JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

2018 - 19
PROJECT ON Labour law

Topic : “BONDED LABOUR”

SUBMITTED BY: MANIK KAPOOR

(SECTION-A) ( 3rd YEAR) (FACULTY OF LAW)
SUBMITTED TO : MOHAMMAD KHALID
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my teacher MOHAMMAD KHALID
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic BONDED
LABOUR, which also helped me in doing a lot of
Research and I came to know about so many new
things I am really thankful to him.
Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and
friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this
project.

MANIK KAPOOR
 CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. WHAT IS BONDED LABOUR?
3. THE CONCEPT
4. INDIAN CONSTITUTION
5. JUDICAL ACTIVISM IN RELATION TO THE
ERADICATION OF BONDED LABOUR
6. CAUSES OF BONDED LABOUR
7. POSITION IN INDIA
8. MISERY AND SUFFERING IN BONDAGE
9. CONCLUSION
 INTRODUCTION

The origin of bonded labour can be traced from the caste hierarchy and
feudal structure. In earlier times the people were divided into four
categories i.e. Brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra. Since the lower
caste persons did not have enough land to cultivate, they needed money
for fulfillment of social obligations besides satisfaction of their
physiological needs and for this purpose they become indebted to the
higher caste persons. As the debtor has nothing to offer as security, the
creditor demanded that he pledges his person and work for the creditor in
lieu of the redemption of debt and interest. Guarantee of a permanent
source of cheap labour on a long term basis was the main interest of the
money lender. A man keeping another man in perpetual bondage for his
selfish and per­sonal designs is a kind of man’s cruelty to man which is
not confined to a particular country or a particular region but is found as
a global phe-nomenon for thousands of years, right from the Biblical days
to the present era. The nomenclature changed from period to period and
place to place: slave, serf, and bonded labour.

In India, this type of exploitation of man remained prevalent in the name

of beggar and riot for years. The term ‘bonded labour’ or bandhua
mazdoor is of recent origin. Despite the abolition of the zamindari
system, land reforms, Bhoodan movement, en-actment of legislation
(Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976), establishment of Panchayati Raj,
interest shown by Social Action Groups and spirited individuals from
society, lakhs of bonded labourers continue to be exploited and carry the
yoke of neglect, suffering and frustration in abject silence.

In fact, the system of bonded labour, as prevalent in Indian society, is a

relic of feudal hierarchical society. A considerable interest has come to be
shown in bonded labour during the past two decades by social workers,
social scientists and the government because it is considered
in-compatible with our social ideal of egalitarianism with our
commitment to human rights.
 WHAT IS BONDED LABOUR?

Bonded labour (or debt bondage) occurs when a person’s labour is

demanded in return for a loan. The person is then tricked into working
for little or no pay. The value of their work is usually greater than the
original loan. In many cases the loan is passed down from parent to child.
Female bonded labourers will often be subject to sexual abuse by their
‘employer’. Around 20 million people are estimated to be in bonded
labour worldwide. Bonded labour is most likely to exist in situations of
poverty where an unexpected expense such as medical costs or a marriage
dowry forces an individual to borrow. Bonded labourers are usually
unable to defend their rights or are bound by a misplaced sense of duty to
repay the debt owed by their family.

Debt bondage in India was legally abolished in 1976 but it remains

prevalent, with weak enforcement of the law by governments.[1] Bonded
labour involves the exploitive interlinking of credit and labor agreements
that devolve into slave-like exploitation due to severe power imbalances
between the lender and the borrower.

The rise of Dalit activism, government legislation starting as early as 1949,

as well as ongoing work by NGOs and government offices to enforce
labour laws and rehabilitate those in debt, appears to have contributed to
the reduction of bonded labour in India. However, according to research
papers presented by the International Labour Organization, there are still
many obstacles to the eradication of bonded labour in India.
The Concept:

We have to understand the terms ‘bonded labour system’ and ‘bonded

la­bour’. The ‘bonded labour system’ refers to “the relationship between a
creditor and a debtor who obtains loan owing to economic compulsions
confronting his day-to-day life, and agrees to abide by the terms dictated
by the creditor”.

