Criminology

Social Legislations and Crime

The Practice of Bonded Labour in India- The Law (Bonded Labour System Abolition
Act) and the Reality
Quadrant I: Description of the Module

Description of the Module

Subject Name: Criminology
Paper Name: Social Legislations and Crime
Module Name: The Practice of Bonded Labour in India- The Law (Bonded Labour
System Abolition Act) and the Reality
Module ID: 7
Pre- requisites: A general understanding of the system of bonded labour and the
Constitutional provisions and other legal provisions associated with it is
required for the proper appreciation of this module
Objectives: To acquaint students with the concept of bonded labour, its characteristics
and various forms

To inform them of the various legal provisions and enactments dealing with
bonded labour

To describe and examine the Bonded Labour Abolition Act with emphasis
on the various implementing mechanisms adopted under the enactment

To kindle an analytical approach to the present laws enabling students to

understand the pros and cons of the existing law.

Key Words: Bonded Labour, Debt, Creditor and Debtor, Caste and Class, Agricultural
and Informal sector, Vigilance Committees, District and Sub – Divisional
Magistrates

Quadrant II: E – Text

1. Introduction

The international community regards debt bondage or bonded labour, along with slavery and serfdom
as the various forms of unfree labour practices (International Labour Organization Slavery
Convention, 1926, The Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 1930(No:29), The
United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, Slave trade and Institutions
and Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956, The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No: 105)
and urges the world to make all possible efforts to contain it. India ratified Convention No: 29 on
November 30, 1954 and Convention No: 105 on May 18, 2000.

India has faced the problem of agricultural bondage for ages (Moreland W.H., 1920) in his book says
that forced labour in India dates back to a period much before Akbar) and still continues to do so (The
problem of forced agricultural labour in India post Independence has been highlighted by various
commissions, committees and surveys conducted by the Government of India). Several attempts have
been made to abolish bonded labour in India. Rulers of the Indian sub continent including Akbar and
Jahangir made several efforts to regulate and control bonded labour and slavery during their reign.
But the primary attempt to abolish bonded labour was made during the 19th century through the Anti –
Slavery Abolition Act 1833 making it illegal in the British Empire except for the possessions of the
East India Company. 1841 the Anti Slavery Report of 1841 was made by the British Government

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which led to the passing of the Anti – Slavery Act 1843. Though the legislations did not cover many
classes of labourers it is still credited for making a substantial impact on the lives of those in slavery.
With the onset of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 dealing or trading of slaves became a criminal offence.
But the most concrete attempt of all was made post Independence through the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act, 1976. The independent India sought to protect its workers from slavery and bonded
labour by providing express constitutional safeguard through Article 23 which prohibits trafficking in
human beings and ‘begar’ and other forms of forced labour making it a punishable offence. But the
onset of a primary law abolishing bonded labour happened in 1975 when the Bonded Labour System
Ordinance was passed which was replaced the following year by the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act, 1976.

2. The Practice of Bonded Labour in India

The practice of Bonded Labour in India can be stated as the necessary outcome of colonial past, social
(long standing caste and class discriminations, inequality, lack of access to education), cultural and
economic(persistent poverty among citizens) factors making it so intricately woven into the socio
economic culture of the country.
The earlier perception that bonded labour (The issue of 'bonded labour' came to the list of national priority
when it was included in the Twenty - Point Programme in 1975) is confined only to the agricultural sector
does not hold good today as in the last three decades, India has opened up to foreign corporations and
multinational investments thus becoming the resource ground for low wage - high profit for the global
economy (Prof. Srivastava R.S, 2005). The possibility of vigorous economic returns clearly lays down
the logic of bonded labour existing today and also provides the answer to why this system would to
subsist (Kara S., 2012 says that there are approximately 20.9 million bonded labourers in the world as
of 2012, out of this 11.5 to 11.7 million are in India).

