NHRC’s initiative release bonded labourers in Haryana
The Commission had received a complaint from Prof. Sheotaj Singh, General Secretary of Bonded Labour Liberation Front, alleging that about 20 persons including men, women and children were being kept as bonded labourers in a stone quarry in Gurgaon. According to the complaint, though the SDM of the area had visited the site and admitted that minimum wages were not being paid, he had refused to issue release certificates to the labourers.
The Commission took cognizance of the matter on 21 September 1999 and directed the Chief Secretary, Haryana, to look into the matter and submit a report. In response to the Commission’s notice, the Labour Commissioner of Haryana informed the Commission that this was not a case of bonded labour but a dispute of workers regarding wages in which an agreement had been arrived at between them and their employer after which they had been sent back to their home district, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The report further stated that the complaint of Prof. Sheotaj Singh alleging non-release of bonded labour was false and needed no further action.
The Commission’s Special Rapporteur on bonded labour, Shri Chaman Lal, then looked into the matter and recommended that the Commission’s own investigation team should meet the bonded labourers living in Jaipur district to investigate and ascertain the facts.
Accordingly, the Commission’s investigation team along with senior representatives of the Rajasthan University Women’s Association and an officer deputed by the District Magistrate of Jaipur, visited Durgapura, 10 kilometers away from Jaipur City where about 29 persons including 10 children were camping in the open. They had been living there since they arrived from Haryana in the later half of September 1999. They were of the Banjara Nomadic Tribe and had gone to Haryana in 1994 to market their products. While they were there, one Shri Balkar Singh lured them into working in a stone quarry, offering them attractive wages. After a year, their wages were stopped and arrangements were made with a local general merchant to provide them daily rations on credit. When the labourers objected and demanded full wages, they were confined in their hutments after working hours and guarded by armed musclemen. They managed to establish contact with Prof. Sheotaj Singh in August 1999. Upon Prof. Singh’s complaint, they were made to put thumb impressions on papers of agreement declaring that they had received Rs.5,000/- each towards settlement of their wages. This was done in the presence of the local SDM and police officials. The money was, however, not given to the labourers and instead it was adjusted against the items taken by them from the local merchant. In the third week of September, they were transported away, escorted by policemen and dumped in the outskirts of Jaipur City.
The SDM, when questioned, reiterated that the issue related to a wage dispute in which he had worked out a compromise and that, to avoid any further chance of exploitation, he had made arrangements for the transportation of the labourers to Jaipur on their request. He claimed ignorance of the legal interpretation of the Supreme Court verdict wherein the world "bonded labour" had been given a wider interpretation, covering all cases where wages paid to the labourers was less than the minimum fixed by the Government. The DC, Gurgaon was also not fully aware about the whole episode. However, after discussions with NHRC officials, the district officials dispatched 19 Release Certificates to the Commission to be handed over to the labourers. The DM, Jaipur assured the Commission that immediate steps would be initiated to render all help to rehabilitate these Banjaras under various welfare schemes of the Government.
The Release Certificates were handed over to the labourers in December 1999 at a small function held in Jaipur. To rehabilitate these labourers, arrangements have been made to shift their families temporarily to a Government housing building in Sanganer, near Jaipur City. Thereafter, they would be permanently settled under the Indira Awas Yojna. Efforts are also being made to allot cultivable land. Employment would be given under the DRD Scheme near Sanganer Airport to help them earn their immediate livelihood. A cooperative is to be created for them, to which stone mines would be leased, in order to generate work in which the tribals had experience. Of the Rs10,000/- award money given to each of the 19 labourers, along their Release Certificates, Rs. 2,000/- had been given in cash and the rest was deposited in their respective bank accounts. The District Magistrate had ordered the sanction of Old Age Pensions to two elderly women. A pension would also be awarded to a person who had disabilities having suffered serious leg injuries in the Gurgaon mines. Cash relief of Rs. 5,000/- from the CM’s Relief Fund would also be given for his treatment.
The Commission has appreciated the role of those officers who were involved in the release of the bonded labourers and the subsequent effort to rehabilitate them.
The Commission took cognizance of the matter on 21 September 1999 and directed the Chief Secretary, Haryana, to look into the matter and submit a report. In response to the Commission’s notice, the Labour Commissioner of Haryana informed the Commission that this was not a case of bonded labour but a dispute of workers regarding wages in which an agreement had been arrived at between them and their employer after which they had been sent back to their home district, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The report further stated that the complaint of Prof. Sheotaj Singh alleging non-release of bonded labour was false and needed no further action.
The Commission’s Special Rapporteur on bonded labour, Shri Chaman Lal, then looked into the matter and recommended that the Commission’s own investigation team should meet the bonded labourers living in Jaipur district to investigate and ascertain the facts.
Accordingly, the Commission’s investigation team along with senior representatives of the Rajasthan University Women’s Association and an officer deputed by the District Magistrate of Jaipur, visited Durgapura, 10 kilometers away from Jaipur City where about 29 persons including 10 children were camping in the open. They had been living there since they arrived from Haryana in the later half of September 1999. They were of the Banjara Nomadic Tribe and had gone to Haryana in 1994 to market their products. While they were there, one Shri Balkar Singh lured them into working in a stone quarry, offering them attractive wages. After a year, their wages were stopped and arrangements were made with a local general merchant to provide them daily rations on credit. When the labourers objected and demanded full wages, they were confined in their hutments after working hours and guarded by armed musclemen. They managed to establish contact with Prof. Sheotaj Singh in August 1999. Upon Prof. Singh’s complaint, they were made to put thumb impressions on papers of agreement declaring that they had received Rs.5,000/- each towards settlement of their wages. This was done in the presence of the local SDM and police officials. The money was, however, not given to the labourers and instead it was adjusted against the items taken by them from the local merchant. In the third week of September, they were transported away, escorted by policemen and dumped in the outskirts of Jaipur City.
The SDM, when questioned, reiterated that the issue related to a wage dispute in which he had worked out a compromise and that, to avoid any further chance of exploitation, he had made arrangements for the transportation of the labourers to Jaipur on their request. He claimed ignorance of the legal interpretation of the Supreme Court verdict wherein the world "bonded labour" had been given a wider interpretation, covering all cases where wages paid to the labourers was less than the minimum fixed by the Government. The DC, Gurgaon was also not fully aware about the whole episode. However, after discussions with NHRC officials, the district officials dispatched 19 Release Certificates to the Commission to be handed over to the labourers. The DM, Jaipur assured the Commission that immediate steps would be initiated to render all help to rehabilitate these Banjaras under various welfare schemes of the Government.
The Release Certificates were handed over to the labourers in December 1999 at a small function held in Jaipur. To rehabilitate these labourers, arrangements have been made to shift their families temporarily to a Government housing building in Sanganer, near Jaipur City. Thereafter, they would be permanently settled under the Indira Awas Yojna. Efforts are also being made to allot cultivable land. Employment would be given under the DRD Scheme near Sanganer Airport to help them earn their immediate livelihood. A cooperative is to be created for them, to which stone mines would be leased, in order to generate work in which the tribals had experience. Of the Rs10,000/- award money given to each of the 19 labourers, along their Release Certificates, Rs. 2,000/- had been given in cash and the rest was deposited in their respective bank accounts. The District Magistrate had ordered the sanction of Old Age Pensions to two elderly women. A pension would also be awarded to a person who had disabilities having suffered serious leg injuries in the Gurgaon mines. Cash relief of Rs. 5,000/- from the CM’s Relief Fund would also be given for his treatment.
The Commission has appreciated the role of those officers who were involved in the release of the bonded labourers and the subsequent effort to rehabilitate them.