The important term of agreement is that the debtor agrees to mortgage

his services or services of any or all the members of his family for a
specified or unspecified period. The relationship built on the agreement is
on such unequal terms that while for every labour or service, there must
be some fair remuneration equivalent to the price of labour in the market,
under the bonded labour system the service is rendered for the debt or in
lieu of the interest accruing to the debt. The debtor either works without
receiving any remuneration or if at all there is any remu-neration, it is
much less than the minimum wage (notified under the Minimum Wages
Act) or the prevailing rate of market wage.

The 1976 Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act defines ‘bonded labour sys­tem’
as “the system of forced labour under which a debtor enters into an
agreement with the creditor that he would render service to him either by
himself or through any member of his family or any person dependent on
him, for a specified or unspecified period, either without wages or for
nominal wages, in consideration of loan or any other economic
consideration obtained by him or any of his ascendants, or in pursuance
of any social obligation, or in pursuance of any obligation devolving on
him by succession”.

The agreement has other consequences too, such as, forfeit-ing the debtor
the freedom of employment, denial of freedom of movement in any part
of the country, and denial of the right to sell at market value any of his
property or product of his labour.
The term ‘bonded labour’ has been defined by the National Commis­sion
on Labour as “labour which remains in bondage for a specific period for
the debt incurred”. The Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes explained the term bonded labour in its 24th report as
“persons who are forced to work for the creditors for the loan incurred
either without wage or on nominal wage”.

The ‘bonded labour’ is different from ‘contract labour’ employed in

industries, mines, plantations and docks, etc. Contract labour includes
workers who are not directly recruited by the establishment, whose
names do not appear on the pay-roll and who are not paid wages directly
by the em-ployer. In theory, contract labourers in India are covered by the
Factory Act, 1948, the Mines Act, 1952, the Plantations Labour Act, 1951
and the Dock Workers Act, 1948 so as to give them benefits as are
admissible to labour directly employed.

According to Anti-Slavery International, "A person enters debt bondage

when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan, or of
money given in advance. Usually, people are tricked or trapped into
working for no pay or very little pay (in return for such a loan), in
conditions which violate their human rights. Invariably, the value of the
work done by a bonded laborer is greater that the original sum of money
borrowed or advanced."

According to the Anti-Slavery Society, pawnage or pawn slavery is a form

of servitude akin to bonded labor under which the debtor provides
another human being as security or collateral for the debt. Until the debt
(including interest on it) is paid off, the creditor has the use of the labor of
the pawn.
INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to life and

liberty. The Indian Supreme Court has interpreted the right of liberty to
include, among other things, the right of free movement, the right to eat,
sleep and work when one pleases, the right to be free from inhuman and
degrading treatment, the right to integrity and dignity of the person, the
right to the benefits of protective labour legislation, and the right to
speedy justice. The practice of bonded labour violates all of these
constitutionally-mandated rights.

Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits the practice of debt bondage and

other forms of slavery both modern and ancient. Traffic in human beings
and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any
contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with the law.

Begar is a form of forced labour under which a person is compelled to

work without receiving any remuneration. Other similar forms of forced
labour were interpreted the Supreme Court when it ruled in the Asiad
Workers Case[4] that:

both unpaid and paid labour were prohibited by Article 23, so long as the
element of force or compulsion was present in the worker's ongoing
services to the employer. The Supreme Court also interpreted the term
forced labour to mean providing provides labour or service to another for
remuneration which is less than minimum wage. All labour rewarded with
less than the minimum wage, then, constitutes forced labor and violates
the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court ruled that:

it is the plainest requirement of Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution that

bonded labourers must be identified and released and on release, they
must be suitably rehabilitated.... any failure of action on the part of the
State Governments in implementing the provisions of the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act would be the clearest violation of Article 21 and
Article 23 of the Constitution.
Article 24 prohibits the employment of children in factories, mines, and
other hazardous occupations. Together, Articles 23 and 24 are placed
under the heading "Right against Exploitation," one of India's
constitutionally-proclaimed fundamental rights.

Article 39 requires the state to "direct its policy toward securing":

(e) that the health and strength of workers... and the tender age of
children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic
necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.

