Bonded Labour: Why Does Debt-Slavery Still Exist in India; An Overview

 

India has the highest number of slaves in the world, with estimates ranging from 14 million to 18 million people, where poverty, social inequality, and enormous textile and garment industries create the perfect conditions for labour exploitation. In India, many people work as slave labour in the brick kiln industry – this includes women and children.

Family working in brick kiln in Punjab, India

Article 15 to 23 of the Indian Constitution states that all Indian citizens have the right to liberty and the right to equality. But, it is very sad that many Indians are completely ignorant of these rights, specifically,  bonded labourers -"a slave who physically works for his employer" and are completely unaware of their constitutional and basic rights. 

The International Labour Organization describes forced labour and human trafficking as 'modern-day slavery'.

Bonded Labour also known as Peonage or debt slavery, is a system of usury under which the debtor or his descendants or dependents have to work for the creditor without reasonable wages or with no wages in order to extinguish the debt, and is embedded intricately in India’s socio-economic culture-a culture that is a product of class.

In India, bonded labour results from poverty, social marginalisation, and the government’s unwillingness to address the practise and its underlying causes.

The system is so entrenched across the country that it is known by a variety of names – Adiyamar, Baramasia, Basahya, Bethu, Bhagela, Cherumar, Garry-Galu, Hali, Hari, Harwai, Holya, Jana, Jeetha, Kamiya, Khundit-Mundit, Kuthia, Lakhari, Munjhi, Mat, Munish system, Nit-Majoor, Paleru, Padiyal, Pannayilal, Sagri, Sanji, Sanjawat, Sewak, Sewakia, Seri, Vetti, etc.

Bonded labour is mostly prevalent in agricultural sector, informal sector including cotton textile handlooms, brick kilns, construction work, brothels, stone quarries, carpet weaving, bidi rolling, rearing of silk cocoons, production of silk sarees, silver jewellery, synthetic gemstones, precious gem cutting, leather products, domestic help, even in manual scavenging etc.

The low-income states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh are more vulnerable to prevalence of bonded labour. A large number of bonded labourers are also rescued every year from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Bonded labor in India remains widespread despite government efforts to outlaw it.

According to a United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on modern slavery, forced and bonded labour systems in Asian countries, such as India are rooted in older social discriminatory patterns. That is, those who end up in the vicious cycle of bonded labour are mostly from socially marginalised groups such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

India has most number of slaves globally,

According to the 2011 census, 135,000 bonded laborers were identified in the country. India ranks fourth in the world when it comes to modern-day slavery and debt-induced bonded labour. There are over 400,000 bonded laborers in our country, with a majority of them in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar and Odisha.

Bonded labour is most widespread in South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan.

While World Population Review stated, 46 million people in 167 countries were living as slaves. Out of which 18.4 million people live in India followed by China with 3.4 million. 

Though bonded labor was made illegal in India in 1976, but it never went away. A 2018 report estimated around 8 million people in India were unpaid workers or held in debt bondage, though some campaigners believe the true figure is much higher.

Siddharth Kara, an activist and anti Human Trafficking expert has shared some of his research findings while doing primary research for his book “Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia,” The book aims at assessing the position of bonded laborers in South-Asia. He says Out of all forms of structures of oppression in the world, the Indian debt bondage system has one of the maximum numbers of obligated laborers. Siddharth had also written about the problem of debt-bondage, human trafficking and child labor in numerous construction projects to prepare Delhi for hosting Commonwealth Games 2010.

Government Initiatives,

Forced and bonded labour was abolished through the Bonded Labour Slavery (Absolishing) Act in 1976.  According to the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, the last four years have seen an estimated 13,512 bonded labourers released and rehabilitated. September 2019, alone, saw rescue operations freed a total of 43 bonded labourers across Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Though bonded labour systems still exist in such large numbers, the state has done little to remedy the situation. While banning the bonded labor system, the government had also promised to help in the rehabilitation of freed bonded laborers to provide them housing and employment.

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 stipulates a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of Rs. 2,000 for those who force someone to perform bonded labour and those who advance the bonded debt. Section 374 of the Indian Penal Code also recognises the crime of unlawful compulsory labour and punishes it with a sentence of imprisonment up to one year, a fine, or both.

In 2013, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act introduced sections 370 and 370A into the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalised anyone involved in the process of trafficking someone — including recruiting, transporting and transfers, by any means.

Section 374 of the Indian Penal Code also recognises the crime of unlawful compulsory labour and punishes it with a sentence of imprisonment up to one year, a fine, or both.

Moreover, the Honorable Supreme Court of India, time to time interprets various constitutional provisions against the menace of bonded labor and to protect the weaker section of the society. 

Neerja Chaudhury Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, Bandhu Mukti Morcha Vs Union of India and People’s Union for Democratic Rights Vs. Union of India are some of the examples of SC's remarkable judgements.

Why the problem still alive,

Despite all the statutory prohibition and governmental efforts  the menace of bonded labour still practiced in different parts of the country.

The worst affected are the children and women particularly those from the Dalit community. Often entire families have to work to pay off the debt taken by one of its members. Sometimes, the debt can be passed down the generations and children can be held in debt bondage because of a loan their parents had taken decades ago. They are forced to work to repay debts from their employer and they are not allowed to work for anyone else.

