Political parties must pledge to abolish feudal system
The bonded labour system is one of the remnants of feudalism and a gross transgression of fundamental human rights.The pockets with concentration of population belonging to the STs and SCs have been prone to this system of the exploitation of the down trodden.
The bonded labourers are not only deprived of developmental benefits due to a long absence in the native places, they are also subjected to merciless torment by the contractors or the middle men.
Recently, the gruesome case of Susanta Kumbhar, Dialu Nial and Nilambar Dhangda Majhi has attracted high media attention where the victims faced the worst kind of barbarism after their contractors chopped off their hands.
According to the sketchy statistics available with the labour department, the Government issued 3,035 licences to contractors, who sent out a total of 1, 20,841 labourers from various parts of the State till November last year.
The huge migration as bonded labourers to other places of the country has caused high concern as these trends give rise to increased violence and torture. The State Governments also has failed to address the issue through a strict redressal mechanism in district and State level.
Every year, around 2.5 million people migrate from Odisha to other States. Dalit population represents 17.13 per cent and the tribals represent 22.85 per cent in the State.
The key snag to find an elucidation to the problem of migrant labour trafficking is the near absence of reliable data with the State Government.
However, findings from the surveys and research by the NGOs reveal that even 37 years after Parliament passed the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, not much has been achieved so far regarding identification, freeing and rehabilitating the bonded labourers. The State Government’s own statistics highlights the dingy poverty of Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada, the three districts worst affected by the migrant labour trafficking. Out of the total 3,29,700 households in Balangir, 2,01,310 fall in the below poverty line (BPL) category, the number of BPL households in Kalahandi stands at 1,93,054against the district’s 4,01,251 families. In Nuapada, with 1, 22,601 households, 85,130 have been identified as BPL.
The issue of bondage system has witnessed a paradigm shift over the times. It is no longer the outmoded power equation in agriculture, in which the lower castes are anticipated to do unskilled jobs to secure their livelihood. Now it has changed to a new face i.e. debt bondage.
Generally, people with grim poverty take advance money from the landlords or contractors as wage which they repay by working. Stacking interest, charges for delayed payments and a relatively low wages have been the causative factors to increase the cases of debt bondage.
As per the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1976, after being given release certificates, the labourers will no longer be destined to work under the “malik”, the person who benefits from the services of the labourers for an unfixed period by giving them a petite amount of paddy or rice. It is the responsibility of the State Government to rehabilitate the freed bonded labourers. In order to assist the State Governments in the task of rehabilitation of identified and released bonded labourers in India, a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour is in operation since May, 1978. Under the scheme, rehabilitation assistance at Rs 20,000 per bonded labour is provided which is equally shared by the Central and State Governments. According to the reports received from the State Governments, a total of 2,89,327 bonded labourers were identified and released and 2,69,365 among them have been rehabilitated under the Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme as on March 31, 2011.
Despite several laws and welfare schemes in place, these poor labourers still continue to suffer and are often subjected to abusive comportment. It is evidently seen that representatives of political parties are conveniently bypassing the issue of poverty and bondage system. In order to abolish the bondage system in the country, there is a need of will power among political parties both in thought and action process. Effective implementation of Forest Right Act in scheduled areas, land rights to landless and authorization to community forestry must be ensured.
The State Government should ensure effective implementation of NREGA in the migration prone districts by ensuring weekly payments and 200— day of work. The Government should kick start vocational education and training in the State to train unemployed youth. The issue of bondage system should be treated a priority agenda and must be included in the party manifestos in the upcoming elections and it must be debated in the Assemblies and Parliament as part of their pro-people commitment.
Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/bonded-labour-a-scourge-on-society.html
The bonded labour system is one of the remnants of feudalism and a gross transgression of fundamental human rights.The pockets with concentration of population belonging to the STs and SCs have been prone to this system of the exploitation of the down trodden.
The bonded labourers are not only deprived of developmental benefits due to a long absence in the native places, they are also subjected to merciless torment by the contractors or the middle men.
Recently, the gruesome case of Susanta Kumbhar, Dialu Nial and Nilambar Dhangda Majhi has attracted high media attention where the victims faced the worst kind of barbarism after their contractors chopped off their hands.
According to the sketchy statistics available with the labour department, the Government issued 3,035 licences to contractors, who sent out a total of 1, 20,841 labourers from various parts of the State till November last year.
The huge migration as bonded labourers to other places of the country has caused high concern as these trends give rise to increased violence and torture. The State Governments also has failed to address the issue through a strict redressal mechanism in district and State level.
Every year, around 2.5 million people migrate from Odisha to other States. Dalit population represents 17.13 per cent and the tribals represent 22.85 per cent in the State.
The key snag to find an elucidation to the problem of migrant labour trafficking is the near absence of reliable data with the State Government.
However, findings from the surveys and research by the NGOs reveal that even 37 years after Parliament passed the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, not much has been achieved so far regarding identification, freeing and rehabilitating the bonded labourers. The State Government’s own statistics highlights the dingy poverty of Kalahandi, Balangir and Nuapada, the three districts worst affected by the migrant labour trafficking. Out of the total 3,29,700 households in Balangir, 2,01,310 fall in the below poverty line (BPL) category, the number of BPL households in Kalahandi stands at 1,93,054against the district’s 4,01,251 families. In Nuapada, with 1, 22,601 households, 85,130 have been identified as BPL.
The issue of bondage system has witnessed a paradigm shift over the times. It is no longer the outmoded power equation in agriculture, in which the lower castes are anticipated to do unskilled jobs to secure their livelihood. Now it has changed to a new face i.e. debt bondage.
Generally, people with grim poverty take advance money from the landlords or contractors as wage which they repay by working. Stacking interest, charges for delayed payments and a relatively low wages have been the causative factors to increase the cases of debt bondage.
As per the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1976, after being given release certificates, the labourers will no longer be destined to work under the “malik”, the person who benefits from the services of the labourers for an unfixed period by giving them a petite amount of paddy or rice. It is the responsibility of the State Government to rehabilitate the freed bonded labourers. In order to assist the State Governments in the task of rehabilitation of identified and released bonded labourers in India, a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour is in operation since May, 1978. Under the scheme, rehabilitation assistance at Rs 20,000 per bonded labour is provided which is equally shared by the Central and State Governments. According to the reports received from the State Governments, a total of 2,89,327 bonded labourers were identified and released and 2,69,365 among them have been rehabilitated under the Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme as on March 31, 2011.
Despite several laws and welfare schemes in place, these poor labourers still continue to suffer and are often subjected to abusive comportment. It is evidently seen that representatives of political parties are conveniently bypassing the issue of poverty and bondage system. In order to abolish the bondage system in the country, there is a need of will power among political parties both in thought and action process. Effective implementation of Forest Right Act in scheduled areas, land rights to landless and authorization to community forestry must be ensured.
The State Government should ensure effective implementation of NREGA in the migration prone districts by ensuring weekly payments and 200— day of work. The Government should kick start vocational education and training in the State to train unemployed youth. The issue of bondage system should be treated a priority agenda and must be included in the party manifestos in the upcoming elections and it must be debated in the Assemblies and Parliament as part of their pro-people commitment.
Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/bonded-labour-a-scourge-on-society.html
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