International Day for Abolition of Slavery: India Still Exploits Forced Labour

My investigations have found that workers and inter-state migrants continue to be subjected to modern-day slavery.

According to the International Labour Organisation's India Employment Report 2024, employment in India is dominated by poor-quality employment in the informal sector and informal employment.

Photo: Chetan Bhakuni / The Quint

Sanjay Raj (name changed) was just 21 years old when financial struggles forced him to leave his home in 2022 and migrate to Andhra Pradesh to work in the shrimp industry. With his father gravely ill, farming losses mounting, and poverty tightening its grip on his family, Sanjay saw no choice but to move—helped by a friend—to one of the many shrimp companies along the Andhra coast.

Once there, he became an invisible worker. With no written job contract or official payroll record, Sanjay joined the ranks of countless others who operate in the shadows of this billion-dollar industry. Despite working 8-10 hours a day, he is paid for only eight—wages that are far below Andhra Pradesh’s legal minimum. His status as an undocumented worker excludes him from essential benefits like the Provident Fund, Employees' State Insurance (ESI), and the rights and protections guaranteed under the Factories Act 1948.

Sanjay’s story is not unique—it represents the stark reality of forced labour in India’s industrial workers, where exploitation thrives unchecked in the absence of enforcement and accountability.

Despite being a factory worker in an institution bound by the Factories Act of 1948, which mandates decent working conditions, rights, and benefits for workers like Sanjay, modern-day slavery and forced labour remain rampant.

Workers like Sanjay are casual labourers—often referred to as the invisible workforce—who are excluded from payrolls and denied access to any benefits. Unfortunately, these workers are the ones most vulnerable to modern-day slavery and forced labour.

According to the Economic Survey 2024-24, in India, casual labour accounts for 21.8 percent of the total workforce of 56.5 crore, amounting to approximately 10 crore individuals.

From my on-ground investigations into forced labour across various sectors, I have found that the number of workers, especially inter-state migrants, subjected to modern-day slavery and forced labour conditions is likely quite high. This is because many workers in the organised sector are effectively working under conditions similar to those of unorganised labour.

According to the International Labour Organisation's India Employment Report 2024, “Employment in India is predominantly self-employment and casual employment. Nearly 82 percent of the workforce engages in the informal sector, and nearly 90 percent is informally employed. Due to the nature of employment growth since 2019, the share of total employment, which is in the informal sector and/or in informal employment, increased.”

In a recent investigation into forced labour in the steel industry, I found that 90 percent of the workforce comprises interstate migrants who are systematically denied written contracts, decent working conditions, protective gear, insurance coverage, and other essential social security measures. These workers also face unjust salary deductions for minor infractions. In blatant violation of the Factories Act of 1948, their fundamental rights and protections are disregarded with impunity.

According to the ILO, an alarming 27.6 million men, women, and children are trapped in forced labour worldwide. Shockingly, 63 percent of this exploitation occurs within the private economy, generating a staggering $236 billion in illegal profits each year. Despite the gravity of the issue, only 60 countries have ratified the ILO Forced Labour Protocol, underscoring the urgent need for stronger global commitment to combat this pervasive human rights violation.

India had ratified ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29 on 30 November 1954, and enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act passed by both Houses of Parliament in February 1976, with effect from 25 October 1975, the day on which the President of India promulgated an ordinance on the subject. The subject of elimination of forced/bonded labour figured as item No. 4 in a 20-point economic programme announced by the then PM to the nation on 1 July 1975, which read, “bonded labour system wherever it exists shall be declared illegal”.

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 provides an institutional mechanism at the District and Sub-Divisional level of the State Government in the form of Vigilance Committees, which are responsible for the identification of bonded labour and the bonded labour system.

As per Section 13 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, every State Government is under mandatory obligation to constitute Vigilance Committees in each District and each sub-division as it may think fit. Enactment of a central law dealt a lethal blow to the century-old pernicious system found in different forms in different parts of the country and brought it under the umbrella of one legal framework with clarity, uniformity and precision.

Additionally, the Constitution of India prohibits forced and bonded labour (Article 23). There are several other provisions in the Constitution, which are in consonance with the spirit of Article 23. They are: Article 19 (right to freedom), Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), Article 24 (prohibition of employment of children in factories, mines and other forms of hazardous work), Article 38 (the State to secure a social order for the promotion of the welfare of the people).

Government data reveals that, since 1976, a little over 313,000 bonded labourers have been rescued in India, with 293,725 successfully rehabilitated. Unfortunately, the details of 19,962 bonded labourers are unavailable for rehabilitation, as they either passed away or left without providing their addresses.

In 2016, the government informed Parliament that bonded labour would be abolished in India within 15 years, by 2030. It is estimated that 1.84 crore bonded labourers will be rescued and rehabilitated by then. This means that, on average, 12,20,000 bonded labourers would need to be rescued annually, which is not happening.

That target will likely be missed, and bonded labour will continue in India.

(Rejimon Kuttappan is an independent journalist, labour migration specialist and author of Undocumented [Penguin 2021]. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)