Bonded Labour: India’s Unfinished Promise Of Freedom

On January 7, 1975, India took a defining step in its human rights journey announcing a 20-point economic programme for national reconstruction that declared: “Bonded Labour System stands abolished and shall be declared illegal wherever it exists.” 

This was more than a policy—it was a moral milestone. Abolition of bonded labour was placed alongside land reforms, minimum wages for agricultural workers, and liquidation of rural indebtedness. Seven years later, rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers was added to a renewed 20-point programme, signalling recognition that freedom without security is incomplete. 

Within months, an Ordinance was promulgated, followed by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, retrospectively effective from October 25, 1975. Soon after, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Bill was introduced and passed by both Houses of Parliament on 9 February 1976, receiving presidential assent shortly thereafter. The Act extinguished bonded debts, vacated attachments, restored property, and guaranteed protection from eviction. It remains one of the most progressive legislations of post-independence India. 

But what exactly is bonded labour? At its core, bonded labour is service under conditions of unfreedom, rooted in debt or advance that traps the poor, landless, and assetless in exploitative relationships. The consequences are stark: denial of minimum wages, denial of mobility, denial of choice of employer, and denial of fair compensation for labour. This system is intergenerational, perpetuated by usurious interest rates and the cruel arithmetic of poverty. 

Judicial Expansion of Freedom 

The Supreme Court of India has played a transformative role in expanding the meaning of freedom. In the landmark Bandhua Mukti Morcha case (1983), Justice P. N. Bhagwati ruled that bonded labour should be presumed wherever poverty and compulsion exist, shifting the burden of proof away from the victim. Between 1981 and 2012, the Court delivered 26 judgements reinforcing immediacy of rescue, simultaneity of rehabilitation, and the principle that denial of minimum wages is itself forced labour under Article 23 of the Constitution. 

Yet, despite the law and judicial wisdom, implementation has faltered. Some courts have acquitted offenders on technical grounds, insisting victims prove debt beyond doubt—a demand that ignores the lived reality of dispossession. State governments have at times denied the existence of bonded labour, fearing reputational damage, while victims remain trapped in cycles of exploitation. 

Denial and Bureaucratic Failures 

If Supreme Court judgements had been translated into action in letter and spirit, India today would have seen far fewer cases of bonded labour. Regretfully, this has not been the case. The enforcement machinery has too often been found in denial, claiming: 

• Bonded labour was a one-time problem. 

• It is a thing of the past. 

• Since there is a central law, the system is deemed abolished “lock, stock and barrel.” 

• All that was required has been done; nothing more remains. 

Such thinking is illogical and unethical. Bonded labour recurs across industries, plantations, mines, and factories, and new forms—linked to migration, trafficking, and informal labour markets—are growing unnoticed. 

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act conferred sweeping powers on District Magistrates (DMs). Yet complaints forwarded by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) are often passed down to poorly trained officers who rely on employers’ versions and dismiss victims’ accounts. Release certificates are improperly issued, rehabilitation schemes delayed, and vigilance committees remain ineffective. Victims lapse back into bondage or migrate under exploitative conditions. 

Customary systems like Kamiyas in Bihar, Sagris in Rajasthan, and Gothis in Odisha persist. New forms—child trafficking, forced begging, domestic servitude, camel jockeying, circus labour, and even organ trade—go largely unnoticed. Inter-State migrant workers, recruited under exploitative conditions, are similarly ignored by both origin and destination states, despite their vital contribution to economic growth. 

Law Alone is Not Enough 

The tragedy is that India possesses one of the most progressive legislations in the world against bonded labour. The Act extinguishes debts, restores property, protects homestead land, and dismisses suits enforcing bonded obligations. It is reinforced by a body of Supreme Court judgements that broaden its scope and strengthen its protections. 

But laws and judgements alone cannot liberate people. As Dr. B. R. Ambedkar observed, legislation must be supplemented by political will and public awareness. Bonded labour thrives in silence, denial, and bureaucratic inertia. The promise made in 1975 was clear: no Indian should live in bondage. Fifty years later, that promise remains unfulfilled. 

The challenge before us is not legal but moral. Do we accept denial and complacency, or do we act with urgency and compassion? Freedom from bondage is not charity—it is justice. And justice delayed, as the victims of bonded labour know too well, is justice denied.