Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CHENNAI609
2005-04-05 06:43:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Chennai
Cable title:  

SLOW PROGRESS ON BONDED LABOR IN TAMIL NADU

Tags:  ELAB PHUM ECON KCRM PGOV SOCI IN 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000609 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

INL/AAE FOR WILLIAM WRIGHT
G/TIP FOR MARK TAYLOR AND SALLY NEUMANN
SA FOR JENELLE KRISHNAMOORTHY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ECON KCRM PGOV SOCI IN
SUBJECT: SLOW PROGRESS ON BONDED LABOR IN TAMIL NADU

REF: 00 CHENNAI 01411

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000609

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

INL/AAE FOR WILLIAM WRIGHT
G/TIP FOR MARK TAYLOR AND SALLY NEUMANN
SA FOR JENELLE KRISHNAMOORTHY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ECON KCRM PGOV SOCI IN
SUBJECT: SLOW PROGRESS ON BONDED LABOR IN TAMIL NADU

REF: 00 CHENNAI 01411


1. (U) SUMMARY: Although the government of Tamil Nadu
acknowledges the problem of bonded labor and has done more
to address the issue than other Indian states, progress on
its elimination in the state has been slow. Enforcement of
laws against the practice has been inconsistent due to
competing priorities and a view that the issue is more a
social than a criminal matter. END SUMMARY

--------------
BACKGROUND ON BONDED LABOR
--------------


2. (U) Estimates of bonded laborers in Tamil Nadu range from
25,000 to one million. The 25,000 figure is an estimate
from the Tamil Nadu Special Officer for Release and
Rehabilitation of Bonded Labor and the one million figure is
from a two-member commission, appointed by the Supreme Court
in 1995 to study the issue. The NGO Human Rights Watch
recently seconded the one million figure. The Bonded Labor
System (Abolition) Act of 1976, a national law, defines
bonded labor as a system "under which the debtor or his
descendents or dependents have to work for the creditor
without reasonable wages or with no wages at all in order to
extinguish the debt." The Act makes the practice illegal
and establishes punishment for employers of bonded labor of
up to three years in jail and a fine of 2,000 Rupees
(roughly 44 USD). Enforcement of the law, however, has been
weak.

-------------- --------------
PROTESTS AND A PUBLIC HEARING ON RICE MILL BONDED LABORERS
-------------- --------------


3. (U) With the help of the labor union Sarpam, hundreds of
rice mill workers in the Red Hills area of north Chennai
staged a demonstration in September 2004 to protest
unhygienic working conditions and limited access to basic
amenities in the workplace. The laborers complained that
they earned 15 rupees a day (about 34 cents) for working a
19-hour day processing rice. This compares with 85 rupees
(approximately 1.88 USD) for an eight-hour day as required
by minimum wage provisions. One of the laborers told

reporters, "If one demanded a wage increase, he would be
abused if not assaulted."


4. (U) At the request of the NGO, "Women's Struggle
Committee," the former Chairperson of the National
Commission for Women (NCW),Poornima Advani, and the former
Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women
(TNSCW),Vasanthi Devi, held a public hearing on bonded
labor in the rice mills in October 2004 at Red Hills in the
Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. About 500 bonded
laborers appeared at the hearing and nine women, two men and
nine children victims provided testimony. Eight other
victims filed written affidavits. They told the panel that
about 10,000 bonded laborers in the rice mills in Red Hills
lacked basic needs such as drinking water, lights and
toilets.

--------------
SOME LIMITED PROGRESS FOLLOWS
--------------


5. (U) The outcome of the protests and subsequent public
hearing was a reaffirmation by government officials that
appropriate bonded labor and minimum wage laws exist and
that enforcement is the responsibility of the district
collectors. In a follow-up conversation after the hearings,
the Tiruvallur Revenue Divisional Officer told Pol FSN that
his district has prosecuted 15 rice mill owners and
registered 248 rice mills under the Factory Act that ensures
a minimum wage and other facility minimum standards.
Authorities fined each of the employers at these rice mills
2,000 rupees (about 44 USD) and each served one day in jail.
The Women's Struggle Committee told Post recently that the
rice mills registered under the Factory Act were now paying
the required minimum wage, but paying it for 12 hours of
work rather than the lawful eight hours.

-------------- --------------
NGOS ARE ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS IN FIGHTING BONDED LABOR
-------------- --------------


6. (U) Local NGOs have been active in combating bonded
labor. International Justice Mission (IJM) seeks to address
the problem by taking legal action on behalf of bonded
laborers and against employers. Working with district
collectors, they have organized a series of "raids" on rice
mills. Since the demonstration in 2004, IJM has
successfully released 35 bonded labor families from the rice
mills. Another NGO, the Women's Struggle Committee, seeks
to establish alternative work and housing arrangements for
former bonded laborers to prevent a return to a life of
bonded labor following release. Geetha Ramakrishna, advisor
to the Women's Struggle Committee, told Post, "It's a
vicious circle. The lack of regulatory mechanisms and
alternate jobs often compel workers to go back to bondage."
The INDUS Project, a cooperative project effort of the U.S.
Department of Labor, the International Labor Organization
and the Government of India seeks to combat child labor in
Tamil Nadu and other Indian states. Many of the children
assisted by the project are bonded laborers.

--------------
INEFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT SLOWS PROGRESS
--------------


7. (U) Although the law provides for penalties for employers
of bonded labor, employers are rarely prosecuted. District
collectors who are responsible for enforcement often have
more fundamental law and order concerns that they consider
to be higher priorities. Government, law enforcement and
even public attitudes toward bonded labor are also an issue.
John Richmond, Director of IJM, told post that the practice
of bonded labor is "not culturally unacceptable" in south
India. As an example, in the case of the rice mills in
Tiruvallur, district administration played the role of a
mediator between the owners and the laborers rather than
treating the employment of bonded labor as a criminal
offense as required by the law. In general, Tamil Nadu's
bonded labor program is focused on release and
rehabilitation of bonded labor rather than prosecution of
employers. The penalty of 2,000 rupees and one day in jail
that was assessed on the Red Hills rice mills owners
suggests a reluctance take strong action against the
employers of bonded labor who are often important local
figures and well connected politically.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: Tamil Nadu was a pioneer state in seeking
to abolish bonded labor. The state conducted the first-ever
systematic survey of bonded labor and under the leadership
of an aggressive Special Commissioner for Bonded Labor,
P.W.C. Davidar, made good initial progress before Davidar's
departure from the position. But more recently, lax
enforcement of laws prohibiting the practice has resulted in
only slow additional progress. Social activists claim that
the state government and district administration become
involved only when the issue becomes politicized as it did
after the protests and subsequent hearing in the Red Hills
area outside Chennai. NGOs are playing a useful role in
addressing the problem but real and permanent progress in
eliminating the practice of bonded labor will come only when
the attitude and actions of district collectors change. END
COMMENT.

HAYNES