Bonded labour persists as modern-day slavery despite five-decade-old law Premium

Despite a 50-year-old law, bonded labour persists in Tamil Nadu, highlighting the urgent need for stronger enforcement against modern slavery.

It started with ₹5,000. Shanmugam, a native of Tiruttani in Tiruvallur district, needed the money for his sister’s wedding. The eldest and only brother in the family, he had to take care of all his three sisters’ weddings. While inviting a relative to the wedding in 2009, he was asked how he planned to fund the event. “Through loans from the village,” Mr. Shanmugam responded. The relative then recommended a wealthy person nearby who could give him a loan that he could work off later.

Mr. Shanmugam took his advice. After the wedding, he began working off his debt at a brick kiln in Vellore. He was given a place to stay and a weekly wage of ₹300. He was then told to bring his family; so, his wife Latha and their three-year-old son and six-month-old daughter joined him. As Mr. Shanmugam worked, his son would help by throwing sand on the bricks to help them dry. Ms. Latha, who was not paid any wages, also toiled at the kiln, after which she went over to their employer’s house to perform domestic chores.

“I thought I would have some money left over after the deductions for the loan. But at the end of one year, when I asked my employer how much I had left to repay, he told me it was ₹19,000 with interest,” said Mr. Shanmugam, who soon began to realise that there was no way out.

On February 9, 2026, it will be 50 years since the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was enacted. Although the Act was passed in February 1976, it was given retrospective effect from October 1975 to abolish the bonded labour system and prevent the economic and physical exploitation of people from marginalised sections of society. According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Labour, Textile, and Skill Development for 2024-2025, as many as 2,95,795 people have been rescued from bonded labour since 1978.

A brick kiln near Ramanathapuram. File | Photo Credit: L. Balachandar

A person rescued from bonded labour is entitled to an initial compensation of ₹30,000, a release certificate, and rehabilitation measures such as land, voter ID, and Aadhaar card, among others. Once their cases see conviction in court, they would receive the final compensation of ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh.