Author: Gayatri Sethi
According to the Global Slavery Index 2023, India had 11 million people stuck in different forms of modern slavery. Modern slavery refers to forced labour, forced marriage, debt bondage, forced commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking, slavery-like practices, and the sale and exploitation of children. India is one of the only four countries (Iran, North Korea and South Korea) in the world without a National Action Plan on modern slavery.
Bonded labour is the most prevalent form of modern slavery in India. Bonded Labour, also called Debt Bondage, is an abuse analogous to slavery where individuals are pledged to work as a means of repayment of a loan. It is a forced labour system wherein a debtor enters into an agreement with a creditor to perform services for them on their own or through a family member. The debtor works for a specified or unspecified amount of time, for nominal pay or without pay, in exchange for a loan that they or any of their ancestors had received or in fulfilment of an obligation that falls upon them through inheritance. It is an illegal practice in the international community and India, by Articles 21 and 23 of the Indian Constitution. According to Article 21 of the Constitution, no individual shall be deprived of their life or personal liberty, contradicting bonded labour or any form of slavery that steals a human’s liberties from them. Article 23 prohibits human trafficking and other forms of forced labour; violations of this provision are punishable by law.
A specific law for the same was passed as The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976, aiming to abolish all forms of bonded labour and provide rehabilitation for those freed. According to this Act, people enslaved in bonded labour are to be freed and released from all obligations. Furthermore, any agreement through which a person is bound into such a contract stands void; all their debt is considered eliminated and satisfied, and any property forcibly taken from the individual is to be restored. The District Magistrates are responsible for carrying out the provisions of the Act.
India’s goal under this law has been to eradicate bonded labour by 2030, which it seemingly cannot meet under the current circumstances, with not enough bonded labourers being released each year. There seems to be a lack of will and effort in the political system to tackle this issue. There is either a reluctance in state governments to issue release certificates to bonded labourers recognising the problem or an absence of reports of rescue and rehabilitation. The Union Government released about 3,15,302 people from bonded labour between 1978 and 2023 through district and sub-divisional magistrates and vigilance committees, rehabilitating 94%. With a yearly average of releasing only 4,696 people, by 2030, the government would have met only 2% of its target of freeing 1.84 million people from bonded labour, a claim the union government had made in 2016. The Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers is tasked with providing financial and non-financial support to released individuals after being given their release certificates. The problem here, though, lies in the lack of identification of what could be classified as bonded labour. Women and children, usually from the Dalit community, are among the worst affected by this problem.
The prevalence of bonded labour can be attributed to factors such as fewer work opportunities, caste stigma, lack of education, lack of awareness and the absence of public health facilities. In areas with limited access to banking systems, people often rely on borrowing money from employers, leaving them in debt. According to the US State Department’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report on India, there seemed to be inadequate efforts put forth by law enforcement against bonded labour. The police did not always file a First Information Report (FIR) upon receiving any information or complaint regarding cases of bonded labour or sex trafficking, which they are required to do by law. The report stated that arrests were not always made against employers or suspected traffickers, and shelters funded by the government for victims are faced with shortages of resources, trained specialists and finances. With all necessary policies in place, the challenge remains in addressing bonded labour cases. Support provided by law can only be accessible if the District Magistrates and Sub-Divisional Magistrates issue the relevant certificates and reports and start the rehabilitation process, which in some cases does not happen.
Brick kilns, textile, firecracker, and leather goods manufacturing factories are businesses with the highest number of bonded labourers, most of whom are children. According to the secretary of Adivasi Hakkugala Samanvaya Samiti (AHSS), which has an estimated 600 former labourers as members, even coffee plantations have become a “vicious den of debt bondage”.
The need of the hour is for greater focus and priority to be given to the problem of bonded labour by the union and state governments. With proper policies in place, the absence lies in the execution. The employers of bonded labour should be prosecuted swiftly to ensure the other identification, release and rehabilitation processes are not hindered. On the other hand, there should be no gap in any process during the identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers to prevent a relapse into bondage.
Preventive measures should be taken to recognise the circumstances that create opportunities for bonded labour. Greater awareness, vigilance, higher employment opportunities, skill generation and opportunities for education in the vulnerable sections of society are factors that can prevent bondage. Quicker execution of government policies and cooperation of human rights groups and government agencies can result in faster identification of bonded labour. It can, hence, lead to a faster journey to rehabilitation for released individuals.
References:
Walk Free. (2023). Global Slavery Index https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/
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The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. India Code. (1976). Retrieved from https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1491/1/197619.pdf
Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development (2022-23). Lok Sabha Documents. Retrieved from https://loksabhadocs.nic.in/lsscommittee/Labour,%20Textiles%20and%20Skill%20Development/17_Labour_Textiles_and_Skill_Development_41.pdf#page=50
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