Bonded Labour as defined under the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976 is a system of forced or
partly forced labour in pursuance of an agreement by the debtor with the creditor (Bonded Labour
(Abolition) Act, 1976, §2(g)):

i) For service without wages or with wages less than the market wage normally
paid for the same or similar labour in the locality
ii) Forfeiting the freedom of alternative livelihood for a specified or an
unspecified period
iii) Forfeiting the freedom to movement throughout the territory of India
iv) Forfeiting the right to appropriate or sell property or labour or outcome of the
product of labour at market value.

The said agreement is entered into for one or more of the following reasons:

a) As a consideration of an advance obtained by him or by any of his lineal ascendants or

descendants (whether or not such advance is evidenced by any document) and in
consideration of the interest, if any, due on such advance, or
b) As a customary or social obligation, or
c) As an obligation devolving on him by succession, or
d) As a consideration for any economic consideration received by him or by any of his
lineal ascendants or descendants, or
e) By reason of his birth in any particular caste or community.

The system of bonded labour as existing in India is of varied forms:

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 Bonded labour in rural
/urban unorganized
and informal sector

Bonded Labour in
agricultural fields and Child labour
plantations

Labour due to
existing BONDED Prostitution
traditional social
relations LABOUR

Fig: 1.1 depicts the various forms of bonded labour that exist in India. The labour due to existing
traditional and social relations refers to agricultural and household labour including manual
scavenging. The bonded labour in agricultural fields and plantations specifically refers to existence of
bonded labour in the agricultural fields. Bonded labour in unorganized and informal sector refers to
this form of labour being used not just as domestic help but also in multitudinal manufacturing
industries such as apparels, beedi rolling, brick kilns, building, carpet, gold and diamond jewellery
making, granite, sporting goods, restaurants and tea stalls to name a few.

2.1. Characteristics of the Bonded Labour System

Bonded labour in India is characterised by certain distinct and unique features:

i) It is a indicator of traditional social relations

A sketch of bonded labourers on the factor of caste indicates the system as a vestige of social relations
since the majority of the bonded labourers are either Dalits (Hanchinamani B., 2001) or Tribals (Prof.
Srivastava R.S., 2005) as compared to the members of the other social categories (Centre of Education
and Communication, 2001). So in pursuance of any customary or social obligation or by reason of being
born in any particular caste or community, a person may become a labour of service to the creditor for
a specified or unspecified period of time, either with or without wages or for nominal wages.

ii) Debt as a role player

The pivotal role player in bonded labour is played by debt as it facilitates the creditor/owner to keep
the debtors/workers in captivity. Since complete repayment of money borrowed to meet daily (For the
majority of rural population who earn a living through agriculture, finding a regular employment (due
to non payment of proper wages and drought) is impossible leading to critical poverty thus, making
them vulnerable to fall under the grip of the controlling rural elite) or exceptional emergency (Socio
Economic and Educational Development Society Report, 2010) expenses cannot always be
materialized, the debtor agrees to repay the debt through the labour of either himself or any of his
family members thus paving way for the enslavement to begin. A deeper understanding of the socio
economic realities of the rural India depict that the control over land and all its produce lies with the

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elite upper caste leaving minimal for the dregs. A member of the lower caste would have no
alternative than working for the controlling elite (Malik) leaving it quite natural for them to incur
debts (Kamiauti).

When a person incurs a debt, he need not always end up being a bonded labourer, instead he would
mortgage the labour any or all of his family members in lieu of the incurred debt. Also more than one
member of the family could incur debts from the same creditor thus leading to the entire family
working for him. This may run for generations together and become an inherited family debt.
Inevitably such a phenomenon leads to child labour or prostitution too. For instance, the Chukri
System of West Bengal (International Labour Office, 2005) where the woman of the family is forced
into illegal flesh trade in order to pay off the debts she incurred. She works without pay for a year or
for a more longer period without pay till the debt to the brothel owner (money given to meet the
expenses of food, apparel, make up amongst others), in other words remains enslaved to her creditor
(Swaminathan P., 2012).

iii) Livelihood

The primary effect of debt bondage is the complete inability of the worker to amass minimum capital.
Due to the unsettled debt his negotiating power is almost nonexistent and the remuneration that he
receives remains bare minimum which would lead him to be completely ensnared in the vicious circle
over a period of time. Working times, freedom of movement as well as work atmosphere and
conditions would become extremely taxing leaving him and his family completely hapless with no
hope of freedom (Bardhan P.K., 1983).

