A Perspective Plan to Eliminate Forced Labour in India
The problem of debt bondage in India is linked to the phenomenon of poverty, which is closely linked to the absence of land and assets. There is a strong commonality between the community of rural poor and victims of debt bondage, in as much as an overwhelming percentage of these belong to the category of landless agricultural labourers, a majority of whom also belong to the community of SC and ST.
Dr. L. Mishra, formerly a high-level official of the Government of India, dealt for a long time with questions of bonded forced labour, including through work he carried out for the country’s Supreme Court, which involved interviews with large numbers of bonded labourers working in brick kilns and quarries. 2 Shortly after he joined the ILO’s Regional Office in Bangkok as Senior Advisor on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, I asked him to consider elaborating a long-term plan to spur the elimination of bonded forced labour in India. The following Working Paper summarizes his basic proposals for what could and should be done over a period of ten years or so. His proposals being in the public domain, the Declaration Programme wishes them to be considered in many forums and specified with a view to implementation, if necessary with the help of external donor support, as well as to serve as inspiration for other countries faced with significant pockets of bonded labour.