Bonded labour persists in India despite laws against exploitation

Source: The post Bonded labour persists in India despite laws against exploitation has been created, based on the article “India’s shame — the trap of bonded labour” published in “The Hindu” on 1 May 2025. Bonded labour persists in India despite laws against exploitation.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2-Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context: On International Labour Day, India confronts a disturbing reality: bonded and forced labour continue to thrive despite decades-old abolition laws. The article highlights how systemic failures, weak enforcement, and social inequality allow exploitation of millions of workers.

Underlying Causes of Labour Exploitation

1. Economic Triggers: Sudden hardships such as illness, job loss, or marriage expenses push poor families to seek quick loans. These advances often trap them in exploitative labour arrangements.
2. Social Disadvantage and Exclusion: Caste-based discrimination, illiteracy, and lack of access to information increase vulnerability. Many workers do not understand their rights or legal protections.
3. Power Structures and Dependency: In many areas, employers control both credit and job access. This monopoly converts basic financial help into long-term dependence and coercion.

Scale and Nature of the Problem

1. Ongoing Prevalence: Despite legal abolition in 1975, bonded labour remains widespread. Government data estimates 1.84 crore people are still affected by it across the country.
2. Forms of Abuse: These workers often face long working hours, withheld wages, physical violence, and confinement. Many lack contracts and freedom of movement.
3. Overlap with Forced Labour: Even outside traditional bondage, crores of informal workers, especially migrants, endure similar exploitation, blurring the lines between informal work and forced labour.

Policy Commitments and Actual Progress

1. Official Vision and Targets: In 2016, the Union Labour Ministry announced a plan to rescue and rehabilitate 1.84 crore bonded labourers by 2030, as part of a long-term national agenda.
2. Actual Rescues: Between 2016 and 2021, only 12,760 bonded labourers were officially rescued and rehabilitated. This pace falls drastically short of the goal.
3. Unrealistic Expectations: To meet the 2030 target, over 11 lakh rescues per year would now be required — a target that current systems are far from achieving.

The Larger Labour Crisis in India

1. Dominance of Informal Sector: According to NSSO data, out of 47 crore workers, 39 crore are in the unorganised sector. These jobs often lack safety, fair wages, or legal protections.
2. ILO’s Assessment: The ILO India Employment Report 2024 confirms that low-quality informal work dominates the labour market, leaving workers insecure and underpaid.

Legal and Structural Gaps

1. Weak Unionisation: Unorganised workers lack unions and collective bargaining power. This isolates them and reduces their ability to fight back against abuse.
2. Dilution of Rights: The 2019–20 Labour Codes weakened earlier protections, particularly the right to organise and strike, eroding decades of progress in labour rights.

Question for practice:

Discuss the reasons why bonded and forced labour continue to persist in India despite legal abolition.