One would at the juncture understand that the distinction between bonded labour and forced labour is
inversely proportional to the debt amount and becomes blurred with the farcical increase of the debt
amount.

1. Absence of regular
means of livelihood to 1. Inability to amass
Incurrance of Debt

1. Existing caste
Traditional Social

discrimination in the meet regular expenses minimum capital

Livelihood

society - being born as 2. Emergency expenses

relations

2. Non - existant
Dalit or Tribal such as marriage or negotiating power
2. Existing class child birth
3. Working conditions,
discrimination - being 3. More than one atmosphere and hours
born into the lower class family member become very taxing
incurring debt leading
to inherited family debt
often resulting in child
labour

Fig: 2.1 highlights the characteristics of bonded labour

3. The Law (Bonded Labour System) Abolition Act, 1976

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The governing law on Bonded Labour is the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976 which is a
comprehensive enactment that defines (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §2(g)) and abolishes
(Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §4(1)) the bonded labour system.

The prominent features of this legislation are:

i) It recognises the overlapping nature of forced labour and bonded labour in

customary relationships and the materialization of this inter relationship in contract labour and inter –
state migration and further makes it illegal (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, Explanation to §
2(g).
ii) It holds all past and present agreements and customs of bonded labour void
(Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §5) thus relieving every bonded labour of the present or future
liability of bond debt reimbursement from the date of commencement of the legislation.
iii) It penalises (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, Chapter VI) any advance
made in pursuance of bonded labour or compulsion of any person for bonded labour after its
commencement. The punishment for such conduct is imprisonment not exceeding three years and
with fine up to two thousand rupees (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §§16 & 17).
iv) It provides that all attachments made before the commencement of the
legislation for the recovery of any bonded debt either by means of a decree or by force stands void
and that all property ((Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §6(4)) so gained stands free of all
encumbrances and be restored to its rightful owner within thirty days from the commencement of the
enactment (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §§6(6)&7). The penalty for omission or failure to
comply with this mandate is also expressly provided (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §19).
v) It expressly bars all legal proceedings for recovery of bonded debt (Bonded
Labour Abolition Act 1976, §6(2)).
vi) It provides protection to the bonded labourers from being evicted from the
land on which they were residing as part of the consideration of bonded labour before the
commencement of the Act (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §20).
vii) It provides for corporate liability aside of individual criminal liability if
bonded labour is used for the conduct of business (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §23).
viii) It lays down detailed provisions providing for the machinery for
implementation of the legislation along with its functions and powers (Bonded Labour Abolition Act
1976, Chapter IV). It vests the implementation of the legislation with the State Government and
specifically authorises the District or Sub – Divisional Magistrates with necessary power and
authority to carry out this duty.
ix) It provides for summary trial (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §21(2))
procedure method to be followed by Executive Magistrate who shall be vested with the powers of
Judicial First Class or Second Class Magistrate (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §21(1)) and lays
down that all offences under the Act shall be cognizable and bailable (Bonded Labour Abolition Act
1976, §22).
x) It imposes a duty on all State Governments to constitute Vigilance
Committees in each District and Sub Division. The enactment specifically lays down the constitution
of the Committee and provided it with the power to regulate its own procedure (Bonded Labour
Abolition Act 1976, Chapter V). It symbolises the Vigilance Committees at the State and District
level as the main instrumentality of enforcement besides District and Sub Divisional Magistrates
(Tehsildar). The functions of the Vigilance Committees are to facilitate the timely detection of fresh cases of
bondage; to monitor the timely release of identified bonded labourers; to ensure effective economic and social
rehabilitation of released bonded labourers by ensuring effective monitoring at different stages of the process

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and to co – ordinate mass awareness programs regarding the Act and various schemes of rehabilitation using
variety of methods and media.

