Bhubaneswar: A two-day State Level Consultation on Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour was organised by Migration Information & Resource Centre (MiRC), Aide et Action South Asia, on 6th-7th November, 2013 at Bhubaneswar, to deliberate on the issue of debt bondage and comprehensive rehabilitation of released bonded labourers in reference to the Bonded Labour Abolition Act of 1976. The participants for the inaugural session were:
- Shri A.V. Swamy, Honorable Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Chief Guest for the event
- Justice B.K. Mishra, Member, State Human Rights Commission, Odisha
- Mr. Shantanu Dutta, Director National Advocacy, IJM, New Delhi
- Shri A.K. Parasahr, Joint Registar, Law & Focal point for Human Rights Defender, NHRC, New Delhi
- Smt. Shanti Guru, Bonded Labour Representative
- Shri Pitambar Adbank, Bonded Labour Representative
- Mr. Umi Daniel, Regional Head, MiRC, Aide et Action South Asia
Mr. Umi Daniel welcomed and addressed the guests and participants to the event. In the inaugural session, he put forwarded an overview of the situation of bonded labourers in India, particularly in Odisha. According to him out of 10 bonded labourers, almost 8 are from Odisha who are working in the brick kilns of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala etc. as bonded labour.
Next Smt. Shanti Guru shared her experience as a bonded labour. She said that while working as a labour in a brick kiln in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, she was beaten up by the owner of the brick kiln. No work and food was provided to her and to her family. Sharing her heart rending experience, she said that no wages were paid to her for her work. After being released from the brick kiln, she returned to Odisha. As she was left jobless, she went to the BDO office seven times and only then was given a job card. But till date no job has been provided to her. She had even asked for a house as she had no roof to live under, but her voices were unheard. Hearing her terrible experience, Justice B.K. Mishra, asked to record her statement and take her case further to RDC, Sambalpur.
Further Shri Pitambar Adbank, another bonded labour representative shared his experience as a bonded labour. He had migrated with a hope to work for six months but had to return after working for only two months as the experience he had while working as a labour at the worksites was horrifying. He added that while he was at the worksite, he was not provided food and also his son was not given any medical facilities when he fell ill. The owner paid him only Rs. 300 a week. His His son was tortured by the owner, who not just cut his son’s tongue but also slit his throat and killed him. After the incident, Pitambar went to the police station but the administration refused to file a FIR against the owner. This incident forced him to leave the worksite and he returned back to his village in Odisha.
The session was proceeded further by Justice B.K. Mishra. He suggested Mr. Umi Daniel to organize a similar kind of workshop in the districts of Bolangir, Kalahandi,Nuapada etc. where the bonded labour system is more prevalent so that it could have a bigger impact. According to him, even after 66 years of Independence, the system of bondage continues unabated in many parts of India. “It is because of the mindset of the people that despite having so many laws and policies, these are not implemented properly and people who require the benefits of it remain helpless. Though 66 years have passed by and nothing was done in the past, but the time has not yet gone. We can still try to reduce the system of bondage by working actively towards the proper rehabilitation of bonded labourers”, added Justice B.K. Mishra. He also praised social activist Shri A.V. Swamy for his efforts to get these bonded labourers voices heard. He praised him for his Gandhian ideology.
All the guests released a document on “Debt Migrant labour, Bondage and Rehabilitation- A civil society initiative to facilitate government rehabilitation of released bonded labour in Odisha.” The learning document is a Migrant Bonded Labour Initiative by MiRC, Aide Et Action South Asia.
Shri Shantanu Dutta, IJM, came forward and shared about his organisation’s works. According to him, they are a campaign named Bandhua 1947 that is working closely with the Central Government, NHRC, the Ministry of Labour, so that they are able to bring better understanding of the Bonded Labour Act. IJM has also been trying to abolish the neo bondage system that prevails in the society.
Mr. A.K. Parasahr, NHRC, further gave his inputs. He addressed the participants saying that even though many seminars and events have been organized to highlight the issue of bonded labour, the issue still remains unheard. No active action is being taken by the government in identifying and rehabilitating the bonded labourers. All the bonded labourers released were given released certificates but further no action has been taken to rehabilitate them. There are still cases of bonded labour where they are yet to receive government rehabilitation assistance.
He also talked about his surprise visit to one of Manipur’s hospital. On his visit, he found only two doctors on duty. There were no ambulance and the medicines available for the patients have already met there expiry dates. He further added that no jobs and wages are given completely to the bonded labourers. If this system starts functioning properly, the system of bonded labour can be reduced to some extent. According to him, sensitization is required. Sharing of knowledge, laws and orders of honorable Supreme Court should reach the people in a proper way. He added that the materials published by NHRC are written in English which creates a communication barrier. Information is unable to reach the people due to language barrier. To solve the issue, NHRC is trying to translate the materials in regional languages and distribute the same to different stakeholders. He assured that the decisions taken in this workshop will be taken proper care of by NHRC.
Shri A.V. Swamy, Honorable Member of Parliament, addressed the people next. He said that no rehabilitation has been done by the government in Odisha. At some place an amount of Rs. 2,000 only was given to the bonded labourers as part of their rehabilitation assistance. No property, no entitlements are being accessed by these labourers. According to him, organizations need to be set up for the poor who can cater to the needs and can deal with issues of poor and the neglected. Block, State and Village level organisations need to be set up which can deal with the issues of bonded labour. He assured that he would raise the issue of bonded labour in the house of Parliament, put forward to the members of the house all the facts and data related to the issue.
In the next session, an open house discussion was conducted where bonded labourers who participated in the event shared their views and opinions.
Also in one of its session, the issues, concerns and struggles of the bonded labourers were shared and discussed by Bonded Labour Representatives from Bolangir, Nuapada, Sonepur & Nabarangpur.
Further, Representative of Action Aid shared the situation of bondage among migrants In Odisha. Sri Baghambar Patnaik from Goti Mukti Abhijan addressed the participants on hereditary bondage issue. A small presentation was also presented by Mr. Saroj Barik, MiRC, Aide et Action, on the status of migrant bonded labour in Odisha.
Background on the issue of bonded labour in Odisha
After the promulgation of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976, both the State and the Central Government has devised various mechanisms to identify, rescue and provide rehabilitation to the bonded labourers. As per the information from the government of India, till 2004 in India, 2,85,379 bonded labourers were identified and released out of which 2,65,417 bonded labourers have been provided rehabilitation assistance. In case of Odisha, 50,010 bonded labourers were identified and released and only 46,882 bonded labourers have been rehabilitated so far. Also in Odisha, there were 3128 labourers who were identified and released but are yet to get the government rehabilitation support.
Majority of the bonded labourers rescued and repatriated by the respective state governments to Odisha are from KBK+ districts of Odisha who had been working as debt bonded labour in brick kilns located mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The district of Bolangir is having 562 released bonded labourers, followed by Nuapada which has 195, Bargarh- 228, Sonepur- 53, Nabarangpur- 33 and Rayagada-13. Out of the released bonded labourers 781 are yet to access the government rehabilitation support. These bonded labourers are mainly from tribal, dalit and backward communities who have worked as inter-state migrant workers along with their families.
MiRC has been following up the rehabilitation of the released migrant bonded labourers in seven districts of Odisha with a network of 11 NGOs as part of its mobilization and sensitization. It has helped the bonded labourers to connect with government rehabilitation entitlements.
Bandhua 1947 