(f) that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a

healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that
childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral
and material abandonment."
BONDED LABOUR SYSTEM (ABOLITION) ACT, 1976

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act purports to abolish all debt
agreements and obligations arising out of India's longstanding bonded
labour system. It is the legislative fulfilment of the Indian Constitution's
mandate against begar and forced labour. It frees all bonded labourers,
cancels any outstanding debts against them, prohibits the creation of new
bondage agreements, and orders the economic rehabilitation of freed
bonded labourers by the state. It also criminalizes all post-act attempts to
compel a person to engage in bonded labour, with maximum penalties of
three years in prison and a 2,000 rupee fine. The Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act offers the following definition of the practices being
abolished.

Salient Features of the Act

1) Totally abolishes bonded labour

2) To identify and rehabilitate bonded labourers

3) Identify certain scheme an committees to be formed at the district

level

4) Punishment of up to 3yrs imprisonment and/or fine

5) Any attachment of property of bonded labourers stands cancelled

form the date of enforcement of the act

6) Employers not to evict the bonded labourer from the accommodation

provided
Judical Activism in relation to the eradication of bonded labour

In Sanjit Ray v. State of Rajasthan, the SC restricted the state from

extracting labour by paying less than the minimum wages in the name of
public utility services, considering such amounts to forced labour and is
violative of article 23 of the constitution. Therefore, labour must be
compensated with wages even when they are under law compelled to
render service in the larger public interest.

In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, the main issue concerned

the existence of bonded labour in the Faridabad stone quarries near the
city of Delhi. It was alleged that majority of the workers were compelled
to migrate from other states, and turned into bonded labourers. The
workers were living in sub-human and miserable conditions. A violation
of various labour laws and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976
was alleged. The SC stated that before

a bonded labour can be regarded as a bonded labourer, he must not only be

forced to provide labour to the employer but he must have also received an
advance or other economic consideration from the employer, unless he is
made to provide forced labour in pursuance of any custom or social
obligation or by reason of his birth in any particular caste or community.

Whenever it is shown that a labourer is made to provide forced labour,

the court would raise a presumption that he is required to do so in
consideration of an advance or other economic consideration received by
him and he is, therefore, a bonded labourer. But unless and until
satisfactory evidence is produced for rebutting this presumption the court
must proceed on the basis that the labourer is a bonded labourer entitle
to the benefit under the provision of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act, 1976. The courts also recognized the right of bonded
labourers to live with human dignity. It read the Directive Principles of
State Policy into article 21 of the constitution to make the right to live
with human dignity fruitful to the working class of the country. The stand
in the Asiad case was reiterated that the state is under a constitutional
obligation to see that there is no violation of any fundamental rights of
person, particularly when he belongs to the weaker section of the
community and is unable to wage a legal battle against a strong and
powerful opponent who is exploiting him. The Central government is
bound to ensure observance of social welfare and labour laws enacted by
the parliament for the purpose of securing to the workmen a life of basic
human dignity in compliance with the Directive Principles of State Policy.

In Neerja Choudhary v. State of MP, the main issue in this case related
to the effective rehabilitation of the released bonded labourers. The
petitioners alleged that even after a lapse of a long time 135 labourers of
the Faridabad stone quarries were not rehabilitated. They further alleged
that it was the obligation on the part of the state government to
rehabilitate the bonded labourers according to the provisions of the
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 and it is the fundamental
right of the bonded labourers under article 21 of the constitution. The
petitioners therefore prayed for a direction to the state government to
take steps for the economic and social rehabilitation of the labourers who
were released from the shackles of bondage. The SC said that the plainest
requirement of article 21, 23 that the bonded labourers must be identified
and released and on release, they must be suitably rehabilitated. The act
has been enacted with a view to ensuring human dignity to the bonded
laborers and any failure of action on part of the state government, in
implementing the provisions of this legislation would be the clearest
violation of article 21, 23 of the Constitution. The courts also said that it is
not enough merely to identify and release bonded labourers, but it is
equally important that after identification and release, they must be
rehabilitated, because without rehabilitation, they would be driven by
poverty, helplessness and despair into serfdom once again.
In P. Sivaswamy v. State of A.P, the courts found that the rehabilitation
money payable under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976
came down to Rs. 738/- per family. The Court observed that the assistance
was certainly inadequate for rehabilitation and unless there was effective
rehabilitation the purpose of the Act would not be fulfilled. Up-rooted
from one place of bonded labour conditions the persons are likely to be
subjected to the same mischief at another place, the net result being that
the steps taken by the Supreme Court would be rendered ineffective.

