Modern-Day Slavery: Bonded Labour Spares Neither Young Nor Old

Pintu Kumar, a 16-year-old from Chhapra in Bihar, describes the severe hardships he faced starting at the age of 14 when he was coerced into bonded labour. Pintu's account of his experience is chilling: "I was forced into being a bonded labourer. They would make me carry heavy loads. When I said it was too heavy, they would abuse and hurt me. They had locked me up and forced me to work. I had no freedom. I was a slave."

There are many like Pintu. Some children are trafficked, while others are sent off by parents who are extremely poor and have no other means to raise their children.

Mohammed Ullah's decision to send his 14-year-old son, Sakib, to work in a factory resulted in unforeseen consequences when Sakib was forced into slavery in Bihar. Reflecting on his decision, Ullah expressed the economic desperation that led to this grave situation: "Hum majdoor hain. Hum majboor the. Hum gareeb hain" — "I am a labourer. I was helpless. I am poor."

Similarly, 24-year-old Lukas Lomga from Simdega in Jharkhand shares a painful recount of his childhood ensnared in bonded labour. Forced into this brutal reality at just 12 years old, Lukas was trafficked to various cities including Delhi and Jaipur for bonded labour. "Until I was finally rescued, as a child I was trafficked to many places. I had no freedom. My employers would beat me. I would be abused. My entire childhood went off in being a bonded labourer," Lukas recounts.

Trafficked, Tortured, Hands Chopped Off

The heart-wrenching story of Dayalu Nial, a resident of Odisha, alongside Nilambar Dhangdamajhi, offers a stark glimpse into the brutal realities of debt bondage in India. Both men had initially taken money from an agent, ostensibly for work, but soon realised they had been ensnared in a trap. Their situation took a dire turn when they discovered they were being taken to Andhra Pradesh, not Chhattisgarh as they had been led to believe. Their attempt to escape was tragically foiled; they were captured, imprisoned, and their hands were chopped off in 2013.

In 2014, the Supreme Court stepped in, urging the Odisha government to expedite legal proceedings against the traffickers and to ensure rehabilitation for Nial and Dhangdamajhi. By 2016, justice seemed to prevail somewhat as a court in Odisha sentenced eight men to life imprisonment for trafficking the labourers and subjecting them to torture. Tragically, in the same year, Dhangdamajhi succumbed to illness.

In an interview with The Probe, Nial recounts the harrowing ordeal: "We were locked up in a room and we were beaten up very badly. They closed our mouths and then they chopped our hands. We really suffered a lot. It’s even difficult to think about that suffering. I can’t explain it. It is that painful.

90 Bonded Labourers Cry for Justice

Ajay Kumar is one of 90 bonded labourers who were freed from the brick kilns of Kashmir. These labourers were taken to Kashmir under false pretexts and forced to work in extreme dire conditions. After being rescued in September, they gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest, demanding their release certificates from the government. Only with these certificates will they be eligible for the government's rehabilitation package. We spoke to Ajay Kumar, one of the rescued bonded labourers, who literally cried out for help.

“We were beaten up, exploited, and not paid salaries. We had to work overtime. There were 90 of us. Even the media is not caring for our plight. Who do we approach? We have been fighting so hard to get our release certificates from the government. We have not been paid compensation,” says Ajay.

“Once a Slave, Always a Slave”

Danish Mohammad, who hails from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, narrates his recurring plight with bonded labour, an ordeal that followed him from Punjab back to his hometown. Initially a brick kiln worker in Punjab, Mohammad was rescued only to face bondage once again in Muzaffarnagar. Reflecting on his experiences, he and his family lament, "Once a slave, always a slave."

He recounts, "They forced me to work as a bonded labourer. They would not even pay me a salary and finally, I was rescued. They would beat me up. I was there for about a year in Punjab. After I was rescued, I came back to Muzaffarnagar, but then, even in my hometown, I became a bonded labourer for about six to seven months. They would show rifles and scare me and force me to work. Sometimes they would just give me 1000 rupees per month. I have four children and a wife; they used to make my children work as bonded labourers too."

"Covered in Dust, Only Their Eyes and Teeth Were Visible"

Fatima Noor (name changed), a field worker with Sahyog Care for You Foundation, has led numerous rescue operations targeting child bonded labourers. In a recent operation, she rescued 52 children from Rampura in Delhi aged between 8 and 14 years, who were subjected to gruelling work schedules. She describes the gut-wrenching conditions these children faced: “The plight of these children was so sad that we found them working from 9 A.M. to about 12:30 A.M. the next day. They used to work continuously. In the afternoon, they would get a 15-minute break during which they would be fed some food, and at night at 1:30 A.M., they were fed a little bit of food again. These kids were not given enough time to sleep either. They didn’t even know how much money they were earning as salary because they were not paid. They were lied to and told that their money had reached their parents back in their hometowns. These children were victims of trafficking.”

