216 cases, one hearing: NHRC summons top UP officials over brick kiln bonded labour ordeal

Justice V Ramasubhramaniam will hear the matter on April 16.

Significance of this hearing

Dr Tina Kuriakose Jacob, who specialises in bonded labour, migration, and human trafficking, said that NHRC, as the Supreme Court-appointed monitor of the implementation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, since 1997, has been periodically reviewing cases of bonded labour and worker distress across the country.

“NHRC provides policy and implementation oversight in these cases through its Core Group on Bonded Labour and also holds open camp sittings across states to discuss cases such as these and others affecting vulnerable groups and communities. The state of Uttar Pradesh has, over the years, seen some of the highest complaints of bonded labour before the NHRC,” she remarked.

‘43% released and rehabilitated since 2015 in UP’

While referring to the number of cases, she added that UP accounts for the lion’s share of Central Sector rehabilitation funds for bonded labour under the Ministry of Labour.

“A decadal review of the implementation of the rehabilitation scheme of the Central government for bonded labour shows that UP tops the list with around 43 per cent of persons released and rehabilitated since 2015. The dedicated discussion with BLSA implementors in UP allows us to understand the trickle-down of benefits to victims of bonded labour and the nature of protective measures taken by the government to ensure safe and remunerative employment,” she added.

Jacob continued that similar reviews across states and the redressal of grievances regarding gaps experienced in inter-state cases of bonded labour would strengthen the justice system’s response. She added that such consultations with governments can also help in understanding what areas of training, resourcing, and facilitation are required at the district level to deal with bonded labour complaints.

She emphasised that the issue of bonded labour is not only in brick kilns, and said, at a time when worker distress over wage issues and exploitative practices in the midst of business uncertainties is present, there is a need for wider consultation and assurances to the unorganised workers who form India’s economic backbone.

NHRC’s recent interventions

In January this year, the NHRC took suo motu (on its own motion) cognisance of a media report about a minor boy from Bihar’s Kishanganj who was forced into bonded labour after being separated by his father at Bahadurgarh Railway Station in Haryana.

Reportedly, the boy stepped off the train to fetch water at the Railway Station but could not board it again to be with his father due to the heavy crowd. Thereafter, he missed the train and, for eight months, suffered the ordeal before being rescued and returned home with his left elbow severed.

“The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation. Therefore, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Haryana, as well as the Commissioner of Police, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh and the District Magistrate, Kishanganj, Bihar. The response is expected from the authorities within two weeks,” the NHRC press release dated January 15 said.

The NHRC also directed the authorities to inform whether any compensation has been paid and a disability certificate issued or not, to enable the victim to get the benefits of the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Act, 2016.

Last year, in March, the NHRC ordered an on-spot inquiry into the alleged suicide by an engineering student from Nepal in her hostel room at KIIT, Bhubaneswar, on February 16 and the subsequent incidents on the campus.

The commission took cognisance, based on a complaint regarding the alleged murder of an army jawan from Gujarat, on board the Jammu Tawi-Sabarmati Express, by a coach attendant when it was passing by Rajasthan. On November 6, it issued notices to the chairman and CEO of the Railway Board, and to the director general of the Railway Protection Force, asking them to submit an action taken report.

Last October, the commission took suo motu cognisance of media reports on the alleged torture of a teenage boy in police custody at a police station in Gujarat’s Rajkot district last month. It had issued a notice to the DGP, Gujarat, seeking a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.