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Racket operating in name of bonded labourers in Jammu and Kashmir: Supreme Court
People come from backward areas to work at brick kilns in Jammu and Kashmir, but they refuse to work after taking advance money from contractors, the apex court observed, adding that they then seek to be rescued alleging they are being held as bonded labourers.
A racket is operating in the name of bonded labourers in Jammu and Kashmir, said the Supreme Court on Wednesday as it disposed of a decade-old petition.
People come from backward areas to work at brick kilns in Jammu and Kashmir, but they refuse to work after taking advance money from contractors, the apex court observed. They then seek to be rescued alleging they are being held as bonded labourers, it added.
“It is not necessary for us to consider the matter any further,” said a bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia, refusing to consider the matter, pending for the past decade, any further. “If necessary, the state will take remedial steps.”
The petition was filed by late social activist Swami Agnivesh and an alleged victim of bonded labour Raj Kumari Sahoo in 2012, claiming that when the husband of the second petitioner (Sahoo) wished to quit the alleged bondage, he was not allowed to do so by his employer. It was further alleged that the man was beaten up by the employer, but he managed to escape, following which the petition was filed.
“Do you know what bonded labour is? What is happening in the state, we are sorry to say, is a racket,” the bench told the petitioner’s lawyer Puja Sharma.
The lawyer informed the court that 49 people had been rescued from J&K but they were not provided any compensation.
“These persons come from backward areas to work in brick kilns and try to take benefits as bonded labour,” the bench replied. “They take lump sum payment as advance from their employers and resign.”
Disposing the matter, the bench noted that the first petitioner Swami Agnivesh died in 2020 and as for the second petitioner, who was associated with an organisation Bandhua Mukti Morcha, the state submitted that there were differences between the petitioner and her husband. The court did not wish to go into this aspect any further.
The petition sought drafting and implementation of a new release and rehabilitation scheme for bonded labourers. It also sought payment of compensation to those who were rescued along with issuance of release certificates, and rehabilitation programmes for those affected by bonded labour.