Public interest litigation was brought against the inhuman working

conditions in the stone quarries in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of
India and others. This was primarily brought as the various directions
given by the Apex Court in the 1984 petition brought by the same
appellants had not been implemented by the various state governments.
It may be noted that in this case a letter addressed to this Court
complaining about prevalence of bonded labour system in Cutton,
Anagpur and Lakkaarpur areas in Haryana, was treated as a writ petition
under Art. 32 of the Constitution. The Court held that what is necessary is
provision of a permanent base for residence of the labourers, at or near
the work site. This would necessitate reasonable housing, supply of water,
a reasonable provision store at hand, schooling facility, facility of a
hospital, recreational facilities and attention to the law and order
problem. The court directed the State of Haryana to attend to the needs of
the workmen in a well-considered and systematic way and to provide
them with the facilities mentioned above.
Causes of Bonded Labour:

Though the main causes of origin, growth and perpetuation of bonded

labour system are economic, the social and religious factors to support the
custom. The economic causes include: extreme poverty of people,
inability to find work for livelihood, inadequate size of the landholdings
to support family, lack of alternative small-scale loans for the rural and
urban poor, natural calamities like drought, floods etc., destruction of
men ‘animals, absence of rains, drying away of wells, meagre income from
forest produce, and inflation and constant rising prices.

The social factors include:

High expenses on occasions like marriage, death, feast, birth of a child,

etc., leading to heavy debts, caste-based discrimination, lack of concrete
social welfare schemes to safeguard against hunger and illness, non-
compulsory and unequal educational system, and indifference and
corruption among government officials.

Sometimes, exploitation by some persons in a village also compels people

to migrate to some other place and seek not only employment on the
employer’s conditions but also get protection from influential persons.
Religious arguments are used to con-vince the people of low castes that
religion enjoins upon them to serve people of high castes. Illiteracy,
ignorance, immaturity and lack of skill and professional training sustain
such beliefs. Broadly speaking, it may be maintained that bondage
originates mainly from economic and social pressures.
POSITION IN INDIA

Bonded labour is prohibited in India by law. Though the Constitution

directly and indirectly prohibits the practice, vide Articles 21, 23 (1) and 24,
a specific law that prohibits the practice, the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act was legislated only in 1976. Despite the statutory
prohibition, bonded labour is widely practiced. The worst affected are the
children, particularly those from the Dalit community. The practice is so
prevalent in the country that even a village in Uttar Pradesh state,
Bandhua, literally meaning bonded, is named after the practice.

Bonded labour is known in different names in the country. In the farming

sector it is known as Hali in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh; Kaimuti, Janouri,
Kamiah and others in Bihar; Gothi in Orissa; Gassi-Gullu in Andhra
Pradesh; and Panal Pathiran in Tamilnadu. The practice exists in non-
framing sectors like the Devadasi practice of bonded sex workers; and in
small-scale industries like firecracker, textile, leather goods
manufacturing sectors, brick and tile kilns and granite extraction
industries. The most affected by bonded labour in the non-farming
industries are the children. There is no credible and collated national
statistics available about the number of persons, in particular that of the
children, affected by bonded labour in India.

Bonded labour in the farming sector is mostly due to caste-based

prejudices practiced against the Dalit communities and due to the
absence of a proper land reforms policy. In states like Kerala, where land
reforms has been implemented by statute since the past four decades,
bonded labour virtually has been eliminated as opposed to states like
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamilnadu and Karnataka where large
extents of lands are still held by families that practice feudal forms of land
ownership and labour employment.
Owing to the lack of livelihood options, large number of rural population
are forced to work for landlords and eventually end up in perpetual debt
traps resulting in entire families and villages ending up as bonded to the
landlord for generations. The absence of functioning public health
facilities and education opportunities literally push the rural population
to work either as bonded labourers or to migrate into urban areas seeking
odd jobs.

