Even as Tamil Nadu accounts for the largest number of bonded labourers identified and released since the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act was passed in 1976, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts continue to top the list in the State every year, often releasing migrant labourers from Andhra Pradesh and western Odisha.
According to information obtained through the RTI Act by M. Devasitham, a research scholar in Bishop Heber College in Tiruchi, between 2005-06 and 2013-14, Tiruvallur reported the release of 1,250 labourers and Kancheepuram 698.
“The total number of bonded labourers rescued between 2005 and 2014 was 3,776. There has been an increase during last year with 940 releases, the highest in the last 10 years,” says Mr. Devasitham.
There was also an increase of 20 per cent in releases between 2005-06 and 2009 (1,529) and 2009-10 and 2014 (2,184). Krishnagiri, Villupuram, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts are other districts were major releases were reported.
Taking huge loans for emergency expenses, industrialisation in Tamil Nadu and poor economy in other States have largely been the reasons why workers end up as bonded labourers with their families.
“Mostly, they borrow money when they face emergency situations like a funeral or accident, promising to repay the loan by working, but end up as bonded labourers,” T. Kuralamuthan, Director of Research and Partnership at International Justice Mission (IJM) says. The debt is passed on to the children and it goes on until it is paid. More often, the employers keep the workers confined and would not let them contact anyone in the outside world.
There is a need to establish a State-Level Action Plan to consolidate all the efforts of the State government to tackle the issue, he adds.
“Tamil Nadu is a highly industrialised state with many cities like Madurai, Trichy, etc apart from Chennai. Since they accept low wages and limited facilities, workers from other States end up here as bonded labourers,” says Professor S. Irudaya Rajan of Thiruvananthapuram-based Centre for Development Studies (CDS).
A Supreme Court Bench order in 2012 directing fresh surveys to be conducted periodically once in three years in all the States is yet be complied with.
