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In a bid to boost the government's pro-labour image, the labour ministry may soon propose a 15-fold increase in the rehabilitation cost of bonded labourers to up to Rs 3,00,000. At present, the government provides Rs 20,000 as financial assistance for rehabilitating a bonded labourer. There are about 1 million bonded labourers in the country, most of whom are dalit farmers. A senior government official told ET that the ministry is finalising the changes to the centrally-sponsored scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labourers and a proposal to this effect could go to the Cabinet shortly. The rehabilitation cost per labour under the scheme is equally borne between the Centre and state. It was last revised in 1999. "The key changes to the decade-old scheme include fixing slabs for the category of bonded labourer rescued and investing a significant portion of this into annuity scheme to ensure a fixed monthly income for the rescued labourer, so that he is not forced back into the debt trap," the official said, requesting anonymity. Under the proposal, a male bonded labourer would get a financial assistance Rs 1 lakh, while a child or woman would of get Rs 2 lakh. This could go up to Rs 3 lakh in case of a differently-abled or physically challenged bonded labourer. "About 75 per cent of the assistance money would be put into some annuity scheme, so that the rescued labourer gets a fixed monthly income to help him lead a decent life," the official added. Bonded labour, sometimes also referred as debt bondage or debt slavery, is a person's pledge of their labour or services as security for the repayment a debt or other obligation. The services required for repaying the debt are generally undefined and so is the duration of work, which leads to huge exploitation of these labourers at the hands of their employers. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 provided the constitution of a vigilance committee at district and sub-divisional level in each state and Union Territory for identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded labour in the country. Following this, the government launched a centrally-sponsored scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labourers in 1978. Under the scheme, an assistance of up to Rs 4,000 per bonded labour was provided initially. This was raised to Rs 6,250 in 1986 and to Rs 10,000 in 1995, before fixing it at Rs 20,000 in 1999.
Keywords
Bonded labour, brick kiln workers, India, migrant labour, distress migration, rehabilitation, welfare schemes, exploitation, The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, financial assistance
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