BONDED LABOUR — ENSLAVED AT THE TENDER AGE

Written By- Pankhuri
Story By: Arushi Narchal

“One day I came back from school and found out that I had to leave home and live in somebody else’s house. I was 12 years old and completely unaware of what would happen next. My father told me that everything would be fine.” Prashant, 16, shares his story when he was a victim of debt bondage. His father is a dairy farmer and earns little to serve the needs of his family. “My mother was severely ill at that time and my father required money for her treatment. He had borrowed 30,000 rupees from a landowner and sent me away to work at his house.”

Prashant’s life took a turn when he dropped out of school in 6th grade and started working as a domestic help at his land owner’s home. “ I used to wake up at 5 am every day and clean the entire house. I would then go to his farms and clean the cowsheds. As time went by, my landlord’s behaviour towards me became very harsh. He would cruelly scold me and deprive me of daily meals for committing minor mistakes. There was this one instance when my body was aching a lot, but my landlord forced me to work by humiliating me in front of everyone. I want to become a teacher when I grow up, but my heart would break when I would see my landowner’s children go to school. I would sit in the corner and cry.”Prashant shared that his owner would not even give him spare time to sit back and relax by overburdening him with work.

“I never thought that my time there would last as long as one year. I stayed there in the hope that my father would come and pick me up. Sometimes, the thought of running away home would also cross my mind but I held myself back for my mother’s health.”

Prashant’s family belongs to Chatrai village of Nuzvid, Andhra Pradesh. As his mother’s health improved, she took another loan to liberate her son from the chains of bonded labour. CASA’s Income Generation Programme (IGP) lent her a helping hand by assisting her in starting a vegetable shop. She was able to rescue her son who now lives peacefully in his modest house. He has been enrolled in CASA’s Bridge Course Centre (BCC) to fill the gap in his education and is planning to sit for his 10th-grade examinations.

“My life has now fallen on track by attending CASA’s Bridge Course Centre. I can now fulfill my dream to become a teacher. My prime goal right now is to clear my 10th-grade examinations. I would never like to see someone else suffer the way I did and indulge in child labour.”

Despite the enactment of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,1976, debt bondage is still prevalent in various marginalised societies of India. Debt bondage is another term replaced for ‘slavery’. Bonded child labour occurs when children are put to work to repay a loan taken by their parents or guardians. The entire process of the system leads to the exploitation of a family, taking advantage of their financial circumstances, and snatching away freedom from their children.

CASA’s CLFZ project has assisted many families that have suffered on similar lines like Prashant’s. Inculcating the importance of education and poverty alleviation are the prime objectives of CASA’s CLFZ project. By creating a positive channel, CASA is striving towards the upliftment of the vulnerable by providing free education and sustainable livelihood options.