Karnataka - Mysore   

`More convictions essential to tackle bonded labour'

Staff Correspondent

Labour and Rural Development departments told to coordinate in identifying cases

TRADITIONAL BEGINNING: Shivaraj V. Patil, Member of National Human Rights Commission, inaugurating a workshop on bonded and child labour eradication in Mysore on Friday. V.P. Baligar (left), Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Pa nchayat Raj, K.R. Venugopal, Special Rapporteur, Vatsala Vatsa, Principal Secretary, Department of Labour, and C.S. Suranjana, Director General of ANSSIRD, are seen.

MYSORE: Expressing dissatisfaction over the measures taken to assist rehabilitated bonded labourers in the State, Special Rapporteur of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) K.R. Venugopal on Friday said that concrete steps must be initiated to overcome the social evil.

A former Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr. Venugopal, was presenting the lead paper here for discussion at a review workshop on eradication of child labour and bonded labour in Karnataka.

He said there should be more convictions through sustained investigation with respect to cases of child labour that are detected during inspections.

He said coordination between the Labour Department and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj also needs to be strengthened, particularly in identifying cases of bonded labour which constitutes around 50 per cent of child labour in the country.

He said: "For some reason this coordination is not taking place, and this is a serious gap that needs to be bridged. The coordination can be effective while identifying cases of child labour and in establishing facts such as advances taken when children are pledged for labour by contacting the families of released child labourers."

The Labour Department should pursue suspicious deaths of domestic child labour reported by non-governmental organisations and the Police Department, he said. Expressing his disappointment with the banking system for not furnishing the NHRC with information on finances extended to rehabilitation of bonded labourers and the families of bonded child labourer, he said sensitisation programmes for bank officers are not adequate.

Mr. Venugopal said: "The banking system has done nothing to implement the decisions of the October 2003 workshop with respect to incentives and loans, and it is also distressing to note that the banking system has not issued instructions regarding dispensing with collateral security for lending to released bonded labourers."

Five years after chained bonded labourers were rescued from a quarry unit at Hongarahalli village near here, the incident continues to haunt the human rights activists across the country. The prosecution of the perpetrators of this crime has continued to drag on.

Terming the incident as a blot on the human rights record of Karnataka, which is otherwise considered a progressive State, Mr. Venugopal criticised the lackadaisical approach in the prosecution of the offenders.

Referring to the proceedings in the Sessions court, he said the victims themselves turned hostile. According to him, enquiries with the victims, who have now been rehabilitated at Ganjam village in Srirangapatna taluk, revealed that the reason for them turning hostile was that were afraid of the perpetrators who are the accused in this case.

Mr. Venugopal said: "The State has failed to provide the minimum protection that it owes to these victims as part of its duty in serious cases of atrocities during investigation and prosecution of the offenders in the courts of law."

National Human Rights Commission member Shivaraj V. Patil inaugurated the workshop. Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, V.P. Baligar; Principal Secretary, Department of Labour, Vatsala Vatsa; and Director General of Abdul Nazir Sab State Institute of Rural Development, C.S. Suranjana; were present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

`More convictions essential to tackle bonded labour'
A Ministry for welfare of disabled being considered
`More convictions essential to tackle child labour'
Poachers on the prowl near Ranganathittu
Meet on guidelines for teachers' manuals
Impression of budding artists
Association demands White Paper on ADB loan
Delegation visits MCC
In Mysore Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu