Bonded labour in Belagavi flourishing

A fact-finding team of rights organisations visited Nippani and Ramdurg taluks of Belagavi in January to meet workers. The team also spoke to the Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi, Deputy Labour Commissioner of Belagavi, the Child Welfare Committee and the District Legal Services Authority.

On speaking to the workers, it was found that the labourers belong to the Adivasi community of Madhya Pradesh. They were brought to Belagavi by contractors on payment of advance of Rs. 20,000/- per labourer. In respect to the group this team spoke to, the said advance was paid to 20 workers, of whom nine are minors.

The workers stated that prior to being brought to Belagavi, the labourers were not informed of the rate of wages to be paid to them, details of repayment or information of interest accruing to the advance given to them. Upon their arrival at Belagavi, the labourers were made to live in tarpaulin shacks around the fields they harvested.

The labourers worked daily for almost 15 hours a day, harvesting sugarcane and loading the daily harvest onto the tractors, and were not paid at all by the contractor, but were paid small sums of Rs. 25-30 per person by the farmers on whose lands they worked, as tips.

After working for 2 1⁄2 months without pay, they enquired with their contractor about their wages, but were informed that they were still under the debt of Rs. 2 lakhs and that they could leave only after clearing this debt.

This is clearly a ‘bonded debt’ as defined under the Bonded Labour Systems (Abolition) Act, 1976. Shockingly, the Tehsildar of each taluk undertook spot enquiries with members of the labour and police departments and panchayat officials and gave reports that there was no bonded labour or child labour, on the grounds that the labourers were not physically restrained. On the basis of this, the Deputy Commissioner has issued a letter to the team stating that there was no forced labour or child labour. The denial, time and again by various state authorities and the district administration including the DC and the Magistrates of any occurance of the violation of the rights of adivasi migrant workers and children and their denial to initiate proceedings against the accused according to the provisions of the law, coupled with the indifference and insensitivity that various officials displayed towards the grave violations of the rights of one of the most marginalised communities makes it evident the the district administration was attempting to sweep the issue under the carpet. Finally, on 05.02.2022, an FIR bearing No. 18/2022 was lodged by the Sadalaga Police station under Sections 16 and 17 of the Bonded Labour Systems (Abolition) Act, 1976.

The Deputy Labour Commissioner (Belagavi) has also treated the complaint of the workers in respect of nonpayment of due amounts as a complaint under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and the case is currently pending. The team found numerous constitutional and statutory violations by the administration, including violations of Article 23 of the Constitution of India which prohibits begar and other.

forms of forced labour. The team came to the conclusion that the workers were Bonded labourers as defined in the Bonded Labour System (Prohibition) Act, 1976, and were required to be provided relief and rehabilitation in accordance with the said Act. It was found that the workers were entitled under the Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour 2016, to a rehabilitation package of Rs. 1 lakh per adult male bonded labourer and Rs. 2 lakh per woman or child bonded labourers. It was found that the DC has failed in his duty to enquire whether any bonded labour is being enforced within his jurisdiction and take necessary action to eradicate this enforcemen Moreover, his action in finding that no forced labour was in practice without speaking to the workers is in violation of the Standard Operating Procedure for the Identification and Rescue of Bonded Labourers and Prosecution of Offender, 2017.

His actions are also in contravention of the NHRC Advisories dated 31/05/2021 and 08/12/2021 to Identify, Release and Rehabilitate Bonded Labourers The team also found that child labour had taken place, prohibited under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, on the basis of the statements of the workers. In fact, the admission of the contractor that 20 people had been paid advances makes it evident that apart from the 11 adults, all 9 children were also employed, in violation of the 1986 Act. In fact, even the Child Welfare Committee affirmed that the statements of the children made out a violation of the Act The team found that the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 had been flouted, and calculated that the statutory dues of each worker