Delink relief to bonded labour victims, criminal proceedings outcome: NHRC

New Delhi, Dec 15 The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Central and state governments to delink the issue of relief package from the outcome of the criminal proceedings in the case as the victim has no control nor is associated in the trial.

Expressing serious concern over the inordinate delay in the release of relief package to the victims of bonded labour, the apex human rights panel has issued a fresh advisory to the Centre, states and UTs asking them to implement the recommendation of delinking the issue of relief package from the outcome of the criminal proceedings and file the action taken report within 90 days.

As regards the prevalence of bonded labour, it said that the focus of the state and district level functionaries should not only be limited to brick kilns alone but also in domains where bonded labour system has manifested itself in newer forms like in construction industry, shopping malls, call centres, massage parlours, etc.

The newer forms of bonded labour need to be identified for providing relief to them as per the existing Act and scheme, said the commission in a statement.

The proposed National Portal on Bonded Labour should, inter alia, include rehabilitation data, details of visit and functioning of Vigilance Committees, data obtained from the state Labour Departments, data relating to surveys, data on advancement of cash and non-cash benefits to the bonded labour, pending criminal cases and date of initiation and outcome and features of case management.

In context of non-cash assistance, the District Magistrate is to ensure that the benefits available under CSS-2016 such as allotment of house site and agricultural land, land development, provision of low-cost dwelling units, animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, piggery, wage employment, enforcement of minimum wages among others.

In its advisory to the Centre and states, the commission has asked to identify households in extreme vulnerable conditions so as to prevent any instance of bonded labour by providing them with free ration, healthcare and other social security cover to the vulnerable and the marginalised communities.

The commission has also asked to fix the accountability of the officers and bridging the gaps in the implementation of the legal provisions. The registration of informal workers on e-Shram portal has also been asked to be simplified besides the process of creation and recoupment of corpus funds thereof.