Did you know that the Human Rights Watch estimates that there are four crore bonded labourers in India and 1.5 crore of them are children.
This year, the International Justice Mission conducted the Live Free Campaign to educate students on their social responsibility towards their community; acquaint them with the severity and prevalence of social ills in their community; facilitate opportunities for and inspire students to contribute towards social awareness campaigns.
As part of this event, 240 students across 12 schools from Chennai participated in an interschool competition that included essay writing and art competitions on bonded labour. A quiz competition for the students was also held at the Museum Theatre. The essay written by the students included descriptions on what bonded labour is and what they as students should be doing to help end the problem.
The essays also highlighted how students can participate in the campaign against bonded labour. The pieces were practical and inspiring, as students included their personal experience and plans for the future.
Art competition
The drawings by children gave a visual impact on the condition of labourers today. Exhibited in the Museum Theatre they were on the themes “Live Free” and “Bonded Labour”.
They were judged on adherence to theme, creativity and design.
The preliminary round of the quiz was what took the crowd by surprise. One could see several teams fighting it out at the written round of the quiz.
Six teams made it to the finals and answered questions on general social issues over three rounds. The first round checked their General knowledge, the second was on the main issue — Bonded Labour, and in the third round they were quizzed on Human Rights.
Another highlight of the event was “write your message” and sign it.
As a part of the campaign a big wall was created where students were encouraged to pen down their thoughts and sign under it, pledging they will root out bonded labour.
The overall winner of Live Free 2011 was Vidyodaya Girls School.
Quiz winners
1st prize Lady Andal School - Soham and Shiv
2nd prize Spartan Matriculation School - Jason and Sudhir
3rd prize Vidyodaya Girls School - Vidya and Shruthi
Art winners
1st prize Asan CBSE School - Monisha
2nd prize Asan CBSE School - JPK Vijay
3rd prize Vidyodaya Girls School - Niveditha
Essay writing winners
1st prize Vidyodaya Girls School - Nishi Vakkil
2nd prize Vidyodaya Girls School - Sruthi
3rd prize MCC School – Sundar
What does it mean?
Bonded labour most commonly occurs when a person is denied his/ her freedom and forced to work in order to pay off an illegal advance. Bonded labourers are prevented from travelling and seeking alternative employment opportunities. Employers exploit the labourers by paying them less than the minimum wage or no wage at all.
