One of the most inhuman and onerous forms of child exploitation is the age-old practice of bonded labor in India. In it, a child’s labor is treated like security or collateral for cunning rich men who procure small sums to his family at exorbitant interest rates.
Children who are sold as bonded labor only get a handful of coarse grain to keep them alive in return for their labor. Sometimes their period of thrall extends for a lifetime, and they simply have to toil hard and depend on the mercy of their ‘owners’ without any hope of release or redemption. The parent of the bonded child is usually an impoverished, uneducated landless laborer, and the mortgagee is traditionally some big landlord, money lender or business man who thrives on the child’s vulnerability to such exploitation.
The practice of bonded child labor is prevalent in many parts of rural India, but is very conspicuous in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Here, the bonded child is allowed to reside with his parents if he comes to work at 8 a.m. every day. The practice of child bonded labor persists like a scourge to humanity in spite of many laws against it. Although stringent, these laws are literally non- functional in terms of implementation.
The government did take few directions on the right track initially, but most of their efforts came to naught with time. Moreover, the government’s efforts did not reach high profile industries like cigarette making and carpet weaving. According to Cousen Neff - an official of the Human Rights Watch – “Instead of living up to its promises, the Indian government is starting to backtrack, claiming the problem is being solved. Our research shows that it is not”.
Neff also identified a major link between caste and bondage in Indian society. In many cases, dalit (untouchable) families function as bonded labor due to caste-based discrimination and violence, not only due to poverty. The caste system in India is one of the main foundations on which the edifice of bonded labor rests. Dalits are denied access to land in India, forced to work in inhuman conditions, and expected to perform labor for free. This is due to the so-called upper castes boycotting them socially and subjecting them to economic exploitation. This attitude of society keeps poor families bonded in a scourge of perpetual poverty. It is now very important for all International donors to put pressure on the Indian government to enforce bonded labor and child labor laws in the country.
Children who are sold as bonded labor only get a handful of coarse grain to keep them alive in return for their labor. Sometimes their period of thrall extends for a lifetime, and they simply have to toil hard and depend on the mercy of their ‘owners’ without any hope of release or redemption. The parent of the bonded child is usually an impoverished, uneducated landless laborer, and the mortgagee is traditionally some big landlord, money lender or business man who thrives on the child’s vulnerability to such exploitation.The practice of bonded child labor is prevalent in many parts of rural India, but is very conspicuous in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Here, the bonded child is allowed to reside with his parents if he comes to work at 8 a.m. every day. The practice of child bonded labor persists like a scourge to humanity in spite of many laws against it. Although stringent, these laws are literally non- functional in terms of implementation.
The government did take few directions on the right track initially, but most of their efforts came to naught with time. Moreover, the government’s efforts did not reach high profile industries like cigarette making and carpet weaving. According to Cousen Neff - an official of the Human Rights Watch – “Instead of living up to its promises, the Indian government is starting to backtrack, claiming the problem is being solved. Our research shows that it is not”.Neff also identified a major link between caste and bondage in Indian society. In many cases, dalit (untouchable) families function as bonded labor due to caste-based discrimination and violence, not only due to poverty. The caste system in India is one of the main foundations on which the edifice of bonded labor rests. Dalits are denied access to land in India, forced to work in inhuman conditions, and expected to perform labor for free. This is due to the so-called upper castes boycotting them socially and subjecting them to economic exploitation. This attitude of society keeps poor families bonded in a scourge of perpetual poverty. It is now very important for all International donors to put pressure on the Indian government to enforce bonded labor and child labor laws in the country.
Source: www.childlabor.in
