NHRC's National Seminar on elimination of Bonded Labour
New Delhi, September 30th, 2011
The National Human Rights Commission organized a National Seminar on elimination of Bonded Labour in New Delhi today. Inaugurating the seminar, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, NHRC said that the response of States to the NHRC is not very encouraging towards identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded and child labourers. He said that this practice, in all its forms, must be eliminated from society. There are laws in place and also guidelines and recommendations issued by the NHRC and a number of orders of the Supreme Court which, if implemented in letter and spirit by the administrative authorities, can go a long way in reducing instances of bonded labour in no time, if not completely removed.
Justice Balakrishnan said that if the fruits of our economic achievements reach at the grass root level for the benefit of common people, the problems of bonded labour will automatically get resolved to a great extent. But the fact is that the benefits of even a programme like NREGA, which despite its some success stories, is not reaching too the people in many parts of the country. He also said that the migrant labourers often become victims of bonded labour and their identification, release and rehabilitation is a challenge due to lack of proper records by their employees.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC would continue to pursue the issue of elimination of bonded and child labour with the concerned authorities in the States and Union Territories and looks up to civil societies and NGOs for their help in this regard.
Addressing the gathering Mr. Justice B.C. Patel, Member, NHRC and in-charge of bonded and child labour issues said that it has been found that in most of the states, the employees of labourers do not maintain proper records and clandestinely shift them to other places to confuse the investigating authorities. He regretted that most of the District Magistrates and Collectors are overlooking this aspect and have been found submitting wrong reports to the NHRC.
Justice Patel gave a deep insight into various legal provisions available to check the menace of bonded labour and said no advance given to a labourer by his employee can exceed beyond the wages of two months to be deducted from his monthly wages that too in proportion as per the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act and the rules framed under it.
Mr. Anil Swarup, Director General (Labour Welfare), Ministry of Labour and Employment said that the Ministry is committed for the elimination of bonded labour for which it would need the cooperation of the administrative machinery of States and UTs and also the civil society. He highlighted the Ministry's pilot project being run in Tamil Nadu to tackle the menace of bonded labour, which is based on the convergence of various aspects relevant to check the menace of bonded labour.
Mr. Chaman Lal, former Special Rapporteur, NHRC said that the provision of minimum wages has to be in the spirit of fair wages. There has to be a provision of fixing the accountability of the District Magistrates and Collectors in the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act. He said the political leadership should also be made accountable for elimination of bonded labour.
Mr. K.R. Venugopal, former Special Rapporteur, NHRC highlighted the issue of psychological rehabilitation as being more important than the social and economic rehabilitation as many a times, due to lack of awareness, a bonded labour may not make up his mind whether he will be better free of his bondedness or not. He said that indebtedness in rural areas is the fundamental reason for bonded labour. Mr. Venugopal said that the Ministry of Labour should ensure timely release of money to the District Magistrates through their State Governments for disbursement among the released bonded labourers for their rehabilitation. He said that administrative officers at a relatively junior level have more flexibility to exercise their authority and autonomy which many a times they don't exercise in handling issues like bonded labour.
Former Member, NHRC, Mr. Justice K. Ramaswamy gave a detailed account of various Supreme Court judgments on the elimination of bonded labour system.
Dr. Lakshmidhar Mishra, Special Rapporteur, NHRC highlighted bottlenecks in the identification of bonded labour, their release and issue of certificates; role of vigilance committees; and law enforcement agencies. He said that during his extensive tour and interaction with the State authorities in several parts of the country, most of them did not acknowledge the existence of bonded labour contrary to the facts. He said that the contents of release certificates should be simple and understandable by the freed labourers so that they could take benefit out of it.
Mr. Harsh Mander, Member of National Advisory Council spoke on the migration and debt bondage and highlighted the dubious role of contractors and also the issue of distress migration. He also said that in absence of proper identity records, the benefits of public distribution system do not reach to bonded and migrant labourers.
The meeting was attended by the senior officers of the States and Union Territories, representatives of State Human Rights Commissions and NGOs. A number of state representatives acknowledged that interventions by NHRC's guided them to identify, release and rehabilitate several bonded labourers. However, it was unanimously felt that a more concerted effort is required at various levels of governance in particular to not only identify various forms of bonded labour but also abolish them.
