The Commission has decided to seek the directions of the Supreme Court in regard to the manner in which compensation should be paid to bonded labour, upon their identification and release, as also in respect of the rehabilitation package that should be provided to such released labourers.

It has been the experience of the Commission that, even after the identification of bonded migrant labour, the directions given by the Supreme Court in respect of the payment of compensation and the providing of a rehabilitation package are not being properly implemented. Both the States from which the bonded labour migrate, as well as the State in which the bonded labour are detected and released, seek to avoid assuming responsibility on the pretext that the other State is liable. In order to ensure strict compliance of the Supreme Court direction as well as to meet fully the requirements of the law on the subject, the Commission has considered it essential to approach the Apex Court for further directions.

In a recent case, the Commission had taken cognizance of a complaint alleging that 13 labourers and their families, originally from Uttar Pradesh, were working as bonded labourers in a brick-kiln in Jhajhar area of Haryana. The police had not taken adequate action inspite of complaints. The report of the District Collector, called for by the Commission, stated that the complaint involved only a dispute between the brick-kiln owner and some labourers, which had been resolved upon the intervention of the Labour Commissioner. The labourers had been sent to their village in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh.

The Commission, however, reached the prima-facie conclusion that the labourers were working under duress, and that they had been released only after the intervention of the Labour Commissioner. It accordingly directed the District Collector, Jhajhar to initiate action under the law against the owner of the brick-kiln and submit a report on the measures that had been undertaken to rehabilitate the released labourers. The District Collector was further directed to issue release certificates under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 to all the labourers; to pay a sum of Rs.20,000/- to each, of which 10,000/- was to be contributed by the State Government and rest by the Central Government.

The Commission also directed the District Collector, Etah, to rehabilitate the bonded labourers by setting up a Released Bonded Labourer’s Co-operative Society in the village of their origin and to assign to that Society appropriate programmes that were available under the various welfare schemes that were in existence.

While the DC Jhajhar confirmed the issuing of release certificates to the labourers, his report was silent about the payment of the rehabilitation grant. The rehabilitation of released bonded labourers is governed by instructions and guidelines issued by the Union Labour Ministry. In most States, the released labourers are meant to be formally given the option of settling either in the host State, or of returning and being settled in their parent State. In reality, however, they have rarely been able to exercise this option. Most District Magistrates arrange to send the released labourers back to their parent States and forward their relevant documents to the concerned District Magistrate for rehabilitation. In this case as well, the DC Jhajhar forwarded the relevant matters to the DM Etah.

The Commission felt it was reasonable to take the view that the State in which the labourer was found to be in bondage and released, should be the one to bear the financial burden of Rs.10,000/- towards the payment to the released bonded labourer instead of the State from which the person had migrated. In the absence of clarity on this issue, the amount to be paid was not only delayed, but was often not paid at all. The Commission thus felt that the situation needed to be remedied, by the issuance of clear instructions identifying the State that should be held responsible for making the payment.

It was also necessary that all District Magistrates should be made to fully realize that it was their primary responsibility to ensure the release of bonded labourers and to make the necessary payments to them. It was essential to ensure that the entire payment due to each bonded labourer was made at the earliest, upon release.

While the Commission decided to approach the Supreme Court for directions on the larger issue, in the specific case considered by it, the Commission directed the DM Etah to contact the complainant who had brought the case to the notice of the Commission and to take steps to locate and rehabilitate the bonded labourers named by the complainant. The Commission also asked the complainant to facilitate the completion of this task by the DM Etah by getting in touch with him. The DC Jhajhar was also directed to make all the necessary documents available to the DM Etah.