An initiative of National Campaign Committee on Eradication of Bonded Labour in collaboration with Human Rights Law Network and Action Aid Association, the National Workshop on Eradication of Bonded Labour was organised at the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi from 21st-22nd January, 2017 with participation of various organisations, researchers, activists and advocates from as many as 12 states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan. The workshop aimed to find difficulties in working for protection of rights of bonded labourers, to facilitate the release of bonded labourers in the unorganised sector, and to find a way forward for these organisations as regards the recourses available for eradication of bonded labour in various sectors.
The aim was to look at the fight against bonded labour not only from a legal but also from a practical perspective. The Guest of Honour for the workshop, Shri Dialu Nial was a rescued bonded labourer himself and the horrifying incident shared by him and his advocate only makes us realise that even after 70 years of independence, the struggle for freedom is still on and worse, there is still a long way to go for every citizen of India to achieve complete independence. Dialu’s hands were chopped off on refusal to migrate for work. What makes the particular incidence inspiring and so different from other such incidences is that justice was served within 3 years of filing the case, one of the very few instances in Indian Legal History. The accused were awarded with imprisonment for life and because the case was of such an exceptional nature so as to invoke the sentiments of all of us, the Presiding Officer personally ensured speedy justice in the case. This achievement was possible only due to the undying spirit and never-back-down attitude of all the advocates and activists involved, but more than that, due to refusal of Dialu Nial to bow down to the perpetrators.
Analysing the position of existence of bonded labourers in the modern society, it was unfortunate to realise that there are more than 50 crore people in India are still living in conditions of what can be easily termed as modern slavery. It’s the bad fortune of the society we live in, that Article 23 of the Constitution of India, which expressly talks about prohibition of trafficking in human beings and bonded labour, is a fundamental right which exists only on paper and has failed to achieve its intended objective i.e. prevention of exploitation of the weak and vulnerable in its true spirit and practice.
One of the major problems faced by activists and advocates in eradication of bonded labour practices is of identification of the workers as bonded labourers. The authorities refuse to recognise the workers as bonded labourers citing the narrower interpretation of provisions of Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976, failing to realise that the objective of the Act as intended by the Legislature was not to just legislate on the issue, but to ensure that modern slavery does not in any form exists in our country. The struggle of any activist or a labourer himself is to convince the authorities that they are indeed bonded labourers living in pathetic conditions where even animals wouldn’t want to live.
Once the identification of these workers is done, another challenge is to encourage these workers to revolt against the touts and the owners so that they can obtain the freedom they rightfully deserve, and to do the task as discreetly as possible. Rescue of these workers is a task in itself, and the major challenge is to prevent any leakage of information to the touts and owners. Such leak of information results in further exploitation of these workers.
Given the state of Indian Judiciary, prosecution is as difficult as identification and rescue of the workers and drains out all the energy of not only the worker, but also activists and lawyers fighting for his rights. Interestingly however, there were two conflicting views given by activists relating to how to handle the prosecution of culprits, specifically with regards to who should be the complainant in the said case. While one group of activists stated that the NGO should become the complainant so as to remain involved at every stage of struggle for freedom of these workers and to avoid further exploitation of already vulnerable workers, the other group of activists was of the view that complaint should be made by the exploited worker itself, because ultimately the objective is to empower the worker to fight for his rights not just in respect of bonded labour, but also in respect of any kind of exploitation that he may face in the future. One of the activists also highlighted the fact that there are many instances where these workers even after succeeding in their struggle for freedom and successfully granted Release Certificate still go back to same touts and owners to work in same dingy conditions, suggesting thereby that what is required is not just eradication of bonded labour system and other forms of modern slavery, but also empowerment of most vulnerable group of the society to ensure overall development of the country and the workers themselves.
Many activists and advocates present in the workshop elaborated on the theme of prosecution of the culprits especially in cases of bonded labourers. Even though Bonded Labour Act is a code in itself, most advocates stressed on application of Indian Penal Code (sec 370) and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act (sec 3) as well. It is rather an undisputed fact that the workers almost always belong to SC/ST category and when the perpetrator is a person not belonging to these categories, it becomes almost always essential to include sec 3 of the SC/ST PoA Act in the chargesheet to ensure justice. The recently amended sec 3 of the Act, which deals with atrocities includes, inter alia, employment for any person belonging to SC/ST category for purpose of bonded labour, and the activists find it imperative to make proper use of the provision to ensure complete justice to these workers. Public Interest Litigation is another tool provided by the Judiciary to the society. While a PIL does not always guarantee implementation of rights, it is indeed one of the few measures to help eradicate exploitation of labourers.
Another major point of consideration was to find a way to fight against the Central Sector Scheme, an initiative by the Central Government aimed to rehabilitate bonded labourers. The scheme has one major discrepancy, that it links rehabilitation of workers with not only prosecution of the accused, but also their conviction, meaning thereby that till the time accused are not convicted of any offence, the rescued bonded labourers are not allowed any rehabilitation. The state of Indian Judiciary is such that the said scheme, even though aims to ensure complete justice both to the perpetrators and bonded labourers is in fact detrimental to the workers and defeats the purpose of safeguards provided not only various statutes, but also by the Constitution. The protest against the scheme is still ongoing, and although activists are trying to find a way, practically of the situation remains the same, and that is NHRC is not fastidious enough to cater to urgency of the situation.
