The Bengal famine was caused in 1943 due to a crisis in availability of food grains on account of ban on

import of rice during the Second World War and lack of serious efforts on the part of the state to
distribute rice.
Over millions perished while 420,000 acres of land reached the hands of those who had nothing to do
with farming.
The publication estimates that there were three million bonded labourers in 1931 out of which over one
million alone were working as plantation labour.

The history of initiatives and efforts made both internationally and nationally for abolition of slavery and
slave trade is traced. Notable among them are (a) Abolition of Slavery Convention No. 1926, (b) drawing
up of
ILO’s Constitution (1919) and Philadelphia Declaration (1944), (c) ILO’s Forced Labour Convention No. 29
of 1930,
(d) ILO’s Abolition of Forced Labour Convention No. 105 of 1957, (e) Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of(f) European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, 1950,
(g) Art.
23(1) of Constitution of India, and (h) Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution.
The article then deals with the concept, definition, causes and factors contributing to the phenomenon
of
debt bondage. The consequence of debt bondage is forfeiture of freedom, opportunities of
employment, the right
to move freely and/or the right to appropriate or sell at market value property or products of labour.
Another impact
of this exploitation is on his health, psyche and totality of development.

Under Article 23 of the Indian Constitution, human trafficking and forced labour have
been explicitly prohibited. Further, Article 21 secures the rights to life and to personal
liberty.
Apart from these constitutional provisions, specific consonant legislation has also been
enacted to prohibit bonded labour. The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 establishes a
minimum wage for specific defined occupations and mandates that anyone working
over the ‘normal working day’ be paid overtime. Similarly, the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act 1976 stipulates a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine
of Rs. 2,000 for those who force someone to perform bonded labour and those who
advance the bonded debt. Section 374 of the Indian Penal Code also recognises the
crime of unlawful compulsory labour and punishes it with a sentence of imprisonment
up to one year, a fine, or both.
Other statutes also deal with the subject at hand, such as the Inter-State Migrant
Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 and the
Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.

India, bonded labour results from poverty, social marginalisation, and the
government’s unwillingness to address the practise and its underlying causes.
Moreover, the tendency of reducing labour protection in the face of globalisation has
increased governments’ unwillingness to act proactively against bonded labour in
recent years. As a result, protections are weakened, giving unscrupulous employers
more opportunities to restrict and remove poor workers’ freedom through debt,
surveillance, and threats.
In addition, a glance at the total budget and expenditure for rehabilitation of bonded
labour points towards the government’s lack of seriousness towards this issue. While
the overall funds released for bonded labour rehabilitation were Rs. 664.5 lakh in 2017-
18, they dramatically decreased by 61% the following year to Rs. 253.3 lakh.
Surprisingly, the Ministry of Labour and Employment spent not a single rupee on their
rehabilitation in 2019-2020.
Such data raises concerns regarding not just the plight of such labourers in our
country, but also the willingness of the government to protect and aid them.
Labour laws, which have emerged out of a long period of struggle, aim to ensure power
parity between employers and employees. While the shape and form of such laws have
changed over time, the central idea has remained the same, which is, in Dr B.R.
Ambedkar’s words, to ensure the “rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”

While the National Commission for Human Rights has issued

an advisory on bonded labour stressing on five key categories –
prevention, identification, rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation and legal
aid to the district administration. The commission has given 11 specific
recommendations to the Centre and state governments and UTs. 
Dr Haider said the inhuman practice was rampant in the agriculture industry, in brick
kilns and fisheries, and shared many examples of the plight of labourers, who were
being mercilessly exploited by influential landlords “committing atrocities against these
vulnerable communities”.

The GRDO has initiated a campaign all over Sindh to end bonded labour. It plans to
stage protests and demonstrations, camps and sit-ins in different parts of the province
to highlight the issue.

 “Pakistan has become the third highest bonded labour-infected country in the world. 1st country
is South afica then india.

In a horrific incident of bonded labour in Bihar’s Motihari, 37 people

– 13 women, 12 men and 12 children — were found to be tortured,
manhandled, starved, with no medical help or money at a brick kiln in
Kesariya. The labourers, who were brought from Amroha, Muradabad
and Sambhal districts of Uttar Pradesh last week, have now been
rescued.
One of the labourers somehow managed to contact Motihari
superintendent of police (SP) Kumar Ashish and told him that they
were stuck in the kiln for many days without food, shelter and
medication.
CNN-News18 got an exclusive audio clip of the conversation between
the labourer and SP in which the labourer painfully describes the ill
treatment by the brick kiln owner, Niteshwer Mishra.
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“We were manipulated and brought here from UP. Neither are we
allowed to go out, nor are we given proper food or shelter. Our
families are tortured when we ask for our hard-earned money. They
beat us up and our women are manhandled. They even refuse to give
medicines to our ill children. Please save us, we need your help."