Reflecting on her extensive experience, Noor shared insights from past rescues, including the dangerous conditions children faced while handling medical waste without any protective gear. She expressed the severity of these cases: “These criminals had not even provided them with any protective gear. I can’t even say which was the worst case I handled because when children are made bonded labourers, then these children are made to do heavy-duty work in very dangerous conditions. We have already conducted 58 rescue operations and have rescued over 1400 children. I have rescued children in such conditions that their faces were not even visible, only their eyes and teeth were visible. They were covered in black dust. They are kept in such unhygienic conditions that I can’t even explain how bad it is.”

Harish Kumar, a manager at Sahyog, expresses his dismay at the situation of child bonded labourers in Delhi, the capital city of India. Despite its central position and significant resources, Delhi harbours a dark undercurrent where young children, trafficked from various states, endure severe exploitation. Harish explains, “Many of the children have been trafficked from the villages of UP, Bihar and other states. They are brought to Delhi and they face treatment that is worse than animals.”

Md Mohtamim Yazdani, a senior coordinator at Sahyog who previously served on the Child Welfare Committee in Delhi, sheds light on the grim realities faced by child bonded labourers. With his background and experience in child welfare, Yazdani provides disturbing insights into the conditions these children endure. He notes, “Children who are working as bonded labourers, as per our records and experiences, are not even paid minimum wages. They are completely exploited. We have come across several cases involving the father of the child taking money from the employer and, because he is unable to repay the money, giving away his child to the employer to work as a bonded labourer. It's heart-wrenching.”

A Family of Bonded Labourers

Malkhan Singh had spent many years working as a labourer for a contractor, and now identifies himself as a bonded labourer, trapped in this role for the past three years due to an outstanding debt. We met him at Dankaur in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautham Buddha Nagar district for an interview where Malkhan alleged that his contractor manipulated records because of which he and his family are bonded labourers. 

“I borrowed 8,000 rupees, but my contractor deceitfully wrote 18,000 in the books as the owed amount. What can we do? We are helpless. I have four small children. We are very poor," Malkhan explains, his voice laden with despair. 

As he speaks about his children, his emotions overflow, and tears stream down his face. He reveals the dire circumstances his family faces, sometimes even lacking food. "We are tied to this contractor. There is no way we can escape this place. We are labour-class people. I can leave all the items in my house and just run away but can I leave my four children and run for cover?" he questions. 

Malkhan's wife, Pinky, corroborates the grim reality of their situation, telling us, "We have been bonded labourers for the last three years. My children are not going to school. We take our children also to work."

Slavery and Caste-based Oppression Go Hand in Hand

The spectre of slavery and the bonded labour system, alongside human trafficking, has only intensified post-COVID-19. Dr. Kiran Kamal Prasad, Executive Secretary of Vimukti Trust, underscores that caste plays a significant role in this ongoing oppression, particularly impacting the Dalit communities.

Dr. Prasad elaborates on the mechanisms of their intervention: "We identify the bonded labourers and lodge a complaint with the District Magistrate to secure their release. Many bonded labourers, mired in poverty and illiteracy, are unaware of even the basics such as what the constitution entails or the rights it guarantees. A majority of these individuals belong to the Dalit community." 

Dr. Prasad recounts a poignant case of release of a bonded labourer in Mandya, Karnataka, facilitated through the brave efforts of a former bonded labourer. "This involved a migrant family from Tamil Nadu: a husband and wife along with their two children. Tragically, during the period of bondage, the husband passed away, and the wife had to become a bonded labourer. They had initially borrowed about 30,000 rupees, which led to their bondage. She was forced to work incessantly, without any respite, even when ill. Eventually, she managed to escape and went into hiding. However, the landlord aggressively pursued her, forcibly dragging her out of her hiding and pushed her into a car to bring her back. This act of violence was captured on video, which subsequently went viral. This exposure led to the filing of a formal complaint against the landlord, enabling us to secure her freedom," Dr. Prasad explains. 

Dr. Prasad sheds light on the formidable obstacles encountered in securing the legally mandated compensation and rehabilitation packages for bonded labourers. "The challenges are manifold when dealing with the issue of bonded labourers. Bureaucratic red tape and a system that often fails to act on behalf of the victims make it exceedingly difficult to pursue cases," he explains.

