Bounded Labour

What is bonded labour?

Bonded Labour is an oppressive form of forced labour where, due to a debt or other obligation (customary, caste-based, economic consideration), the labourer forfeits certain basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Physical violence, verbal insults, brute force and sexual abuse are often common elements in bonded labour making it a serious human rights crime.

The most common form of bonded labour usually entails an advance. Victims accept a petty cash advance from the employer, agreeing to repay the amount through their services.

Often, the labourer moves into the worksite with his/her entire family. Once at the worksite, labourers are curtailed from moving around freely, denied the chance to supplement their wages through alternate employment or by selling their goods and also refused the right to be paid the State-recommended wages.

They are told that their freedom will be restored only upon repayment of the advance. However, as the labourer soon realises, the entire system has been designed to make repayment impossible. Abysmally low wages, exorbitant interest rates and falsified account-keeping ensure that the illiterate labourer is trapped for years, sometimes generations.