The Supreme Court on Monday, November 2, held that the state's constitutional duty to a bonded labourer does not end with that worker's release, and asked the Centre to lay down a uniform procedure requiring payment of financial assistance within seven days of release, The Hindu reported.
Source: The Hindu
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued a series of directions while hearing two petitions, including one filed by a forced-labour survivor, citing delays in financial assistance and institutional deficiencies in identifying and rehabilitating rescued workers. Eradicating forced labour is a “permanent duty”, the bench said, and those released must be meaningfully rehabilitated.
“The constitutional prohibition of forced labour and the statutory measures taken to enforce it cannot remain mere assurances on paper. The release of a bonded labourer cannot be regarded as a discharge of the state's duty if the conditions necessary for a dignified life remain unfulfilled. Identification, release and rehabilitation must therefore be understood as interrelated phases of ongoing constitutional responsibility,” the bench said, as reported by The Hindu.
The court asked the Centre to consider revising the existing rehabilitation programme within three months to increase financial assistance and provide “livelihood support” where payment is delayed. Taking note of the Union government's submission that a revised Standard Operating Procedure was formulated on May 14 for forced-labour cases, the bench directed all states and Union Territories to implement it within six months, and asked the Centre to issue supplementary guidelines within three months in consultation with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Under the procedure the court envisages, complaints of forced labour should usually be verified within 24 hours, with immediate relief where necessary, and a release certificate should usually be issued within 24 hours once a person is identified as a bonded labourer. The bench also addressed workers rescued outside their home states, where poor inter-state coordination delays release and benefits, and said information about release, claims and rehabilitation must be communicated to rescued workers in a language they understand.
State governments were directed to appoint a nodal officer and set up a coordination mechanism within six months, and to ensure monitoring committees are constituted at district and sub-divisional levels as required by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. District Magistrates were asked to facilitate access to employment and livelihood options under existing welfare schemes, and the court called for regular training of police and other enforcing authorities.
Source: The Hindu
The petitions have a long history in the court: in earlier hearings covered by PTI, senior advocate H. S. Phoolka told the court that around 11,000 children had been rescued across states but only 971 had received immediate financial assistance — the delay problem the November 2 directions are aimed at fixing. The court kept the petitions pending to monitor implementation, listing them again after seven months; the Centre must file a compliance affidavit within four months, and states and UTs must comply within six months and file their affidavits within a further two weeks.
Source: PTI