A large number of children employed as bonded labourers by the non-

farming sectors like small-scale textile, firecracker, leather goods
manufacturing, brick kilns and granite extraction units are from the
families who are subjected to distress migration from the rural villages. In
the cities, children from these families are employed as bonded labourers
in restaurants and eateries or end up employed as bonded beggars or fall
prey to sex trade.

Red light areas in cities like Mumbai and Varanasi have thousands of such
children, male and female, from far-flung areas of the country and from
neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. Owing to widespread
corruption within the law enforcement agencies and their close nexus
with city based criminal gangs engaged in human trafficking, rescuing the
children fallen prey to human trafficking is literally impossible. Human
rights defenders like Mr. Ajeet Singh of Guria in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
state and Ms. Hasina Kharbhih of Impulse NGO Network of Shillong,
Meghalaya state are threatened by these gangs whenever they engage in
rescue operations.

In addition to the domestic distress migration from rural villages to cities

forming the never ending supply chain of bonded labourers in Indian
cities, in Meghalaya state, extraction of coal in private coal mines in the
Jaintiya hills region is exclusively undertaken by manual labourers,
thousands of them bonded, who have come to work in the mines from
neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh to beat acute poverty in their home
countries. Mining is carried out using primitive tools and with hands, in
hundreds of unprotected and unregulated mines, throughout the year. Of
the estimated one million foreign labourers, an estimated 70,000 are
children from Bangladesh and Nepal.
The legal framework against bonded labour provided in the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 is supported by other legislations like
the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970; the Inter-State
Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)
Act, 1979; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Yet the practice continues
unabated in India due to the failure in the implementation of the laws.

The Ministry of Labour, Government of India had initiated a Centrally

Sponsored Scheme under which Rs. 20,000 is provided for the
rehabilitation of each bonded labourer, to be equally contributed by the
Federal and the State government. But, by and large, the process of
rehabilitation is frequently delayed, particularly in the case of inter-state
bonded migrant labourers, and the degree of concerted convergent action
required on the part of the administration is rarely forthcoming.
Prosecution of employers is also weak. Since the bonded labourers are
very poor and asset less, most of them relapse into bondage, while others
experience only a very marginal increase in income. The financial
assistance from the government, even if realized, in the absence of any
additional support mechanism for a released and asset less labourer is not
sufficient support to start a new life. However increasing the quantum of
the support amount is not a viable solution. Instead to end the practice
what is required is the strict implementation of labour laws in India.

Internationally supported programmes for the elimination of bondage are

few, with the exception of a number of initiatives for elimination of child
labour. Since June 2000, the ILO has been implementing a project to
prevent and eliminate bonded labour in South Asia. In India, the project
has been operational in Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh and
Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
Bonded labour must be addressed starting from the premise that lack of
access of the poorest households to appropriate financial services is one of
the causes of bonded labour. Preventive efforts must recognize the social
dimensions of bondage, and thereby address it through public
sensitisation and rights awareness, adult literacy, organising workers,
income generation and vocational skills development. The strategies to
eliminate bonded labour need to go beyond the symptoms to address the
root causes (labour market segmentation, entrenched social
discrimination, lack of financial services, lack of outreach of social
partners in the informal economy). The multifaceted and deeply rooted
nature of those causes requires an integrated and long-term strategy.

When designing interventions, a clear distinction must be drawn between

'severe' and 'mild' forms of bonded labour, the latter being more suited to
specific micro-finance based solutions, which would be inappropriate for
the former. The broad linkages between bonded labour systems,
production structures and the pattern of development need to be better
understood since the roots of bondage are related to factors such as
production technologies on the one hand, and economic vulnerability and
structural inequality, on the other. Long-term development and land
reform measures along with poverty alleviation and social security are
pathways out of bondage.

