The National Human Rights Commission organised a 'Regional Workshop on Elimination of Bonded Labour' at Chandigarh in collaboration with the UT Administration of Chandigarh on the 30th July, 2015. The aim of the Workshop was to sensitize the District Magistrates/Sub-Divisional Magistrates, State Labour Officers and conceptualize the definitional clarity about the strategy and methodology of identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. Justice Shri D. Murugesan, Member, NHRC chaired the Workshop as the Chief Guest.
In his inaugural address, Justice Murugesan stressed upon the rehabilitation of the rescued bonded labourers and expressed concern over the tardy implementation of various laws formulated for elimination of bonded labour. He said that State Labour Department officials should take initiatives on their own to launch rescue operations instead of acting only on the complaints by NGOs. Wherever they have been active, the number of complaints from those States on bonded labour has also come down. He said that brick kilns and agriculture were the two sectors from where maximum complaints were filed for bonded labour by NGOs in the NHRC from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. NHRC Secretary General, Shri Satyanarayan Mohanty, Joint Secretary, Dr. Ranjit Singh and Special Rappor-teur, Smt. S. Jalaja also addressed the Workshop.
Officers from the Centre and the States of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory Administration of Chandigarh related to Labour Welfare attended the Workshop. The representatives of workers' unions, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other state stakeholders were also present.
The Workshop was organised as part of the NHRC's endeavour to sensitize official machinery to work for the abolition of bonded labour in different parts of the country. It has been given a mandate by the Supreme Court to monitor the implementation of the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976. The directions in this regard were given in 1997 while hearing a Writ Petition (No. 3922/1985) - People's Union for Civil Liberties Vs State of Tamil Nadu & Others. With this, the number of such Workshops has gone up to 31.