Bonded labour can be tackled by addressing the root causes of bondage, eliminating the conditions that perpetrate bondage and by effective implementation of the law, said experts present at the National Meeting on Abolition of Bonded labour organised jointly by Ministry of labour and Employment (MolE) and the International labour Organisation (IlO).
Bonded labour in India is abolished by law, but still persists, though the forms of bondage have changed.
While recognising the above, a joint initiative of the Ministry of labour and Employment, State labour Departments and the IlO was also launched in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh to bring about a significant reduction in household vulnerability to bondage in India through the promotion of Decent Work.
The challenge of interstate coordination for seasonal migrants who are most vulnerable to bondage has been addressed by the defining the roles and responsibilities of sending and receiving States in form of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which are signed between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (June 2012) and between Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Bihar (February 2013).