Debt bondage in India
| Slavery |
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| Contemporary |
| Types |
| Historic |
| By country or region |
| Religion |
| Opposition and resistance |
| Related topics |
Bonded labour was legally abolished in India in 1976 but it remains prevalent, with weak enforcement of the law by governments.[1] Bonded labor involves the exploitive interlinking of credit and labor agreements that devolve into slave-like exploitation due to severe power imbalances between the lender and the borrower.[1]
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Debt bondage[edit]
Debt bondage in India is most prevalent in agricultural areas. Farmers taking small loans can find themselves paying interest on the loans that exceeds 100% of the loan per year.[1] Debts that are not paid off in a debtor's lifetime can be passed down to their descendants, making the original debtor's family indebted to the families of rural landlords and money lenders, across multiple generations.[citation needed] This has been portrayed in the famous 1957 Hindi film epic Mother India.
Children[edit]
Debt bondage in India applies to children “sold” by their parents.[2] A form of long run employer-slave relationship is formed when these children are tied to this debt bondage to work for their employers for a time period that could be stretched to a lifetime, and usually for minimal or no wages.[3]
There has been no universally accepted number of bonded child labourers in India, but one estimate in 2000 shows that there were 15 million child labourers who were bonded.[4] Bonded child labour is practised widely across many parts of rural India and across multiple industries.
Estimates in India[edit]
Estimates of the problem vary. Official figures include a 1993 estimate of 251,000 bonded labourers[5] while the Bandhua Mukti Morcha says there are 65 million bonded child labourers, and a larger number of adults. A 2003 project by Human Rights Watch has reported a major problem with bonded child labour in the silk industry.[6]
Contributing factors[edit]
Author and academic Siddharth Kara believes that 'The system persists due to poverty, absence of alternative credit sources, a lack of justice and rule of law, and social acceptance of the exploitation of minority castes and ethnicities that has been prevalent in South Asia since Vedic times'.[1]
See also[edit]
- Indian feudalism
- Farmers' suicides in India
- Bonded Labour Liberation Front
- Siddharth Kara - Author
- Kisan Credit Card
- Debt Conciliation Board
- Mother India
Other South Asia:
General:
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "A $110 loan, then 20 years of debt bondage". CNN. June 2, 2011.
- ^ "Bonded Labor in India".
- ^ "Incidence and Pattern".
- ^ "Indian National Statistics".
- ^ Statement by observer for India to the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (para 81), report [1] September 7, 2006
- ^ SMALL CHANGE: Bonded Child Labor in India's Silk Industry, Human Rights Watch, January 2003 accessed at [2] September 7, 2006
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