“Bonded labour is not the subject of a single department; therefore, no one is acting on it on a sustained manner. There is also official apathy on the subject. This can be overcome by assigning responsibility for its removal to a single department or by naming a nodal agency.” In this interview to Labour File, Kodikkunnil Suresh, Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Government of India, speaks to Sreelal T. J., about his concerns on the issues of bondage.

Bonded Labour, though abolished in India in 1976, still prevails in the country. Do you agree?

Bonded labour was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1976. However, it is a fact that it still prevails in many parts of the country in many forms. Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits trafficking in human beings, begging and other similar forms of forced labour, except for the imposition by state of compulsory labour for public purposes without discrimination.

What do you think is the root cause for bondage?

The system of bonded labour is an outcome of customary obligations, forced labour, begging or indebtedness, under which a debtor agrees to render service. This heinous system still prevails in India, one of the largest economies in the world. Bonded labour is not a labour issue, rather an issue related with various other socio-economic forces. Bondage is passed on from generation to generation. There is social as well as economic bondage.

Does India have any international pressure in addressing the bonded labour issue?

There is no international pressure. Rather it is our national and social responsibility. Bonded labour is a blot on our society and culture. Its eradication is our duty.

Although the Bonded Labour System Abolition (BLSA) Act is a central Act, the responsibility for identification, release and rehabilitation is with the state. How do you harmonise central and state government programmes on bonded labour?

True, the BLSA Act is a central Act whereas the responsibility to implement the same is with state governments. The central government issues advisories to state governments, regarding the implementation of the rules relating to abolition of bonded labour. The responsibility of identifying bonded labourers lies with the District Magistrate (DM), who is the Chairman of the Vigilance Committee constituted under the Act. The Vigilance Committee advises the DM and is required to ensure that the Act is properly implemented under the DM’s guidance and also to co-ordinate efforts toward rehabilitation of the freed bonded labour. During national-level review meetings of the Labour Ministry, the implementation of the Act and the schemes for the rehabilitation of bonded labour are reviewed regularly.

India has been given the dubious distinction of having the largest number of slaves in world. Is the government taking any steps to obtain statistics on the number of bonded labour in India?

It is not true that India has that dubious distinction. We can’t have statistics on bonded labour due to various reasons. We have the numbers of people freed and rehabilitated so far. During surveys, including the Census, it is not easy to identify them. With the efforts of non-government organisations and civil society organisations, the issues of bonded labour are coming to light and the concerned DMs are taking action. According to the reports received from state governments, the total number of bonded labourers rehabilitated as on 31 March 2013 is 2,77,410.

What are the processes of rescuing and releasing bonded labourers? Do you think, Dms act promptly when they receive a complaint? How do you address the official reluctance to identify bonded labourers?

Dms are the main players in this. The Vigilance Committees function under their supervision. When instances of bonded labour comes to the notice of the district administration, the officials act fast. These instances come to public notice through the representatives of local government institutions, interventions of NGOs, philanthropists, etc. That NGOs are playing a major role in identifying, rescuing and rehabilitating the bonded labourers is heartening.

The officials work on the basis of assigned roles and responsibilities. Bonded labour is not the subject of a single department; therefore, no one is acting on it on a sustained manner. There is also official apathy. This can be overcome by assigning responsibility for its removal to a single department or by naming a nodal agency.

How are the released bonded labourers rehabilitated? Is the rehabilitation process done effectively? Is the remuneration offered sufficient enough for them not to fall back into bondage again?

In order to assist the state governments in the task of rehabilitation of identified and released bonded labourers, a centrally sponsored plan scheme is in operation since May 1978. Under this scheme, a rehabilitation assistance of Rs20,000 is provided to each bonded labour; this is shared equally by the central and state governments. The government is also providing grants to states, to conduct district-wise surveys of bonded labour, to create awareness and to conduct evaluatory studies under the centrally sponsored scheme. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also been monitoring the implementation of the government policy and programmes on identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded labour. Programmes of the government such as MGNREGA, the Mid-day Meal programme and anganwadis also contribute to the rehabilitation of the freed bonded labourers.

