In his message of freedom to the rescued bond workers, the Labor Superintendent declared, “Now you are free to live your lives the way you desire and no one can harm you.”
17 families, totaling 81 workers, had been forced to work the agricultural lands of a few landlords. The landowners used the antiquated Kamiaya system to compel and demand labor from these households, including their underage children.
The Kamaiya system is often upheld culturally and arises from an unjust debt relationship. It works like this: after failing to repay a loan in cash by the due date, a debtor—a member of a poor and illiterate community—becomes a slave of the lender, a local landowner. The laborers were restricted from looking for employment elsewhere and lived in constant terror of their landowners.
Additionally, they were forced to live in a rustic settlement and walk to and from the fields. They worked without leave and were paid with a meager fraction of the produce. The laborers managed the harvests for the landowners as well as other jobs like cleaning homes, doing laundry, and herding cattle. Even when sick they were made to work despite their illnesses, and they frequently suffered physical violence, especially when they tried to defend themselves.
This case was originally brought to light in 2020. Over the course of these two years, JVI and partner staff built relationships with the families, brought the matter to the National Human Rights Commission to investigate, and worked with local authorities to pursue the case. The families were finally saved on August 27, 2022—just eleven days after India’s Independence Day.
The suspects have been detained, and JVI and partners will continue to pursue justice on behalf of the survivors while also providing for their aftercare. The Labor Superintendent gave his personal contact information to the survivors, encouraging them to get in touch with him if they were ever threatened again.
