"Karnataka has new plan to fight bonded labour", 5th November, 2024

...the Siddaramaiah government has appointed 52 officials designated as ‘Bonded Labour Prohibition Officers’ to crack down on the exploitative system. Their job: stop bonded labour, collect evidence for prosecuting offenders and create awareness among among citizens and businesses...

...From 2016 to 2024, Karnataka saw 2,631 cases of bonded labour. In the same period, Karnataka paid pension to 4,397 ‘freed’ bonded labourers. The state government provides a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 — hiked from Rs 1,000 earlier — to freed bonded.

Under the Centre’s rehabilitation scheme, freed male bonded labourers get Rs 1 lakh, while female/children are given Rs 2 lakh. For grave exploitation, a sum of Rs 3 lakh is paid. However, the entire amount is released only after the final verdict of competent courts.

The appointment of ‘bonded labour prohibition officers’ was a promise Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made in the 2024-25 budget “to complement efforts to effectively uproot this evil”. The list of ‘prohibition officers’ includes deputy commissioners...

...Kiran Kamal Prasad from Jeevika, a non-profit he founded to liberate bonded labour, questioned the need for such ‘prohibition officers’.

“Officers already have powers. What’s the need for them to be named as ‘prohibition officers’?” Prasad said. “The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, is a very powerful law. If implemented properly, bonded labour would be a thing of the past...