As a report on bonded labour in South Asia by the international human rights organization Anti-Slavery International points out, after the enactment of the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, thousands of bound labourers were identified, released, and rehabilitated with the help of state and judicial action in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

However, this process of identification and release slowed substantially during the 1990s, with officials downplaying the magnitude of bonded labour. They were oblivious to new forms emerging. This was because, as per this report, in the cases where progress had been made, the drive for change came from grassroots and civil society pressure rather than from governmental leadership.

Consequently, many of those released were reportedly denied rehabilitation due to corruption, mismanagement, and local political opinions that primarily represented the views of local elites and employers, despite initial rehabilitation efforts providing ex-bonded labourers with access to a variety of government services.

Most of the time, the training and compensation provided as part of rehabilitation packages were insufficient to meet the needs of bonded labourers who had been released. Furthermore, the State neglected to recognise family members’ bonded status. Women were not provided release certificates and were denied state benefits since labourer-employer contracts had been negotiated with the head of the family, that being the husband.

Thus, while there has always been some sort of state intervention, it has neither sustained nor is comprehensive.

According to 2018 Global Slavery Index, India has the 4th most slaves with 19 million Indians enslaved in some form, including debt bondage and has been a poor performer as far as enforcement of anti-slavery laws. The reasons for the same are attributed to the under-resourced judiciary and police force.

On the other hand, inadequate government efforts reflect the State’s failure to adopt a systematic and long-term strategy to the abolition of bonded labour, which begins with identification of bonded labourers, and continues till steps are taken to ensure that those who are released are not re-enslaved.

In India, bonded labour results from poverty, social marginalisation, and the government’s unwillingness to address the practise and its underlying causes. Moreover, the tendency of reducing labour protection in the face of globalisation has increased governments’ unwillingness to act proactively against bonded labour in recent years. As a result, protections are weakened, giving unscrupulous employers more opportunities to restrict and remove poor worker's freedom through debt, surveillance, and threats.

In addition, a glance at the total budget and expenditure for rehabilitation of bonded labour points towards the government’s lack of seriousness towards this issue. While the overall funds released for bonded labour rehabilitation were Rs. 664.5 lakh in 2017-18, they dramatically decreased by 61% the following year to Rs. 253.3 lakh. Surprisingly, the Ministry of Labour and Employment spent not a single rupee on their rehabilitation in 2019-2020.

Such data raises concerns regarding not just the plight of such labourers in our country, but also the willingness of the government to protect and aid them.

Labour laws, which have emerged out of a long period of struggle, aim to ensure power parity between employers and employees. While the shape and form of such laws have changed over time, the central idea has remained the same, which is, in Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s words, to ensure the “rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”

Despite various legal safeguards, the spectre of bonded labour still plagues our nation. Since governmental forces have access to resources and power, and civil society organizations have grassroots connections and understand the seriousness of the situation better, they would have to act in tandem to uproot the menace of bonded labour.

Corruption within the political and judicial spheres is one of the big reason of growing slavery practices. Justice is often blocked by the severely congested Indian court system. There are at least twenty-five million cases pending in courts, and most cases take decades to reach resolution.

New report from Anti-Slavery International exposes how top UK high street brands are selling clothing made by girls in slavery in southern India. Research has uncovered the routine use of forced labour of girls and young women in the spinning mills and garment factories of five Indian clothing manufacturers that supply major western clothing retail brands.

Linkage between debt-bondage and crimes, 

The link between bonded labour and organised crime is well known. Globally, it is believed that it is often linked to human trafficking, unsafe migration and criminal networks. According to the International Labour Organization(ILO), 24.9 million people around the world are still victims of bonded labour. Of the total number, 20.8 million (83 percent) are exploited in the private economy, by individuals or enterprises, and the remaining 4.1 million (17 per cent) are in state-imposed forms of forced labour. Among those exploited by private individuals or enterprises, 8 million (29 percent) are victims of forced sexual exploitation and 12 million (64 percent) of forced labour exploitation.

The ILO have also released a companion estimate of child labour, which confirms that about 152 million children, aged between 5 and 17, were subject to child labour.

Child labour remains concentrated primarily in agriculture (70.9 per cent). Almost one in five child labourers work in the services sector (17.1 per cent) while 11.9 percent of child labourers work in industry.

The new estimates also show that women and girls are disproportionately affected by modern slavery, reporting almost 29 million, or 71 per cent of the overall total. Women represent 99 per cent of the victims of forced labour in the commercial sex industry and 84 per cent of forced marriages.

The research reveals that among the 40 million victims of modern slavery, about 25 million were in forced labour, and 15 million were in forced marriage.

Often the people from the rural areas especially the Dalits are lured by the traffickers only to find themselves toiling as labourers in factories or working in brothels against without their consent.

Final report,

Bonded labor in India is still a difficult issue to address and will certainly take years to eradicate. To remove this new age slavery system, enough emphasis  has to be given on the functioning of government agencies along with the non-governmental organizations so as to ensure that they act in concert.

Besides that, strict measures need to be taken up to ensure that the district committees constituted under Section 13 of the Act, do not lie dormant and special care needs to be taken so as to ensure that the members who are a part of those committees are vigilant towards the growing menace of Bonded Labour. A report revealed- that in terms of prevalence, there were 6.1 victims for every thousand people. India has been ranked 53 out of 167 countries.