Bonded Labour

Bonded labour is a modern day form of slavery which is being practiced across India and Punjab’s many labour intensive industries. The ILO estimates that 11.7 million people are in forced labour across the Asia-Pacific region, of whom the majority are in debt bondage. As it is widespread and badly monitored, it is very difficult to know just how many people in India are in debt bondage. We estimate that in Punjab alone, there are some 500,000 bonded labourers!

The root causes of bonded labour are complex and are shifting as India’s economy and society develops and changes. Systemic social and economic issues such as caste discrimination, landlessness and homelessness, worker poverty and vulnerability, employee and agent exploitation, and ineffective governance, all contribute to the prevalence of the debt bondage system across India and Punjab.

Slavery and forced labour have been outlawed by the international community and the Indian government, yet bonded labour continues to prevail. Two International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions, No. 29 and No. 105 - which India have ratified – prohibit the use of such labour, whilst Article 4 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights prohibits “forced labour”.

The Indian Government has also attempted to extinguish bonded labour in 1976 with passing of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. However, not helped by the State Government of Punjab denying the existence of bonded labour within its territory, there is very little help from authorities charged with abolishing it. Thus, despite all these provisions and assurances, the problem of Bonded Labour in India, and Punjab, still exists.

Those who get into debt bondage often do so because of their desperate financial state and their need for stable employment. They will be offered a monetary advance by an employer or agent working on behalf of the employer and will then be trapped into working for that employer until the debt is paid off. They are then forced to work for long hours in poor conditions receiving little and barely getting paid enough to meet their subsistence needs. Often families will be forced to work in a bid to pay off the debt – forcing children out of school and condemning the family to future economic vulnerability.