Representative image showing a labourer in India
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: Close to 250 people – 80 per cent from Tamil Nadu – were freed from the clutches of bonded labour in the country between April 2024 and January 2025, with a “distressed” Parliamentary panel saying that it showed that the “scourge” persists in the society and “spreading its tentacles”.
Acknowledging the “evil”, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development headed by senior BJP MP Basavraj Bommai called for a “multifaceted approach”, including providing vocational training to improve rescued bonded labourers’ employability.
Since 1978, authorities have rescued and rehabilitated 2,97,038 bonded labourers and Rs 106.25 crore have been disbursed to them.
In 2024-25 till January 31 this year, 246 bonded labourers were rescued and rehabilitated as against 673 in 2022-23 and 468 in 2023-24, which the panel said was a "persistent decrease" that was "encouraging".
Of the 246 rescued this fiscal, 119 are men, 51 are women and 76 children. While 50 of them were rescued from Dausa in Rajasthan, the remaining 196 were freed from bonded labour in Tamil Nadu, including 105 from Chennai, 18 from Sivagangai, 17 from Namakkal and 15 from Chengalpattu.
Around Rs 67.40 lakh have been provided as financial assistance to them.
Under the Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer, 2021 Scheme, rehabilitation assistance to the tune of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh are provided to each rescued bonded labourer based on their category and level of exploitation. There is also a provision to provide immediate financial assistance up to Rs 30,000 to each rescued bonded labour, which is deducted from the final rehabilitation amount.
According to the panel in its report on Demands for Grants (2025-26) for the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Rs 5.15 crore were spent in 2022-23 for rehabilitation of bonded labourers while it was Rs 1.34 crore in 2023-24.
“...there is a persistent decrease in the number of bonded labourers rehabilitated during the last three years, which is encouraging. The Committee, however, is distressed to note that the scourge of bonded labour still persists in the society and is spreading its tentacles,” the report said.
The multi-party panel also told the Ministry that special care is needed to ensure that the rescued children are re-integrated into the formal education system and ample financial support for their education be made available.