3.1 Implementation mechanisms under the Act

The Act has brought in two authorities vested with the power to carry out its objectives; the District
Magistrate and the Vigilance Committee.

The District Magistrate (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §10) is the primary implementing
authority under the enactment expected to take a pro active role in eradication of bonded labour. He or
the subordinate to whom the powers are delegated by him is to make a very judicious and diligent
exercise of powers in ensuring release (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §12) and rehabilitation of
identified bonded labourers within his local jurisdiction. Further more such officer should formulate
policies securing and protecting the economic interests (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §11) and
welfare of the rescued bonded labourers.

The Vigilance Committee as incorporated under the legislation has to be constituted in every District
and Sub Divisions required by the State Government (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §13(2) &
(3)). The Committee plays a pivotal role by (i) advising the District Magistrate in the proper
implementation of the Act, (ii) providing economic and social rehabilitation to the rescued bonded
labourers (iii) coordinating the rural banks and co operative societies in the economic rehabilitation of
the rescued bonded labourers (iv) keeping vigil against the occurrence of any offence as well as
maintaining the record of offences made under this enactment and (v) acting as agents of the rescued
bonded labourer and assisting him in any related legal suits.

In short, on being rescued, the district magistrate must issue a release certificate to each victim,
cancelling all their debts and obligations, giving them a legal identity as released bonded labourers,
entitling them to a number of rehabilitative measures, and paving the way for penal action against
perpetrators.

3.2 Bonded Labour Rehabilitation Schemes

To facilitate the State Governments in ensuring complete rehabilitation of released bonded labourers,
the Ministry of Labour commenced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1978 by which the labourers
were to given an amount of ten thousand rupees per labourer as part of their rehabilitation process.
This scheme has undergone considerable changes over a period of time and the amount has been
raised to twenty thousand rupees per labourer effective from May, 2000 (Planning Commission (PC)
Eleventh Fifth Year Plan (2007 – 2012), New Delhi, National Commissions of Labour (NCL) Report
2002. In 2016, the Central Government has revised the scheme and increased the amount in the
rehabilitation package to Rs.1.00.000/- per adult male (Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of
Bonded Labourers, 2016). In cases of bonded or forced labour involving extreme cases of deprivation
or marginalization such as trans-genders, or women or children rescued from ostensible sexual
exploitation such as brothels, massage parlours, placement agencies etc., or trafficking, or in cases of
differently abled persons, or in situations where the District Magistrate deems fit, the rehabilitation
assistance shall be rupees 3 lakhs, out of which at least rupees 2 lakhs shall be deposited in an annuity
scheme in the name of each beneficiary and rupees 1 lakh shall be transferred to the beneficiary
account through employment compensation scheme. In addition, there are provisions for allotment of
house-site and agricultural land, low cost dwelling units, animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, piggery etc
and wage employment, enforcement of minimum wages.

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 4. The Reality
The Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976is undoubtedly a very comprehensive law as it provides for
freedom of bonded labourers, re empower them and at the same time provides for prosecution of
offenders. As much promising and effective the Act appears to be, the reality does not shine bright.
The inevitable question which necessarily arises at this point is whether India still continues to have
bonded labour? And if so, does that mean that eradication of bonded labour would continue to remain
an impossible distant dream?

On a general note, this celebrated legislation has created a framework for elimination of bonded
labour, but the Supreme Court of India (Bandhua Mukti Morcha v Union of India, 1984, Neerja
Chaudhary v State of Madhya Pradesh, 1984, P. Sivaswamy v State of Andhra Pradesh, 1988, T.
Chakkalackal v State of Bihar and Ors, 1993, People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Ors v State of
Tamil Nadu and Ors 1994(interim order),2004 & 2013 and the National Human Rights
Commission (National Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 1999 – 2000) have time and again
stated clearly that the implementation of this legislation by the States has been unsuccessful.

