The National Human Rights Commission in collaboration with Labour & Employment Department, Punjab held a workshop on bonded labour to sensitize the Deputy Commissioners and senior officers of the Punjab Govt. on 20 November 2003 at Chandigarh. In his inaugural address Dr. Justice A.S. Anand asked the District Officials to discharge their duty with due sincerity in implementing the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. He also asked them to attend to the shortcomings and drawbacks which come the way of freeing the bonded labour. The Chairperson said that though the problem in Punjab is not an alarming one but is peculiar as it is the major importer of migrant labour. Dr. Justice Anand said that a bonded labourer is a helpless person whose right to live with dignity has been taken away. He said it is the duty of the State to render the bonded labour free from indebtedness and exploitation. The Chairperson also pointed out that the maximum number of complaints, the Commission has been receiving over the years, are from Punjab. While complaints may not be proved true, but the underlying fact remains that there exist some bonded labourers who have not been identified and whose rights are being violated. The Chairperson also underlined that the function of the NHRC is not to find faults in the functioning of governments but to act as a facilitators to promote human rights, which could be the focal point of Governance.
Shri Chaman Lal, Special Rapporteur, NHRC dwelt upon the salient features of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and also highlighted the land-mark judgements of the Supreme Court of India in this regard.
The Deputy Commissioners / Additional Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police from all over the state participated in the workshop.