Finally, the persistence of bondage is a consequence of weak enforcement

of labour laws and the laws of the land. India has a plethora of labour
legislation regulating the conditions of work of contract and migrant
labour, prohibiting child labour in hazardous industries, and for
minimum wages. But these remain in large part unimplemented. More
significantly, in case after case, there is violation of the fundamental
human rights of workers, which are enshrined in the Constitution. A
concerted effort to ensure implementation of the law, by government in
close cooperation with employers' and workers' organisations and civil
society, is called for in this respect.
The Legislation:

The pernicious and inhuman, callous, reprehensible practice of bonded

la-bour existed in many states in India. After independence, it could not
be allowed to continue to blight national life any longer. As such, when
the Constitution of India was framed, Article 23 was enshrined in it which
prohibited ‘traffic in human beings’, ‘beggar’ and other similar forms of
forced labour.

However, no serious effort was made to give effect to this Article and
stamp out the shocking practice of bonded labour. The Forced Labour
(Abolition) Convention adopted by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) in 1919 was ratified by India only in November 1954.

Some states in India had also enacted laws for abolishing bonded labour
For example, the Bihar Kamianti Act was passed in 1920, the Madras
Agency Debt Bondage Regulation in 1940, Kabadi System Regula-tion in
Bastar in Madhya Pradesh in 1943, Hyderabad Bhagela Agreement
Regulation in 1943, Orissa Debt Bonded Abolition Regulation in 1948,
Rajasthan Sagri System Abolition Act in 1961 (which was amended in
1975), and Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Kerala in 1975.

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986
and defines a child as “a person who has not completed their fourteenth
year of age” [Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Part I,
Section 2(ii)]. It does not prohibit child labor per se, nor does it set a
minimum age for the employment of children. Instead, it regulates the
hours and conditions of work for child laborers, while prohibiting the
employment of children in twenty-five hazardous industries.
Minimum Wages Act, 1948

The Minimum Wages Act sets the minimum wage for certain enumerated
occupations and requires that overtime be paid to all workers who work
beyond a “normal working day.” In the case of children under fourteen, a
“normal working day” is four and a half hours.

Shops and Establishments Act, 1961

This law, which applies to shops, hotels, restaurants, and places of

amusement, regulates the hours of work and prohibits the employment of
children below a certain age, to be determined by the states. In eleven
states, the minimum age for a child worker is fourteen years; in thirteen
states, the minimum age is twelve years.

In addition to domestic laws, India is a party to numerous international

human rights conventions and is thus legally bound by them. An
extensive review is presented by the Human Rights Watch report on
bonded labor in India.

Plantation Labour Act, 1951

This act regulates the work and wage conditions of plantation workers,
including children over the age of fourteen.

Apprentices Act, 1961

The Apprentices Act regulates the rights and work hours of apprentices,
and sets the minimum age for apprenticeships at fourteen years.
Misery and Suffering in Bondage:

One former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Justice P.N. Bhagwati)
described bonded labourers as ‘non-beings, exiles of civilisation living a
life -worse than that of animals’, for the animals are at least free to roam
about as they like and they can plunder or garb food whenever they are
hungry, but these outcastes of society are held in bondage and robbed of
their freedom even.

They are consigned to an existence where they have to live either in

hovels or under the open sky and be satisfied with what- ever
unwholesome food they can manage to get, inadequate though it may be
to fill their hungry stomachs. Not having any choice, they are driven by
poverty and hunger into a life of bondage, a dark bottomless pit from
which, in a cruel exploitative society, they cannot hope to be res-cued.

It is estimated that there are about 32 lakh bonded labourers in India. Of

these, 98 per cent are said to be bonded due to indebtedness and 2 per
cent due to customary social obligations. The highest number is believed
to exist in three states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,
followed by Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

According to the figures released in May 1997 on the basis of a state

government-sponsored survey (conducted as per the Supreme Court
di-rection), Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of 24,000 bonded
labourers, in the country, engaged in 30 different occupations (The
Hin-dustan Times, May 13, 1997).

It has been pointed out that the majority of bonded labourers works as
agricultural labour in villages and belong to the Outcaste or tribal
communities. Of the total labour force in the rural areas, about 33 per
cent are engaged in non-agricultural activities, 42 per cent work as
cultivators, and 25 per cent as agricultural labourers. Of those who work
as agricultural labourers, 48 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes and 33
per cent to Scheduled Tribes.

