National Seminar on bonded labour

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Labour & Employment said that bonded labour may not be eliminated merely by legislation and rules; change in attitude and feudal mindset of society will be necessary to end this scourge. He was addressing, as the Chief Guest, the two-day National Seminar on Bonded Labour organized by the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi on the 14th February, 2017. He said that the real challenge is how to stop the rescued bonded labourers from going back to bonded labour.
Emphasizing that the Centre is committed to eliminate bonded labour, Shri Dattatreya highlighted the decision to increase the financial assistance of Rs. 20,000/- to Rs. 1 lakh per adult male beneficiary under the Bonded Labour Rehabilitation Scheme. He said that in order to avoid delay, the transfer of the amount to the beneficiary account will be done directly from District National Child Labour Project Society.
He said that, as per revised provisions, children including orphans or those rescued from organized and forced begging rings or other forms of forced child labour and women will be treated as special category beneficiaries and given Rs. 2 lakh of financial assistance. Rs. 3 lakh will be given in cases of bonded or forced labour involving extreme cases of deprivation or marginalization such as transgender, or woman or children rescued from ostensible sexual exploitation such as brothels, massage parlours, placement agencies or trafficking, or in cases of differently able persons, or in situations deemed fit by the District Magistrate. These would be in addition to other benefits of the original scheme.
Earlier, in his inaugural address, Justice Shri H.L. Dattu, Chairperson, NHRC said that bonded labour amounts to an outright denial of unalienable human rights and is one of the worst kinds of violation of human rights. Despite several laws, plans, policies, programmes and schemes, the records of national governance, public investment and development action yield little matching evidence of substantive work towards elimination of this menace for which radical reforms are required in administering the social service delivery mechanism.
The NHRC Chairperson said that it would be wrong to think that bonded labour is a thing of past, as it can be found even today in not only agriculture but also in any sector of employment including brick-kilns, stone quarries, salt fields, lather manufacturing units and so on. He said that as long as there is poverty, unemployment, underemployment, landlessness, migration, indebtedness, the pernicious bonded labour system will continue.
Giving an insight into the Constitutional and legal provisions, Justice Dattu, highlighted some of the measures taken by the NHRC towards elimination of bonded labour after the Supreme Court of India, in 1997, vested the responsibility for the monitoring and implementation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 to the Commission. The Commission has recommended compensation in cases of bonded labour and also amendments to several provisions in The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.
Since its inception in 1993, the Commission registered 14,614 cases of bonded labour, out of which 13,266 cases have been disposed. Justice Dattu said that abolition of bonded labour requires a holistic approach in as much as it is not the concerns of any particular ministries or department or agency but is the concerned of the whole nations.
The three thematic sessions of the Seminar were chaired by Justice Shri D. Murugesan, Member, NHRC. These covered various aspects related to the prevalence of bonded labour and challenges in its elimination, relief and rehabilitation of the rescued bonded labourers in different parts of the country as well as international best practices on sustainable human development and bonded labour.
These were addressed, among others, by eminent speakers including those from International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), experts, representatives of Centre and State Governments, civil society, NGOs, NHRC officers and Special Rapporteurs as well as the representatives of State Human Rights Commissions.
Experience of the NHRC
The Commission has been receiving spate of complaints from time to time regarding exploitation and harassment of persons who have been victims of bonded labour system.
In almost all cases, the DMs rest content by filing a prosecution for non-maintenance of records and registers. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, does not permit any compounding of the offence or reaching a compromise between the bonded labour keeper and the labourer. The action and conduct of DMs in a large number of cases would amount to abatement of an offence as defined in Section 20 of the Act.
In most cases of bonded labour, there is no clear, authentic proof of settlement of wages and related accounts. Vigilance Committees at the district and sub-divisional level are not being re-constituted.