West Bengal remains destination and source of Bonded Labour

West Bengal faces ongoing challenges with bonded labour, affecting migrant workers and youth from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha.

On February 9, when the country was observing 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act Chamru Majhi, his wife, and their children were rescued from the Moni Brick Kiln in Aranghata, Nadia. The rescue was a joint effort of several departments, including Secretary, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) — Nadia Bidushi Tsering Lepcha and officials at the Taherpur Police Station in Nadia district.

The brick kiln is located in a remote area surrounded by fields and water bodies, approximately 9.6 km away, and is known to employ mostly migrant workers from Bihar and Jharkhand. After the rescue intervention of the administration, an FIR was registered.

Hailing from Hussainabad Sheikhpura in Bihar, the Majhi family had been trapped in second-generation bonded labour for the past 17 years. The family was held under an advance bondage system after accepting ₹35,000 from a labour contractor, forcing all family members—including three minor children—to work in the kiln.

The rescue is a reflection of the status of bonded labour in West Bengal, where the State remains both a source and destination for bonded labour. Several brick kilns and other small industrial units act as the destination for the bonded labour particularly from Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. In March 2025, twenty-eight children were rescued from two brick kilns in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal.

A 2020 report estimated that West Bengal has around 11,000 brick kilns employing nearly 0.8 million workers. The study documented low daily wages, long working hours, restrictions on workers leaving kiln premises during the season, and limited access to healthcare and maternity benefits.

Also read: India’s shame — the trap of bonded labour