The average unpaid wage per worker was around Rs 32,500, compared with an average debt of just Rs 5,300 – a clear indication that withholding wages is a primary tool of control, not debt itself.

A sweeping survey of rescued bonded labourers has exposed systemic failures in India’s efforts to eradicate one of the most egregious forms of modern exploitation, revealing that marginalised communities disproportionately bear the brunt of debt bondage and that rehabilitation mechanisms routinely fall short of legal guarantees.

The report, released by the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour (NCCEBL), draws on detailed surveys of 950 rescued bonded workers and qualitative interviews with another 1,000 workers across 19 states, painting a stark picture of caste-based exclusion, economic coercion, and institutional indifference that keeps millions trapped in illegal work arrangements.

Caste and Bondage: A Disturbing Overlap

The survey shows that nearly two out of every three rescued bonded workers (63 per cent) belong to Scheduled Caste communities, with another 13 per cent from Scheduled Tribes and 24 per cent from Other Backward Classes. This heavy over-representation underscores the enduring link between caste hierarchies and labour exploitation.

“Historically oppressed and denied access to land, education, and secure livelihoods, SC communities remain systematically pushed into the most exploitative and unprotected forms of labour,” the NCCEBL report states. Despite constitutional safeguards and anti-atrocity laws, caste-based discrimination often remains unchallenged.

Migrant Workers Vulnerable to Exploitation

More than 98 per cent of the workers surveyed were migrants, drawn from their home states by the promise of better work only to be ensnared in exploitative conditions. Experts say lack of formal documentation, unfamiliarity with legal protections, and absence of inter-state labour rights leave migrants especially vulnerable to coercive labour practices.

In many cases, recruitment involves dubious advances and fabricated debts that workers cannot ever repay, obligating them to work for employers under conditions amounting to modern bondage.

Wage Theft and Debt Coercion

Central to the cycle of bondage is the prevalence of wage theft. More than half of the rescued workers reported that they were never paid their wages, despite employers demanding repayment of alleged debts. The average unpaid wage per worker was around Rs 32,500, compared with an average debt of just Rs 5,300 – a clear indication that withholding wages is a primary tool of control, not debt itself.

This aspect – where unpaid wages dwarf any legitimate debt – challenges the traditional narrative that debt alone defines bonded labour and highlights how economic coercion is maintained through systemic violation of basic labour rights.

Women’s Suffering and Child Labour

The gendered dimensions of bonded labour emerge sharply in the report. While 54 per cent of the rescued workers were men and 46 per cent women, women faced additional abuses, including sexual harassment and denial of reproductive healthcare services. Access to maternal and child health support – such as services provided by ASHA and Anganwadi workers – was severely limited, leaving women particularly exposed.

The survey also uncovered that 55 of the rescued workers were children, including a two-year-old from a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh, illustrating how entire families, including children, are ensnared by economic desperation and lack of protective systems. More than half of these children had no access to formal education, a key factor that deepens inter-generational cycles of exploitation.

Rehabilitation: Promise vs. Reality

Under India’s Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, bonded labour is a criminal offence, and rescued workers are legally entitled to rehabilitation assistance, including cash benefits, land, housing, and livelihood support.

However, the NCCEBL survey found that over 80 per cent of rescued workers did not have a First Information Report (FIR) registered, a prerequisite to hold exploiters legally accountable. Moreover, 63 per cent did not receive interim financial assistance, and many received only a fraction of the amount promised under the central sector scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labour (2021).

For example:

• 53 per cent of rescued children received no financial rehabilitation.
• 25 per cent of women received no assistance, and 42 per cent received only Rs 20,000.
• 27 per cent of men received nothing, and 41 per cent got only Rs 20,000.

Barriers Beyond Cash: Access to Rights Denied

Rehabilitation on paper includes access to food security and welfare schemes, but implementation falls short. A quarter of rescued workers lacked ration cards, essential to access subsidised food, and 75 per cent faced barriers redeeming them due to their migrant status. Additionally, 85 per cent of workers had no building and other construction workers (BOCW) welfare cards, locking them out of social security benefits.

Employment support schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) also failed to reach the majority, leaving newly rescued workers without viable alternatives and pushing many back into exploitative labour.

Low Wages and Continued Vulnerability

Perhaps the most alarming finding is that one in three rescued workers currently earns less than ₹200 per day, well below statutory minimum wages. Nearly 94 per cent of those surveyed had been pulled from brick kilns, with others dispersed across agriculture and construction – sectors notorious for lax regulation and unsafe conditions.

This chronic underpayment and lack of enforcement of labour laws point to deeper systemic issues: weak regulatory frameworks, insufficient state accountability, and a labour justice system that prioritises administrative metrics over workers’ lived realities.

A Long Road to Actual Abolition

Despite government promises – including symbolic gestures, such as inviting rescued bonded workers to India’s Independence Day celebrations – the ground reality remains grim. As this new evidence shows, eradicating bonded labour by the 2030 target requires not just rescue operations but robust, rights-based rehabilitation mechanisms, legal enforcement, and targeted social protection for the most marginalised.

Without addressing caste-based exclusion, wage theft, and post-rescue reintegration, millions of workers will continue to slide back into exploitation, making India’s pledge to abolish bonded labour an aspiration yet to be realised.

Image: ActionAid India