- (1.) As per the facts stated in the memo of writ petition the petitioner is an organisation dedicated to the cause of release of bonded labourers in the country. The system of bonded labour has been prevalent in various parts of the country since long prior to the attainment of freedom and it constitutes an ugly and shameful feature of our national life. This pernicious practice of bonded labour existed in many States and obviously with the ushering in of independence, it could not be allowed to continue to blight the national life any longer and hence, when we framed our Constitution we enacted Article 23 of the Constitution which prohibits "traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour" practised by anyone. It was only in 1976 that Parliament enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 providing for the abolition of bonded labour system with a view to preventing the economic and physical exploitation of the weaker sections of the people.
(2.) By way of the present writ petition I am getting an opportunity to decide the cause of the bonded labours. Smt. Madhuri Singh, State President of Bonded Liberation Front Rajasthan has filed the present writ petition for getting released the bonded labourers working in the mines at Ramganj Mandi, District Kota. The names, of bonded labourers arc mentioned in Schcdule-A annexed with the writ petition.
(3.) In the writ petition it is stated that the persons named in Schedule -A are working in the mines situated at Ramganj Mandi in District Kota. Various companies have taken the land on lease from the State Government. In para 5 of the writ petition, the petitioner has given names of few of the companies. It is very sorry state cf affairs that the Government in spite of knowing the condition of the bonded labourers, has not taken any steps. It has been further stated in the writ petition that the mine owners give serious beating to the bonded labourers. In the mines, there arc no safety measures adopted and further no medical first aid facility is also made available. It has been categorically slated that these bonded labourers are not provided with the benefits of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Inter State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, Mines Act, 1952, Minimum Wages Act, 1947, Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923. The petitioner has further mentioned in the writ petition that the mine owners give a small amount of loan to the workers at the lime of engaging them and thereafter the labourers pay original debt which may never be repaid in full. They are not able to earn even the train fare back to their home villages. The contractors do not let them go either. The cycle goes on. They are the citizens of an independent country, but at their places of work, they are slaves to the will of their owners. They arc paid no wages, have no fixed hours of work. Let aside the rights of labourers, they do not enjoy even the basic human rights. Surviving on the 'benevolence' of their master, they are at his complete mercy.;