Maharashtra: Govt admits 10-year-old deceased tribal girl was a 'bonded labourer'

Vijaykumar Gavit said that the girl was taken to Nashik from the Parner tehsil of neighbouring Ahmednagar district

In a shocker, the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra has admitted to an incident of 'bonded labour' involving the death of a minor tribal girl after the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi raised the issue on Friday.

When the issue figured in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, state Tribal Development Minister Vijaykumar Gavit made the admission. Bonded labour is prohibited in India by law vide Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution - and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,1976.

During his response to a query on the functioning of ‘Ashram Shalas’ being run for tribal kids, Gavit said that a minor tribal girl, who died last September 2022 worked as a ‘bonded labourer’.

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During his response, the MLCs asked about the death of the 10-year-old tribal girl of Nashik.

MVA members including Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve, who is from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, Eknath Khadse (NCP) and Shashikant Shinde (NCP), Kapil Patil (Janata Dal-United) sought the reply from the government.

Gavit said that the girl was taken to Nashik from the Parner tehsil of neighbouring Ahmednagar district but since she was not in good health, she was later dumped outside her parents’ home.

"She was found with injury marks on her body and passed away during the treatment,” he said.

However, Danve and others wanted to know whether the girl was “sold”, to which the minister admitted that she was employed as a 'bonded labourer'.

“The House should know how the girl was made to work as a bonded labourer,” the opposition MLCs demanded in what came as an embarrassment to the Shinde-Fadnavis dispensation.

“It is shameful that the minister openly admits to the prevalence of such a practice in the state,” said Patil.

“I can understand negligence in providing some facilities but the sale or bonded labour involving children is unpardonable. The state should not take such incidents lightly,” said Khadse, a former minister.