Central Minister's Brother in the Child Labor Case Controversy
Patna: Dec. 9, 2007
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is finding himself in the middle of a controversy after a private television channel, during an expose, showed two little boys being used, like oxen, to plough fields owned by the minister's brother Raghuraj Singh in Vaishali district.
Amidst demand for actions against the minister's brother, Vaishali District Magistrate Dr. Pratima directed the Labor Commissioner to investigate the allegations and submit its report within 24 hour for any further action.
Meanwhile, the Central Minister himself called the charges against his brother as false and completely fabricated by the television channel at the behest of some of his political opponents.
"By pretending to report on the problem of water drainage in the area, the TV men staged the whole scene to malign me and my brother. There is no truth in the story and is a creation of my political enemies," Singh said during a telephone interview.
Demanding a high-level enquiry, the minister said it would bring the truth out and then he would consider his legal options against the offending TV channel.
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