“The issue of bonded and forced labour becomes difficult to comprehend because many such victims of forced labour work hidden from public view.” Ms Tine Staermose, Country Director, International Labour Organisation, speaks to Labour File about the positions of ILO nationally and internationally on the issues of bondage.

India is the first South Asian country to enact a legislation to end bonded labour. Despite this, do you think the country is free from the clutches of bondage?

The ILO has recently released the global estimates on forced labour. According to the ILO 2012 Report on Global Estimates of Forced Labour, almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour in the world. What is a matter of great concern is that of these 21 million, 11.4 million are women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys. More worrisome is the fact that 26 percent (5.5 million) are children below the age of 18 years. We have to be more concerned because, in terms of absolute numbers, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for the majority (11.7 million) of all victims of forced labour, followed by Africa (3.7 million). Though no country-specific estimates have been made, the reports of the Indian government, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), trade unions and civil society all show that India still has this problem.

The issue of bonded and forced labour becomes difficult to comprehend because many such victims of forced labour work hidden from public view, on fishing vessels, construction sites, in commercial agriculture and in factories. Some are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and bondage such as those in brick kilns and the agriculture sector whereas many such as domestic workers are deceived about their conditions of work. Migrant workers, tribal populations and people from deprived sections of society are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.

Which are the ILO Conventions on forced labour? Has India ratified any of these? How important is India`s ratification? What are the prospects of India ratifying the Conventions?

The ILO has been concerned with the issue of forced labour since the early 1930s. In the first forced labour instrument, the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), adopted in 1930, the International Labour Conference (ILC) called upon member states to suppress the use of forced labour within the shortest possible period, and to criminalise the offence. The second Convention on forced labour, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) was adopted in 1957. Both these Conventions are among the most widely ratified of all ILO instruments, and India too has ratified these. Yet, over 80 years after the first Convention, and despite its almost universal ratification, the practice still exists in the world, albeit in forms different from those that provoked such concern in the early twentieth century. What is important is that these Conventions have been applied and their implementation strengthened in India through a national legislative framework.

What is the nature and scope of ILO interventions for elimination of bondage, globally and nationally?

At the global level, the elimination of forced labour is one of the 19 strategic outcomes set out in the ILO Strategic Policy Framework. More recently, ILO has increased its efforts at the global and country levels on eight areas of critical importance (ACI). ‘Protection of workers from unacceptable forms of work’ is one such area of critical importance. The ACIs were endorsed by ILO’s Governing Body and ILC in 2013.

At this juncture, I would also like to inform you about the Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), which has spearheaded ILO`s work in this field since early 2002. The programme has successfully:
• Raised global awareness and understanding of modern forced labour
• Assisted governments to develop and implement new laws, policies and action plans
• Developed and disseminated guidance and training material on key aspects of forced labour and trafficking
• Implemented innovative programmes that combine policy development, capacity building of law enforcement and labour market institutions, and have targeted field-based projects of direct support for both prevention of forced labour and identification and rehabilitation of its victims

At the national level, on 27 September 2013, India signed the second Decent Work Country Programme, DWCP, (2013–17). DWCPs have been established as the main vehicle for delivery of ILO support to member countries. DWCP-India (2013–17) has been formulated around four country programme priorities and eleven outcomes. PRIORITY 1 deals with promotion of International Labour Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. This priority has been established to work towards reduction of decent work deficits of unorganised workers and enterprises, and to deal with the issue of bonded and forced labour, which is the antithesis of decent work. The Indian government and ILO’s social partners are committed to work towards achieving the goals envisaged under this priority.

What, according to you, is the root cause of bondage in India?

Socio-economic reasons, which we are all aware of, coupled with poverty, distress migration, lack of skills, no scope of employment in source areas, or unemployment or low wages, coupled with the lack of structures and processes for labour market governance, and lack of proper enforcement of labour laws—all these factors precipitate bondage.

Along with the traditional forms of bondage, there are new forms of bondage being seen in the country. Is ILO aware of these changing forms and are these being addressed adequately?

ILO understands the changing nature of forced labour and the forms of bondage that are becoming more economic in nature. Also, ILO understands that the sectors of such forced labour and bondage are also becoming more challenging to enforce, for example, in shipping vessels, domestic work and the service sector because the workers remain hidden and unreached. In its 101st Session in 2012, ILC decided to identify gaps in the existing ILO standards and to determine whether there is need for standard setting to complement ILO’s forced labour Conventions to address ‘prevention’ and victim protection, including compensation, and human trafficking for labour exploitation. For the 103rd Session of ILC, which is to be held in 2014, the Governing Body has placed the issue of supplementing Convention No. 29 “to address implementation gaps to advance prevention, protection and compensation measures, to effectively achieve the elimination of forced labour” as a standard-setting, single-discussion item. For this, questionnaires have already been sent to governments.

How does ILO collaborate with the Government of India in addressing the issue of bonded labour?

