BONDED LABOUR

KAMLESH RAI
ROLL NO. 21
FACULTY OF LAW,
JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

LAW AND POVERTY

GUIDED BY- PROF. RASHEED
INTRODUCTION

History of bonded labour can be traced in the caste system prevailed in India. This is the product
of the relation between feudal lords and serfs. Indian society was caste ridden and was
fragmented into main four categories namely Brahmans, Kshatriya, Vaishyas and shudras.
Hierarchy was based on the social and economic prosperity. Most of the poor people did not
have enough lands or means for their livelihood so money was advanced from the feudal lords
and since they hardly had any thing to keep as guarantee so they were forced to come into the
agreement with feudal lords to serve as labourer in a case if they were unable to redeem the
money advanced. Hence in this way the vicious circle of bonded labour begins and is prolong
effect on their descendent.

ORIGIN OF BONDED LABOUR

Bonded labour stems from a variety of causes, which are highly debated in the literature: an
ingrained legacy of caste-based discrimination, vast poverty and inequality, an inadequate
education system, unjust social relations, and the government’s unwillingness to alter the status
quo all exemplify a few such causes. Additionally, India’s colonial background and caste
system have made it difficult to delineate the history of laborers’ “unfreedom,” as termed by
several authors, and to understand legal and actual differentiations between slavery under
British rule and debt bondage and child labour today. There are many cultural reasons for the
persistence of child labour in India. An expectation that children should contribute to the
socioeconomic survival of the family and community, as well as the existence of large families,
land scarcity, and inadequate enforcement of labour laws are contributing factors to this
problem. In urban areas, following the migration of families to overpopulated cities, the
disintegration of such families due to alcoholism and unemployment often results in a
proliferation of children living on the street, becoming laborers, and entering prostitution.1

BONDED LABOUR
Meaning
Bonded labour means a service or labour rendered under labour system. Bonded labour system
means a system which involves force or partial force labour where debtor enter into a
agreement or presume to enter with creditor on the behalf of the consideration of advance
obtained by him or his lineal ascendants or descendants (whether or not the such advancement
has any evidence by any written document)

The existence of an agreement between the debtor and creditor is ordinarily presumed, under
the social custom, in relation to the following forms of forced labour, namely custom, place of
birth, religion, caste etc. Adiyamar, Baramasia, Basahya, Bethu, Bhagela, Cherumar, Garru-

1
Bonded Labor in India By Devin Finn
Galu, Hali, Hari, Harwai, Holya, Jana, Jeetha, Kamiya, Khundit-Mundit, Kuthia, Lakhari,
Munjhi, Mat, Munish system, Nit-Majoor, Paleru, Padiyal, Pannayilal, Sagri, Sanji, Sanjawat,
Sewak, Sewakia, Seri, Vetti;

(a) "ascendant" or "descendant", in relation to a person belonging to a matriarchal society,

means the person who corresponds to such expression in accordance with the law of succession
in force in such society;

(b) "bonded debt" means an advance obtained, or presumed to have been obtained, by a bonded
labourer under, or in pursuance of the bonded labour system;

(c) "bonded labour" means any labour or service rendered under the bonded labour system;

(d) "bonded labourer" means a labourer who incurs, or has, or is presumed to have, incurred a
bonded debt;2

IMPLEMENTING AUTHORITIES
The State Government may confer such powers and impose such duties on a District Magistrate
as may be necessary to ensure that the provisions of this Act are properly carried out and the
District Magistrate may specify the officer, subordinate to him, who shall exercise all or any
of the powers, and perform all or any of the duties, so conferred or imposed and the local limits
within which such powers or duties shall be carried out by the officer so specified.

PROVISION UNDER 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 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. Beggar is a form of forced labour under which a person is compelled
to work without receiving any remuneration. “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

2
The Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976
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. 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 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 labour and violates
the Constitution of India3

JUDICAL APPROACH
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. Uprooted 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.4

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.5

3
International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR) Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2014
4
AIR 1988 S.C. 1863
5
AIR 1984 S.C. 802
SANJIT ROY v STATE OF RAJASTHAH

Payment of wages lower than minimum wages to the person employed is violative to art 23. 6

SUGGESTION
All local and national officials responsible for implementing the bonded labour laws (including
District Magistrates, Vigilance Committees, the police, etc.) must be properly trained and
function effectively, so that they actively seek out cases of bonded labour and ensure immediate
release and rehabilitation, in compliance with the law.

Prosecutions must be initiated against all those who use bonded labour and against those who
use intimidation and violence to retain people as bonded labourers. The number of successful
convictions and sentences passed should be published, by state, on a regular basis.

Pressure states and districts to constitute and oversee bonded labour vigilance committees, as
required by the Bonded Labour (System) Abolition Act, 1976.

Ensure the active involvement of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission in
the process of identifying, releasing, and rehabilitating bonded child laborers.

Launch a nationwide public awareness campaign regarding the legal prohibition of bonded
labour. This campaign should explain in simple terms what actions are legally prohibited and
what recourses and resources are available to bonded child laborers and their families.

CONCLUSION
Forms of bonded labour have changed with the change in society. Labourer are made to work
in groups. Renumeration are based on no. of working hours and on the amount of work done
irrespective of the hands used in completing the work. bonded labour is now converted into
seasonal employment its because of the lack of the incentivise provided by the governments.
One of the biggest lacunae is not lack of knowledge and implementation by the state machinery.

6
AIR 1983 S.C 328