He was rescued 13 years ago, but is still waiting for govt. assistance

Rescued bonded labourers lament lack of rehabilitation

Bangalore:29/10/2014: Bonded Labours gathered for Public Hearing Programme during the Review of the implementation of Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act 1976, at SCM House in Bangalore on Wednesday. Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

It was 13 years ago that Rangayya was freed from the clutches of bonded labour, but he is yet to receive financial assistance from the government.

“I was rescued from a stone quarry in Tumkur where I had been working for 15 years. Despite assurances after being freed, no rehabilitation was provided. My family is dependent on me and I just manage to scrape a living,” he said.

Rangayya was among the 14 people rescued from the quarry. While six of them were given a compensation of Rs. 20,000, the others, including Rangayya, are yet to receive anything.

A few others alleged that even a certificate had not been given to them to authenticate that they were freed from bonded labour.

At a public hearing, organised by Action for Social Justice, an NGO, here on Wednesday, many rescued bonded labourers lamented that factory owners did not want to employ them as they had been freed from bonded labour, and on the other hand, the government hadn’t helped them with rehabilitation. “We have been left in the lurch,” they said.

Gowramma, who was rescued along with her husband and two children from a quarry in Doddaballapur three years ago, is struggling to raise her teenage children after her husband passed away 10 months ago. With no assistance from the government, she works as a manual labourer in Doddaballapur.

L. Muniraju’s travails are similar to that of Rangayya and Gowramma. He was among 12 people rescued from a quarry at Sadhumata in Doddaballapur around 10 years ago. While he received the government assistance of Rs. 20,000, the money did not last long. “Now I travel 15 km to work as an agriculture labourer. But, what I earn is not sufficient.”

Big promises

They were lured to work at these sites with the promise of good money, but then they were not paid for months together. Questioning the improper implementation of the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, Prabhakar, a member of Nagara Vanchitara Vedike, said: “The government has enough land to grant permission for factories and companies to be set up. However, when it comes to freed labourers, there is not enough land to provide to them.”

Meera C. Saksena, acting Chairperson of KSHRC, said that action would be taken against officials if they had failed to issue certificates to freed labourers.

“I will meet officials of the Revenue and Labour departments to further discuss the problems,” she said.