Being unskilled and un-organised, agricultural labourers have little for

their livelihood other than personal labour. Bonded agricultural labourers
occupy the lowest rung of the rural ladder. Social and economic
stratification in a village is linked with land and caste which in turn
govern economic and social status of ‘he people. Bonded labourers thus
live in pitiable and miserable condi-tions.

They are socially exploited because though in theory they are assured
food, clothes, free tobacco, etc., in practice they get the food that is left
over, and clothes that are discarded by family members. They are made to
work for 12 to 14 hours a day and are forced to live with cows and
buffaloes in shed. If they fall ill, they may be procured some medi-cines
from the local Hakim depending upon the sweet will of the employer.

The total number of bonded labourers identified and freed in India by

March 1989 was 2.42 lakhs, of whom 2.18 lakhs (i.e., 90%) were said to be
rehabilitated also. Thus, hardly 8 per cent of to-tal bonded workers in
India have been identified so far, indicating lack of interest of state
governments in solving the problem of bonded labour. At least four
reports submitted to the Government of India between 1979 and 1983
pointed out how the disgusting and squeamish practice of bonded labour
existed in India and continued to disfigure the social and economic life of
the country.
Conclusion

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was enacted in 1976. Twenty
years later, Human Rights Watch has found that the goals of this law-to
punish employers of bonded labour and to identify, release, and
rehabilitate bonded labourers-have not been met. The bonded labour
system continues to thrive. The district-level vigilance committees,
mandated by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and constituting
the key to the enforcement of the act, have not been formed in most
districts. Those that have formed tend to lie dormant or, worse yet, are
comprised of members unsympathetic to the plight of bonded laborers.

Whether for lack of will or lack of support, India's district collectors have
failed utterly to enforce the provisions of the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act. The state of Tamil Nadu has an estimated one million
bonded labourers; according to the North Arcot District Collector, these
were the first charges ever brought under the act in Tamil Nadu.

The mandated rehabilitation of released workers is essential. Without

adequate rehabilitation, those who are released will quickly fall again into
bondage. This has been established repeatedly, among both adult and
child bonded laborers. Nonetheless, the central and state governments
have jointly failed to implement the required rehabilitation procedures.
Rehabilitation allowances are distributed late, or are not distributed at all,
or are paid out at half the proper rate, with corrupt officials pocketing the
difference. One government-appointed commission found that court
orders mandating the rehabilitation of bonded laborers were routinely
ignored.
Finally, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act directs vigilance
committees and district collectors to institute savings and credit programs
at the community level, so that the impoverished might have access to a
small loan during financial emergencies. This resource is crucial. Just as
enforcement of the law against employers would work to terminate the
demand for bonded labour, so would available credit work to end the
supply. Nearly every child interviewed by Human Rights Watch told the
same story: they were sold to their employers because their parents were
desperate for money and had no other way to get it. For some, it was the
illness or death of a parent, for others, the marriage of a sister, and for
others still, the need to buy food or put a roof over their heads. In most
cases, the amount of the debt incurred was very small.

The eradication of bonded child labor in India depends on the Indian

government's commitment to two imperatives: enforcement of the
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, and the creation of meaningful
alternatives for already-bonded laborers and those at risk of joining their
ranks. In addition to genuine government action, it is essential that non-
governmental organizations be encouraged by the government to
collaborate in this effort. The government has the resources and authority
to implement the law, while community-based organizations have the
grass-roots contacts and trust necessary to facilitate this implementation.
Furthermore, non-governmental groups can act as a watchdog on
government programs, keeping vigil for corruption, waste, and apathy.
The elimination of current debt bondage and the prevention of new or
renewed bondage therefore requires a combination of concerted
government action and extensive community involvement. Neither
standing alone is sufficient. Bonded labor is a vast, pernicious, and long-
standing social ill, and the tenacity of the bonded labor system must be
attacked with similar tenacity; anything less than total commitment is
certain to fail.
References

1. Menon, Meena, “Escape from Bondage”, The Hindu, September 7,

2003, New Delhi Ed.
2. Seervai, H.M., “Constitutional Law of India,” Vol 1, p. 894, 1983 Ed.
3. Jain, M.P., “Indian Constiutional Law”, p.42, 1978 Ed.