Bonded labour
Topic: Employment, Unemployment and Informalisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Bonded labour is forced work done to repay a debt or an advance. The worker has no freedom to leave until the debt is cleared, and the debt often passes from parents to children. It was abolished by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. Article 23 of the Constitution bans forced labour as a Fundamental Right. Even so, debt bondage still persists.
Example
A family takes a cash advance from a brick-kiln owner. The whole family then works at the kiln for years, cannot leave, and the debt never seems to end. This pattern is still found in brick kilns and agriculture.
Don't confuse with
- Contract labour: workers hired through a contractor. They get lower wages and little job security, but they are free to leave.
Related concepts
- Labour laws
- Tripartism
- Floor wage
- Fair wage
- Living wage
- Need-based minimum wage
- Lay-off
- Retrenchment
- Hire and fire
- Standing orders