Times of India: Bhopal: Friday,
January 31, 2014.
Mulaam
Ahirwar (30) from Laklaka in Damoh district doesn't remember when he started
working as a bonded labourer in Rajkumar alias Omkar Singh's household as a
domestic help. He would toil from dawn to midnight in the fields, ploughing and
irrigating or even acting as a cowherd. Last year, a day before Holi, he
finally summoned enough courage to go to his owner and tell him that he wanted
to leave.
"I was
beaten with sticks and wasn't paid wages for three months. I couldn't go to the
police as they are hand in glove with these landlords," he says with a
quivering voice.
Mulaam's case
is one among the 828 bonded labourers identified in seven districts of the
state under Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Abhiyan. This is in sharp contrast to the
state government's stand that there are no bonded labourers. It has not even
conducted any survey since 1996. As per the findings of Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti
Abhiyan (Campaign for abolition of Bonded Labour, Madhya Pradesh), a partner of
AcionAid, 828 bonded labourers, including 22 women have been identified in
Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Khandwa, Khargone, Damoh and Morena. Of these, the
campaign has rescued 355 bonded labourers, including 22 women and 13 children.
However, only 52 who were rescued from Morena district have received the
certificates and rehabilitation support as per Bonded Labour Act. They were
from Chhattisgarh.
Addressing a
press conference here, Swati Kaithwas, project officer from ActionAid, said,
"The state government has replied through RTI that there are no bonded
laborers in state. However, our project has already identified and rescued so
many labourers. However, unless they get the certificates, they won't be
rehabilitated."
"These
bonded labourers are all from Dalit and adivasi communities. Often they have
different names like Hali, Mahinedar, Parkhiya, Harvaha, Varsodia, Kamdar etc
and are found in Malwa, Nimar and Bundelkhand regions of the state. They are
mostly employed in agriculture or brick kiln making, beedi making,
Gobrani," she said.
Members
associated with the campaign demanded that certificates be issued and
assistance provided to all those who have been rescued. Besides, a vigilance
committee should be constituted as per the provisions of the Bonded Labour
(Abolition) System Act 1976, which should conduct a fresh survey of these
labourers once in three years. They have exhorted for safety of the female
labours who are subjected to sexual atrocities among others.
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