Bonded labour in the traditional sense — where a labourer is tied to an employer for 24 hours on all 365 days for a debt incurred by an ancestor — may be less rampant today. But new forms where an “advance” paid by an employer keeps a labourer tied to him for no wages or below minimum wages is common not just in rural hinterland, but even in urban centres.
A study team headed by senior journalist Shivaji Ganeshan, constituted by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, is making field visits and compiling data from official sources to gauge the prevalence of bonded labour in Karnataka and the various forms in which it exists. The team is expected to submit the report in January 2015.
While it has conducted field visits and studied two districts — Mysuru and Belagavi — on a pilot basis, it is now in the process of collecting data from all over Karnataka. “We found during our visits that it was very common to raise an ‘advance’ for a marriage in the family or a health problem and then stay bonded to the employer,” said Mr. Ganeshan. He added that social welfare schemes such as Anna Bhagya, “often the butt of jokes in affluent urban circles”, assumes a different dimension in conditions of such deprivation,” he said.
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There was reluctance on the part of officials to recognise the prevalence of bonded labour in their jurisdiction. “We found that many did not hold district-level vigilance committee meetings and had not spent any money meant for the committees,” said Mr. Ganeshan.