Govt sit pretty while bonded thousands labour under exploitation

The plight of the nearly 25,000 bonded labourers identified in a Supreme Court-directed survey in Tamil Nadu six months ago is much worse now, a people's court -- comprising eminent jurists, social workers and lawyers -- has found.

In its report, the court said the labourers were either not being paid wages or beaten up and subjected to torture by their employers for volunteering information about their bondage.

It said, despite Supreme Court orders and state government reminders, only less than 100 of those identified have been released from bondage so far.

The district authorities have been non-cooperative in getting the labourers released, the report stated.

The people's court is headed by Legal Aid Board chairman Justice Krishnaswamy Reddy. It comprises two serving Indian Administrative Service officers, Supreme Court commissioner Dr Felix Sugirtharaj, Madras University law department head Professor Balu, cricketer Krishnamachari Srikanth, Father Thomas Joseph, actress Revathi, writer Sivasankari and social activist Chandra Thanikachalam.

The apex court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to undertake a survey of bonded labourers in the state, and appointed two commissioners -- Siraj Sait and Dr Sugirtharaj -- for the purpose.

Some members of the voluntary organisations deployed to undertake the survey were beaten up. In fact, said Sait, the commissioners themselves were threatened.

On July 7, over 100 workers had appeared before the jury at considerable risk to their safety and present their cases. The jury also heard about 50 voluntary organisations working in the field. Those who volunteered information during the survey and also during the public hearing are now living in fear, Justice Reddy said.

From their study, the jury has concluded it is the inadequacy of the rural credit system, illiteracy, poverty and unemployment that has made the society vulnerable to the evil.

The court observed that while it was not possible for it to confirm whether bonded labourers in Tamil Nadu really did run into nearly a million (as was believed), it certainly appeared the evil was widespread and required urgent attention.

The bonded labourers, it pointed out, were victims of extreme exploitation, made to work long hours without break, in unsafe and hazardous conditions, without even the bare minimum of facilities. They were often exposed to an atmosphere of violence, harassment and intimidation.

While about 60 per cent of the bonded labourers were men, the rest were women and children. Women in many cases refused to acknowledge their bondage for fear of reprisals, jury members noted.

Though the practice was punishable under the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976, the government has not yet prosecuted any one. Worse, the district administration was colluding with the offenders, jury members said.

Over the years, more than 25,000 Tamil Nadu labourers, held in bondage in other states, had either escaped or were rescued and rehabilitated by the government.

UNI