India home to 1.83 crore modern slaves

The reports by the Australian human rights group suggests that, in India, modern slavery in the form of child labourers, sex workers, domestic workers, beggars and bonded labourers remains a major cause for concern.

 

Globally nearly 4.6 crore people are said to be living under bondage and whopping 39 percent of them live in India.

 

Bonded labourers at the global level were said to be around 3.5 crore in the year 2014 and at 1.4 crore India houses about half of them.

 

Just last week around 328 bonded labourers were rescued from a brick kiln in Tamil Nadu, these hapless workers were  made to work 12 hours a day at a paltry salary of Rs 20 per day.

 

However, as a result of economic growth, poverty rates across the region have fallen, notably in India and China.

 

In March 2016, members of parliament from 13 Asia-Pacific nations, including, India, Bangladesh,  Nepal, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea, endorsed the Kathmandu Declaration to end child marriage in South Asia

 

But India is yet to finalise the National Strategy on Prevention of Child Marriage. Forced and child marriage persists in countries throughout the region, particularly in India.  “A similar sex imbalance, resulting in an absence of available brides in India, has fuelled the trafficking of women for forced marriage,” the survey reveals.

 

Sadly, in India, there are allegations that some corrupt law enforcement officials have connections to human trafficking rings, receiving bribes to ensure the protection of traffickers, reveals the report.

 

It is the moral, political, socio-economic responsibility of governments to eliminate slavery, a blot on modern society. Governments should bring in stringent laws in their regions and work for its elimination, says Andrew Phorest, Chairman of Walkfree Foundation.

 

Union cabinet minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi, however, disagrees with the report. “I don’t know whether they are doing it deliberately or not. But I can say they don’t know how to analyse slavery. NGO has termed every Dai (midwife), Aya (domestic help) and other servants as modern day slaves. It’s totally wrong,” she told reporters at Hindustan Times.