The workshop in its totality aimed to sensitise the society towards labourers and to make every person in the country realise the fact that overall development of the country indeed lies with development of the weak and downtrodden. Article 21 talks about the right to life but as it has already been said time and again, right to life does not mean mere existence of a mortal, but it means a right to do or not do everything or anything that makes life worth living. Though there are activists and advocates working selflessly in the area, the need of the hour is to ultimately empower these vulnerable sects of the society so that they can fight for their own rights and contribute in the overall development of the country.
The aim was to look at the fight against bonded labour not only from a legal but also from a practical perspective. The Guest of Honour for the workshop, Shri Dialu Nial was a rescued bonded labourer himself and the horrifying incident shared by him and his advocate only makes us realise that even after 70 years of independence, the struggle for freedom is still on and worse, there is still a long way to go for every citizen of India to achieve complete independence. Dialu’s hands were chopped off on refusal to migrate for work. What makes the particular incidence inspiring and so different from other such incidences is that justice was served within 3 years of filing the case, one of the very few instances in Indian Legal History. The accused were awarded with imprisonment for life and because the case was of such an exceptional nature so as to invoke the sentiments of all of us, the Presiding Officer personally ensured speedy justice in the case. This achievement was possible only due to the undying spirit and never-back-down attitude of all the advocates and activists involved, but more than that, due to refusal of Dialu Nial to bow down to the perpetrators.
Analysing the position of existence of bonded labourers in the modern society, it was unfortunate to realise that there are more than 50 crore people in India are still living in conditions of what can be easily termed as modern slavery. It’s the bad fortune of the society we live in, that Article 23 of the Constitution of India, which expressly talks about prohibition of trafficking in human beings and bonded labour, is a fundamental right which exists only on paper and has failed to achieve its intended objective i.e. prevention of exploitation of the weak and vulnerable in its true spirit and practice.
One of the major problems faced by activists and advocates in eradication of bonded labour practices is of identification of the workers as bonded labourers. The authorities refuse to recognise the workers as bonded labourers citing the narrower interpretation of provisions of Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976, failing to realise that the objective of the Act as intended by the Legislature was not to just legislate on the issue, but to ensure that modern slavery does not in any form exists in our country. The struggle of any activist or a labourer himself is to convince the authorities that they are indeed bonded labourers living in pathetic conditions where even animals wouldn’t want to live.
Once the identification of these workers is done, another challenge is to encourage these workers to revolt against the touts and the owners so that they can obtain the freedom they rightfully deserve, and to do the task as discreetly as possible. Rescue of these workers is a task in itself, and the major challenge is to prevent any leakage of information to the touts and owners. Such leak of information results in further exploitation of these workers.
Given the state of Indian Judiciary, prosecution is as difficult as identification and rescue of the workers and drains out all the energy of not only the worker, but also activists and lawyers fighting for his rights. Interestingly however, there were two conflicting views given by activists relating to how to handle the prosecution of culprits, specifically with regards to who should be the complainant in the said case. While one group of activists stated that the NGO should become the complainant so as to remain involved at every stage of struggle for freedom of these workers and to avoid further exploitation of already vulnerable workers, the other group of activists was of the view that complaint should be made by the exploited worker itself, because ultimately the objective is to empower the worker to fight for his rights not just in respect of bonded labour, but also in respect of any kind of exploitation that he may face in the future. One of the activists also highlighted the fact that there are many instances where these workers even after succeeding in their struggle for freedom and successfully granted Release Certificate still go back to same touts and owners to work in same dingy conditions, suggesting thereby that what is required is not just eradication of bonded labour system and other forms of modern slavery, but also empowerment of most vulnerable group of the society to ensure overall development of the country and the workers themselves.
Many activists and advocates present in the workshop elaborated on the theme of prosecution of the culprits especially in cases of bonded labourers. Even though Bonded Labour Act is a code in itself, most advocates stressed on application of Indian Penal Code (sec 370) and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act (sec 3) as well. It is rather an undisputed fact that the workers almost always belong to SC/ST category and when the perpetrator is a person not belonging to these categories, it becomes almost always essential to include sec 3 of the SC/ST PoA Act in the chargesheet to ensure justice. The recently amended sec 3 of the Act, which deals with atrocities includes, inter alia, employment for any person belonging to SC/ST category for purpose of bonded labour, and the activists find it imperative to make proper use of the provision to ensure complete justice to these workers. Public Interest Litigation is another tool provided by the Judiciary to the society. While a PIL does not always guarantee implementation of rights, it is indeed one of the few measures to help eradicate exploitation of labourers.
Another major point of consideration was to find a way to fight against the Central Sector Scheme, an initiative by the Central Government aimed to rehabilitate bonded labourers. The scheme has one major discrepancy, that it links rehabilitation of workers with not only prosecution of the accused, but also their conviction, meaning thereby that till the time accused are not convicted of any offence, the rescued bonded labourers are not allowed any rehabilitation. The state of Indian Judiciary is such that the said scheme, even though aims to ensure complete justice both to the perpetrators and bonded labourers is in fact detrimental to the workers and defeats the purpose of safeguards provided not only various statutes, but also by the Constitution. The protest against the scheme is still ongoing, and although activists are trying to find a way, practically of the situation remains the same, and that is NHRC is not fastidious enough to cater to urgency of the situation.
The workshop in its totality aimed to sensitise the society towards labourers and to make every person in the country realise the fact that overall development of the country indeed lies with development of the weak and downtrodden. Article 21 talks about the right to life but as it has already been said time and again, right to life does not mean mere existence of a mortal, but it means a right to do or not do everything or anything that makes life worth living. Though there are activists and advocates working selflessly in the area, the need of the hour is to ultimately empower these vulnerable sects of the society so that they can fight for their own rights and contribute in the overall development of the country.
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