Bonded Slavery In Plain Sight: Exposing India’s Feudal Past

It should shock the conscience of the country that modern-day slavery in the form of bonded labour continues to exist in different states, a full 50 years after the passing of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. The report from Mandi in the Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, of a group of workers kept captive, beaten, branded with rods, fed rotis made of animal feed and terrorised using attack dogs in an industrial unit is nothing short of an indictment of the official machinery that is entrusted with the protection of fundamental rights. Only the credulous can accept the explanation that it took the escape of one worker to expose the horror when it is clear that the owners of the unit were regularly staking out railway stations, bus termini, and crowded places to recruit desperate people who were then made to slave indefinitely. A charge of murder of workers too has been made. The entire intelligence machinery in UP needs a massive overhaul since it has no inkling of the goings-on in public locations, a potential boon to trouble makers of every hue. By acknowledging their ignorance, the UP police also confirm that no other agency, starting with the Labour Department, performed routine inspections. Bonded labour is defined in the law as a person rendering labour or service, or forced labour or service, forfeiting the right to free movement and wages due to economic, caste or customary considerations. Over the past few years, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and even a better-performing Tamil Nadu spent large amounts to rehabilitate bonded labour. Other states may not be reporting it adequately. Tribal bonded labourers in Mysuru and 400 workers in Telangana brick kilns were rescued in recent weeks.

The Muzaffarnagar case underscores the sad reality of economic deprivation for a large number of people and the danger of propagandist narratives of progress that invisibilise suffering. Why do states continue to report bonded labour when the 1976 law prescribes institutional remedial systems and punishments? District and sub-divisional vigilance committees to monitor the enforcement of the Act are mandatory. The district magistrate is tasked with the implementation, and all offences are cognisable. Evidently, the system is failing miserably in some states that discover scores of bonded labourers every year because the preventive machinery is missing in action. Immediate financial assistance of Rs 30,000 for each case of rehabilitation and further assistance of up to Rs 3 lakh, based on the level of bondage and suffering, is also provided for by the law. The Yogi Adityanath government must ensure that the rule of law prevails and these funds are available to the victims immediately, in addition to compensation for torture and detention. Modern-day slavery exposes the ugliness of official apathy to a vestige of India’s feudal past and the hollowness of claims to better governance.