sandiptodg! Keenly looking forward. When is the publication date?

[Aritra Bhattacharya @b_aritra]

@ASR_Metta Wow, that's a lot packed into a day. Seems like you have 30 or 36 and not 24 hours!

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“Our sister got fever after working in the kiln, which refused to subside. Doctors said she was suffering from drug overdose”

Quacks administer painkillers, injections to #bondedlabourers, for relief from aches, diarrhoea & so on. @b_aritra @saurabh4592

https://t.co/iimOp0slAo

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“Our sister got fever after working in the kiln, which refused to subside. Doctors said she was suffering from drug overdose”

Quacks administer painkillers, injections to #bondedlabourers, for relief from aches, fever, and so on. @b_aritra, @saurabh4592

https://t.co/iimOp0slAo

[Article 14 @Article14live]

Over 5L villagers from western #Odisha work as #bondedlabourers at brick kilns in south India. They toil for 12-17 hrs a day, use habit-forming drugs, injections to cope, & suffer from chronic fatigue, inexplicable illnesses. @b_aritra and @saurabh4592

https://t.co/iimOp0slAo

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“The owners are such tyrants. They make us toil day and night”

#Bondedlabourers mould/load bricks for at least 12 hrs daily for 6 months, until they have paid off advances. Use of machines heightened their exploitation, report @b_aritra and @saurabh4592

https://t.co/iimOp0sTpW

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“They pay Rs 150-200 per week for food... Who can manage 6 days’ supplies within that?”

A #bondedlabourer from #Odisha on measly food allowance by brick kiln owners in south India. Trafficking of labourers has grown steadily. @b_aritra and @saurabh4592

https://t.co/iimOp0sTpW

[Samar Halarnkar @samar11]

They work till 11 or midnight, sleep 2-3 hrs, eat puffed rice, salt, maybe potatoes. They are beaten, given painkillers to keep them working longer

Watch @b_aritra & @saurabh4592's searing portrait of slavery in modern India, reported over 9 months

https://t.co/ek3veDiKLF

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“Does money grow on trees or belong to your father, they ask while hitting us"

Kiln owners in #Odisha beat workers who miss targets, give painkillers to make them work longer

Modern slavery in #India, reported over 9 months by @b_aritra & @saurabh4592
https://t.co/iimOp0sTpW

[Article 14 @Article14live]

For 9 months, @b_aritra & @saurabh4592 tracked Adivasi family from #Odisha to brick kilns in #Telangana where they work as #bondedlabourers. Part 4 of  series on #modernslavery, on long-term outcomes, use of habit-forming painkillers

https://t.co/ZJmz3aMBUg

[Article 14 @Article14live]

“They are docile, keep to themselves"

B Venkateswarlu, brick kiln owner in #Hyderabad, on preference for #Odisha #bondedlabourers. #Workers from Chhattisgarh sometimes run away, he said. Part 4 of #modernslavery series by @b_aritra & @saurabh4592

1/7

https://t.co/ZJmz3aN9JO

[Article 14 @Article14live]

For 9 months, @b_aritra & @saurabh4592 tracked Adivasi family from #Odisha to brick kilns in #Telangana where they work as #bondedlabourers. Part 4 of  series on #modernslavery, on long-term outcomes, use of habit-forming painkillers

https://t.co/ZJmz3aN9JO

[Article 14 @Article14live]

Quacks For Mishaps, Reprisals For Runaways: Brick Kiln Workers Face Lifelong Collateral Damage To Health & Early Death
A searing exploration of modern slavery in #India. Last of a 4-part series reported over 9 months by @b_aritra & @saurabh4592 https://t.co/ZJmz3aN9JO

[Betwa Sharma @betwasharma]

"If you slack at work because you are tired or unwell...he does not spare you."

500,000 men & women who migrate from Odisha work in modern slavery in the brick kilns of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh that flout labour laws. @b_aritra & @saurabh4592 report https://t.co/XCJlVeIh0Q