19 Bonded Labourers, 10 Minors Held By Plantation Owner For Six Years Rescued In Karnataka

In a major crackdown, the Karnataka Police have rescued 29 people, who were held as bonded labourers in a eucalyptus plantation in Anekal of Bangalore Urban district.

They were rescued on Saturday after the police conducted a raid on receiving a tip-off. According to police out of the 29 people who were rescued, 19 were made to work on the plantation as bonded labourers, while the other ten were minors.

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Police said the owner of the plantation where the rescued labourers were working is absconding and that he has been under various sections of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

International Justice Mission, an NGO working with the rescue and rehabilitation of human trafficking victims which also took part in the operation on Saturday said the victims were from eight families in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri District.

They had come to Bengaluru some six years ago in search of work.

The plantation owner is said to have 'bought' them at a price of Rs 80,000. The eight families were given Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 in advance. They were told that at the plantation they will be paid a daily wage of Rs 600, from which they could repay the advance amount.

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But at the plantation, they were only paid Rs 250 per week for working from 6 am to 7 pm. This translates to Rs 35 a day, which is not even a fraction of the minimum wage for woodcutters, which is Rs 565 a day.

They were also made to work for weeks at a stretch without any break and were even taken to his plantations in Tamil Nadu to work there.

“The labourers had to live in makeshift tarpaulin tents at each plantation and were not provided with any facilities. With their meagre wage of ‚¹35 per person per day, they had to manage all their expenses, including for food. When they told the owner that they would like to leave and work elsewhere, they were threatened and told to pay back the advance amount first. In this way the labourers were exploited and held as bonded labourers for up to six years,” the IJM said in a statement.

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Under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act in 1976, enforcing a custom, tradition, contract, agreement or other instrument, by which any person or any member of the family, or any dependent of such person is required to render any service under the bonded labour system will be penalised with up to 3 years of imprisonment and a fine of a maximum of, Rs 2,000.

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Despite this, the practice is still rampant in the country, and in most of the case, the victims are paid some money in advance, which they have to repay either in cash or by working for the owner. But, with the meagre pay, they receive the labourers won't be able to repay the advance and thus end up working for years, sometimes generations.