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The National Human Rights Commission organized a National Seminar on elimination of Bonded Labour in New Delhi today. Inaugurating the seminar, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, NHRC said that the response of States to the NHRC is not very encouraging towards identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded and child labourers. He said that this practice, in all its forms, must be eliminated from society. There are laws in place and also guidelines and recommendations issued by the NHRC and a number of orders of the Supreme Court which, if implemented in letter and spirit by the administrative authorities, can go a long way in reducing instances of bonded labour in no time, if not completely removed.
Justice Balakrishnan said that if the fruits of our economic achievements reach at the grass root level for the benefit of common people, the problems of bonded labour will automatically get resolved to a great extent. But the fact is that the benefits of even a programme like NREGA, which despite its some success stories, is not reaching too the people in many parts of the country. He also said that the migrant labourers often become victims of bonded labour and their identification, release and rehabilitation is a challenge due to lack of proper records by their employees.
Justice Balakrishnan said that the NHRC would continue to pursue the issue of elimination of bonded and child labour with the concerned authorities in the States and Union Territories and looks up to civil societies and NGOs for their help in this regard.
Addressing the gathering Mr. Justice B.C. Patel, Member, NHRC and in-charge of bonded and child labour issues said that it has been found that in most of the states, the employees of labourers do not maintain proper records and clandestinely shift them to other places to confuse the investigating authorities. He regretted that most of the District Magistrates and Collectors are overlooking this aspect and have been found submitting wrong reports to the NHRC.
Justice Patel gave a deep insight into various legal provisions available to check the menace of bonded labour and said no advance given to a labourer by his employee can exceed beyond the wages of two months to be deducted from his monthly wages that too in proportion as per the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act and the rules framed under it.
Mr. Anil Swarup, Director General (Labour Welfare), Ministry of Labour and Employment said that the Ministry is committed for the elimination of bonded labour for which it would need the cooperation of the administrative machinery of States and UTs and also the civil society. He highlighted the Ministry's pilot project being run in Tamil Nadu to tackle the menace of bonded labour, which is based on the convergence of various aspects relevant to check the menace of bonded labour.
Mr. Chaman Lal, former Special Rapporteur, NHRC said that the provision of minimum wages has to be in the spirit of fair wages. There has to be a provision of fixing the accountability of the District Magistrates and Collectors in the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act. He said the political leadership should also be made accountable for elimination of bonded labour.
Mr. K.R. Venugopal, former Special Rapporteur, NHRC highlighted the issue of psychological rehabilitation as being more important than the social and economic rehabilitation as many a times, due to lack of awareness, a bonded labour may not make up his mind whether he will be better free of his bondedness or not. He said that indebtedness in rural areas is the fundamental reason for bonded labour. Mr. Venugopal said that the Ministry of Labour should ensure timely release of money to the District Magistrates through their State Governments for disbursement among the released bonded labourers for their rehabilitation. He said that administrative officers at a relatively junior level have more flexibility to exercise their authority and autonomy which many a times they don't exercise in handling issues like bonded labour.
Former Member, NHRC, Mr. Justice K. Ramaswamy gave a detailed account of various Supreme Court judgments on the elimination of bonded labour system.
Dr. Lakshmidhar Mishra, Special Rapporteur, NHRC highlighted bottlenecks in the identification of bonded labour, their release and issue of certificates; role of vigilance committees; and law enforcement agencies. He said that during his extensive tour and interaction with the State authorities in several parts of the country, most of them did not acknowledge the existence of bonded labour contrary to the facts. He said that the contents of release certificates should be simple and understandable by the freed labourers so that they could take benefit out of it.
Mr. Harsh Mander, Member of National Advisory Council spoke on the migration and debt bondage and highlighted the dubious role of contractors and also the issue of distress migration. He also said that in absence of proper identity records, the benefits of public distribution system do not reach to bonded and migrant labourers.
The meeting was attended by the senior officers of the States and Union Territories, representatives of State Human Rights Commissions and NGOs. A number of state representatives acknowledged that interventions by NHRC's guided them to identify, release and rehabilitate several bonded labourers. However, it was unanimously felt that a more concerted effort is required at various levels of governance in particular to not only identify various forms of bonded labour but also abolish them.
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