The existing rehabilitation amount of Rs 20,000 needs to be properly indexed to inflation. Proper psycho-social counselling, along with the necessary social welfare schemes, needs to be readily accessed and initiated at the time of release so that re-bondage does not occur.

Prosecutions against violators of the BLSA Act are almost non-existent. How do you ensure that those who keep bonded labourers are punished?

The Vigilance Committees under the Dms need to ensure action against those who violate the Act. We shall examine the possibility of reviewing this through the Results Framework Document (RFD) of the ministry.

How do you explain the concentration of bonded labour in certain sectors, for instance, brick kilns? How do you address this phenomenon?

Registering brick kilns and registration of agencies that provide contract labourers are the responsibility of state government. The central government can act only in the industries relating to the central sphere. We can issue advisories to state governments to take up the issue seriously.

What, according to you, is the role of ILO in addressing bonded labour, especially the bondage situation in brick kilns?

There are two ILO Conventions—Convention No. 29, concerning forced or compulsory labour, and Convention No. 105, concerning abolition of forced labour. The Government of India has ratified both these Conventions. The central government and the state government of Tamil Nadu, in collaboration with the ILO, launched a pilot project in the state for the purpose of reducing vulnerability to bondage through promotion of decent work. ILO provides technical support for the eradication of bonded labour.

What is your perspective plan to remove bonded labour from India?

Bonded labour can be abolished only with the support of NGOs and civil society. Massive awareness is required, along with public pressure for appropriate policy framework. It is not a linear ministry activity. For eradicating bonded labour, inter-sectoral and inter-ministerial coordination are required.

There are several good practices in bonded labour abolition in India. One among these is in Karnataka, where the state government has prepared an inclusive action plan to combat bonded labour. Definitely, this plan will enable all stakeholders to implement schemes systematically. All state governments can follow this example.

At present, bonded labour is everybody’s responsibility and nobody’s subject. This requires change. There should be a state nodal officer as well as district nodal officers. A department may be designated as the Nodal Department for Bonded Labour. There needs to be a dedicated department/cell for this subject.

What is the need of the hour?

The constitution of Vigilance Committees is one of the vital steps for identifying bonded labour. If these Committees have not been constituted as per the Act, the first step for identification of such human rights violations is neglected. Constituting and activating Vigilance Committees is the first step.

It is imperative to have a relook on the BLSA Act 1976. Our 37 years’ experience with the present Act may help us prepare a more comprehensive one to eradicate bonded labour, rehabilitate them effectively and help them stand on their own feet.

A Task Force was constituted to examine various provisions of the BLSA Act 1976, in the context of the developments that have taken place during the past three decades as well as the judgments of the Supreme Court.

The recommendations of the Task Force are:

The Act per se does not merit any amendment. Definitional clarity with regard to identification and a holistic policy level rehabilitation package on bonded labour were seen as essential supplements to strengthen the Act.

The vision of government policies should be to address the root causes of bondage and not merely the symptoms. The government should adopt an overall programme approach, as opposed to a short-term project approach, when addressing the elimination of bonded labour. There is need to develop a convergence-based project for the prevention of bonded labour.

A corpus fund, supported by central and state governments, that looks at welfare holistically needs to be created, with the objective of plugging financial gaps, if any, with regard to the proposed convergence-based scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labour. The fund will be administered at the central level. An institution/society at the central level to coordinate activities related to the fund should be created. The functions of this institution/society will include looking at ongoing welfare schemes, identifying areas and sectors requiring support for project formulation, liaison with state governments on identifying funds, and allocating/approving funds from the central level to plug gaps.

In view of the commonality and strategy overlap between the two segments of child and bonded labour, the task force suggested that a convergence-based approach be examined for these two segments.

The suggestions of the Task Force need to be studied and taken up for implementation.