1. Non recognition of newer forms of bonded labour

The Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976 including its amendment in 1985 stills covers the
traditional forms of bonded labour existing in the feudal agricultural system of India thus remaining
far from reality. India now has evolved “neo-bondage” mechanisms which have been devised so as
to remain outside the ambit of the Act. Neo bondage mechanism or attached labour has stark
differences as compared to traditional bondage mechanisms such as its time bound nature and absence
of coercion (Breman J., 2007). The attached labour system is based on a contract that is concluded
through a mutual intermediary. It provides mutual benefit of the employer and the labourer unlike the
bonded labour which was focused only on benefit of the employer. Moreover, it is time bound and the
labourer is free to work elsewhere after giving due priority to his present employer and the wages are
at par with the prevalent wages for the same category of work in the area. There is wage advance
which ensures income security and is not considered as a debt as the labourer is not ready to work
until he is paid an advance. Thus in these cases neither party treats the labour done as bonded and
remains complacent with the conditions.

2. Non availability of definitive figure of bonded labourers

The main impediments to the successful implementation of the legislation are then on availability of
definitive figure of bonded labourers and non co-operation on the part of State Governments. It is
quite shocking to realize that most of the states in India have absolutely denied the existence of
bonded labour within its jurisdiction (Ministry of Labour and Employment Report, 2012-2017, Lal
Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Study Report on Bonded Labour, 1990).The
necessary consequence of this is the non - conducting of periodic surveys. This has made it impossible
to arrive at a definitive figure and thus understand the magnitude of the situation. The first alternative
national level survey was carried out by the Gandhi Peace Foundation in association with the V.V.Giri
National Institute in 1978-79 and has been criticized for the non scientific methodology adopted as a
result of which its findings were not acceptable to the Government. The states which acknowledged
the presence of bonded labour showed initial enthusiasm in identification of bonded labourers which,
slowed down over a period of time and the net result is that the available figure relates to one time
effort only (Ministry of Labour Report, 1979).

3. Judicial Intervention

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Despite the intervention by judiciary the State governments have exhibited a severe absence of will in
complying with the requirements of the Act. The Supreme Court had entrusted the National Human
Rights Commission the responsibility to monitor the implementation of the Act vide order dated
11.05.1997 in pursuance of which an Expert Group was constituted by the NHRC which submitted
the Action Taken Report to the Supreme Court on 06.06.2001. Following this, the apex court in
(PUCL v State of Tamil Nadu and Ors 2004) gave express direction that all states and union territories
should submit the NHRC prescribed status report on bonded labour within six months. The submitted
reports by States were hardly unsatisfactory and had to be returned for clarification and additional
information. The National Human Rights Commission has time and again clarified that the approach
of the states towards implementation of the legislation remains hardly satisfactory. It clearly states
that despite financial assistance of an amount of two lacs per district every three years to conduct
surveys, it has been done only in few selected areas of states which have actually conducted the
survey. Moreover there have been cases where the reported cases of bonded labour have been dropped
by the district state officials without proper reasons (Public Union for Civil Liberties and Ors v State
of Tamil Nadu and Ors 2013). This leads to the question of accountability of State and its officials for
the grave dereliction of their duties under the Act which unfortunately has not addressed anywhere.

4. Non – functioning of the Implementing authorities

The Vigilance Committee and District and Sub Divisional Magistrates are the main enforcement
bodies under the legislation and their non functioning forms one of the major reasons for the failure of
the Act.