He further illustrates the gravity of these challenges with a specific example: "In one district alone in Karnataka, we have a case involving 1,421 bonded labourers who were released by the government following our advocacy. They received the initial compensation, but the remaining amounts—80,000 rupees for men and 1,80,000 rupees for women and children—have still not been disbursed, even though it's now the fourth year. We are now pursuing this case legally through a writ petition in the court.”

Nirmal Gorana, the Convener of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour (NCCEBL), sheds light on the organisation's efforts in the battle against bonded labour. This national network focuses on identifying, rescuing, and rehabilitating trafficked bonded labourers and has successfully liberated over 20,000 individuals across India. 

Gorana recounts a particularly distressing rescue operation in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. "We rescued a bonded labourer in Aligarh who was working in a jaggery factory. When we went to rescue him, we found that the bonded labourer was in chains. He was chained like an animal," he reveals. 

Gorana explains the harrowing breadth of bonded labour in contemporary India. "Through NCCEBL, we have rescued more than 20,000 bonded labourers. There are different types of bonded labourers. Some labourers take money as advance because they needed that money for survival and to repay that money many work for the rest of their lives. There are some bonded labourers who don’t even get salaries. They just keep working as bonded labourers as they get a few morsels of rice to eat. The situation is really pathetic and it is shocking that this is happening in 21st century India."

He further reveals the socio-economic backdrop of this issue, noting that about 95 percent of those rescued belong to the marginalised Dalit and Adivasi communities. "Amongst all the rescued people, I can say that about 70 percent of the people have been trafficked and they are from the Dalit or Adivasi communties. They are victims of human trafficking. Out of my experience, I can tell you that a large majority of the country’s bonded labourers are agricultural labourers. Many times, the government or private organisations are unable to rescue them because they are working as bonded labourers in some of the most remote corners of the country," Gorana explains. 

He highlights the judicial stance against bonded labour in India, emphasising the proactive role of the Supreme Court. "The Supreme Court of India has been very vocal against bonded labour. In 1982, Justice P.N. Bhagwati delivered a historic judgement stating that labourers who are not paid the minimum wages as decided by the state are considered forced labour. Additionally, the Bandhua Mukti Morcha Vs. Union of India rulings assert that forced labour is also bonded labour. When the judiciary appears to be this strict, it is shocking that in India this abominable practice of slavery is still continuing," Gorana rues. 

Law Exists Only on Paper, Lacking Implementation

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 marked a significant legislative stride towards eradicating bonded labour in India by freeing all bonded labourers and annulling their debts, making the practice a cognisable offence under the law. 

In an effort to bolster these efforts, the Ministry of Labour introduced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in May 1978, aimed at assisting state governments in the rehabilitation of liberated bonded labourers. This scheme has undergone several revisions, the most notable being in 2016 when it was renamed the "Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer – 2016," with further modifications in January 2022.

Despite these legal frameworks and schemes, Gorana points out critical shortcomings in the execution of these programs. "Rehabilitation packages often do not reach the affected victims," he asserts. He also challenges the authenticity of the government's statistics regarding the issue, labelling them as "not factual and a big lie."

"The freed bonded labourers receive a release certificate, and only upon acquiring this certificate can they access the rehabilitation package. Depending on their gender and circumstances, rescued bonded labourers are entitled to compensation amounts ranging from 1 lakh to 3 lakh rupees. However, the major issue is the difficulty in obtaining the release certificate. Even those who obtain it may not receive the promised funds. The implementation of the rehabilitation package is severely flawed, leading to discrepancies between the government's reported achievements and the reality on the ground, with much of the data purportedly manipulated," asserts Gorana. 

Onkar Sharma, Chief Labour Commissioner at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, acknowledges the legal framework in place to combat bonded labour: "We have the law in place. We are trying our best to enforce the law and we also have rehabilitation packages." 

However, when questioned about the difficulties rescued victims face in obtaining justice, including securing release certificates and accessing rehabilitation packages, he points to the responsibilities of the state governments: "This law is to be enforced by the state governments. After they get the release certificates, it is through the District Collector and state government that the rescued victims can access the central government’s rehabilitation package. If the bonded labourers are not getting justice then they can always approach us."

Although the government maintains that state authorities should enforce existing laws and assist victims, the reality is that rescued bonded labourers, among the poorest in society, often do not know whom to approach for help. Merely shifting responsibility is not a solution. The law and justice system must extend its reach to support these oppressed individuals. They should not have to endure the confusion and helplessness of seeking assistance from multiple sources, particularly as many of these victims are not only unaware of their rights but also find themselves in desperate situations.

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