ILO has been working in India since 2002 on the issue of bonded labour—from the ‘Promoting Elimination of Bonded Labour in South Asia’ (PEBLISA) project, which focused on micro finance and micro credit, to the pilot programme in the rice mills and brick kilns of Tamil Nadu (2008–11) and now to the ILO–Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) joint project, in which six states of India have come forward to scale up the pilot programme in select districts of participating states in the brick kiln sector, as part of the project ‘Reducing Vulnerability to Bondage in India through Promotion of Decent Work’. The project is owned and implemented by the state governments. The project uses a ‘convergence’ (of the actions of the governments, trade unions and employers) and ‘prevention’ approach, to prevent bondage. It also means converging government schemes and services not just on vulnerable workers but the entire family, including the children, old and disabled. The focus is on preventing the workers from falling into a situation of debt and bondage by taking appropriate measures in the source and destination areas (work sites).

Employers stand to gain by engaging bonded labourers. How does ILO ensure cooperation of the employers, as its social partners, in its activities against bonded labour?

The ILO–MoLE joint project on Reducing Vulnerability to Bondage has worked with the employers, who bear the responsibility for improvement of the workplace, payment of minimum wages, provision of safe and decent work and living conditions for workers, facilitation of access to healthcare and education for children, their enrollment into social security schemes, and so on. Employers also understand that a healthy and satisfied work force ensures better productivity. The possibility of entering into a social dialogue is possible only when the workers are organised; the outcome of such collective decisions are much better and more effective compared to what arises from negotiating with individual workers. Often, employers face challenges due to non-availability of skilled and trained workers, and have to rely on unscrupulous labour agents. If the recruitment systems are well-defined and the transactions transparent, all four parties—employers, agents, workers and government—stand to gain. Also, if workers get good working conditions and good wages, they tend to return to the same employers; this was clearly evident in the ILO–MoLE pilot project.

What role do you envisage for trade unions?

The role of trade unions is crucial because these workers are largely unreached and hidden. Workers are unaware of their rights or about safe migration. Even when they do know, they lack a collective voice and strength to negotiate for their rights, and often continue to work in appalling conditions, with low wages. The participation of trade unions has been limited in this sector, prior to the last few years. However, what is heartening is that the central trade unions are now reaching out to these workers. We also understand and appreciate that the seasonal migration pattern makes it difficult for trade unions to remain connected to these workers because they may not come back to the same state, district or brick kiln the following season. Every season, therefore, a new mapping has to be initiated, to help workers access services; many of the services offered by the state government are rendered to registered individuals.

What distinguishes ILO’s current project on reducing vulnerability to bondage in India from its earlier projects?

The current project was replicated and scaled up, based on the pilot work done in the rice mills and the brick kilns of Tamil Nadu from 2009–11, and on lessons learned from the earlier work of ILO on bonded labour in several countries of South Asia since 2001. Earlier pilots were largely funded by ILO and implemented by local NGOs, employers and trade unions. This project, however, is largely owned, funded and implemented by the state governments, with relatively small budgetary support coming from ILO. The project has defined the roles and responsibilities for employers, trade unions and central and state governments. This project also deals with the issue of both intra- and inter-state migrants, under which ILO facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the MoLE and two project states (in June 2012), and a second MOU between the MoLE and four additional states (in February 2013). The MoU lays down the roles and responsibilities of the sending and the receiving states. The states developed their own implementation plans, based on tripartite plus discussions, in which the government, trade unions and employers, along with the media, academia and civil society organizations discussed and formulated the key points for progressive implementation. There was constant knowledge sharing, capacity building and cross learning opportunities, whereby the good practices of one state were adapted and replicated in other project and non-project states and districts.

Why the focus on brick kilns in this project?

During the early pilots in 2001, a preliminary assessment was done to determine in which sectors workers are most prone to bondage. Brick kilns were identified as one such sector. Apart from this, brick kiln workers were the most vulnerable to bondage because of the huge advances and loans that they take. Most of the identified and released bonded labourers are also brick kiln workers. They had no social security protection and because of the seasonal nature of the industry, they could not access the services and schemes available at the source as well as destination states. It became important for MoLE and ILO to look at the rights, needs and aspirations of migrant women and men workers and their families, both at the source and destination areas.

Where do you go from here? What is ILO’s overall strategy for India?

ILO has a key role in providing technical assistance to the central and state governments in the effective implementation of the Bonded Labour System Abolition (BLSA) Act, so as to ensure the application of International Labour Standards, including the application of Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, (No. 105), both of which have been ratified by India. Using ILO’s four pillars of decent work—fundamental principles and rights at work, decent employment and income, social protection for all, tri-partism and social dialogue—we are looking at a convergent approach to prevent bondage and abolish bonded labour.

During the National Consultation on Bonded Labour, organised jointly by ILO and MoLE on 8 October 2013, the need for increased coordination between the centre and the states on the issue of bonded labour was discussed. This has already been initiated with some states (under the ILO-MoLE project) and other states also need to participate actively. The need to amend bonded labour rules was also discussed, to cover newer forms of bondage as well as to specify roles and responsibilities under the BLSA Act.

The need for capacity building of the key stakeholders on the issue of identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded labour is great. Wherever Vigilance Committees have not been constituted, this needs to be done, including making provisions for capacity building of members and ensuring that they meet regularly and take action. There is also need to address the root cause of bondage, and prevent workers from slipping into bondage. In pursuit of this, the ILO-MoLE pilot project in the brick kiln sector in six states now needs to be scaled up and replicated in different sectors and across more states.