Vigilance Committees as stipulated in the Act have not either been constituted for all the districts and
sub divisions in the country (Special Correspondent, 2013, Chandran R, 2014, Ranai Y, 2014), or
even if they are, data regarding its functioning is not maintained by the government (ILO, 2016). It
would have been nothing but sensible for the states which denied the presence of bonded labourers to
constitute the Vigilance Committees at the district and sub-divisional levels to act as a deterrent for
the occurrence of the system as well as to sensitize people of the Act. The ones which have been
constituted fail to make an impact due to multiple reasons, the major one being the non conducting of
regular meetings where the Vigilance Committees were constituted. After the initial identification,
fresh identification of bonded labourers has almost stopped thus making the Vigilance Committees
nearly redundant. As a matter of fact, social activists and Non Governmental Organizations working
in the field hardly get featured in the Committee (NHRC, 2016). Above all, since the existence of the
Committee is almost invisible, there is hardly any official means to ensure that the rescued bonded
labourers have received their rehabilitation amount from the Government. Due to the non functioning
of Vigilance Committees, sensitization of the common man regarding the Act and the remedial
mechanisms under it hardly takes place. This results in the enactment moving away from its intended
beneficiaries thus ensuring the success of the legislation questionable.

Moreover, as part of decentralization, certain states have delegated the functions of Sub Divisional
Magistrates have been delegated to the Gram Sabha authorities (Patwari) who hardly raise up to the
expectations (NHRC, 2016).Under these circumstances, occurrence of red tapism is nothing but
predestined evil which was bound to occur. The cavalier approach of the state governments gets
reflected even in this matter.

5. Absence of stringent penal sanctions in the Act

The laws have hardly been implemented effectively and the punishments prescribed under the Act are
hardly punitive. The maximum punishment prescribed is imprisonment up to three years and fine of

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two thousand rupees (Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976, §§9(2), 16, 17 and 18). The economic fine
that has to be imposed on the perpetrators is fairly meagre when compared to the profit that is made
out of bonded labour thus promoting people to get involved in the business of bonded labour.

The number of cases registered under the Act is 92 during 2015 out of which the cases from the states
of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu put together constitute fifty percent (National Crime Records
Bureau, 2015). The rate of disposal and pendency of cases by police (National Crime Records Bureau,
2015 p.91) and courts (National Crime Records Bureau, 2015 p.95) does not give a very promising
picture, which obviously leads to the conclusion towards the implementation of this enactment. In the
legal parlance, the prosecution of offenders should go parallel with the identification of bonded
labourers though in reality prosecutions seem to be quite rare. It was observed that the State
governments as well as the statutory authorities seemed to be more interested in securing the release
and rehabilitation of bonded labourers than the prosecution of the perpetrators. The authorities either
go soft on the perpetrators or are not interested in invoking the penal provisions under the Act
(Ministry of Labour, 2014).

6. Lack of awareness amongst the general civil society

The lack of awareness about this social evil amongst the civil society is indeed a cancerous limb
which needs to be addressed immediately. The absence of sensitization results in the society not
understanding the gravity of the problem which further leads them to believe that bonded labour is
much better an alternative than destitution or starvation. Such a belief basically depicts the failure of
the society to eradicate and uproot this evil. The Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded
Labourers, 2016 is hardly known to the rescued victims as well as to the general civil society.

5. Conclusion

Over the last few decades the entire world has been open to globalization and liberalization and
become economically empowered. India as an emerging global power also paces forward in its
economic growth in the hope of gaining recognition amongst the global powerful. In this journey, it is
still facing stumbling blocks in the social and economic problems such as bonded labour which the
authorities choose to cover rather than tackle. The much acclaimed transformation that the country has
made has failed to promote changes in this matter.

Bonded labour has sustained all these changes undergone by the country because of its hierarchical
division of the social system coupled with persistent poverty which has consciously or unconsciously
made the people of India remain attuned to this evil without questioning it. In addition to this, the
shameful active or passive connivance of the implementing authorities and the Governments has led
to the failure of the legislation enacted to address the problem.

Thus it may safely be said the short term dream of eradicating the evil of bonded labour is indeed
distant. India as an emerging global power must not be forgetful of the fact that as long as the most
vulnerable population is permitted to be severely and fiercely exploited economically; she will be
deficient of the moral authority to act on the global front.

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