Forced labour and modern-day slavery

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Portable insurance schemes are important, but they are not enough. Workers also need job creation, decent working conditions, equal pay, gender equality, the elimination of forced labour and child labour, an end to modern-day slavery, and the protection of their rights and the welfare of their families.

Unfortunately, India missed a great opportunity to protect worker rights and advance the welfare of workers during the G-20 summit, despite the G-20’s Labour 20 (L20), a coalition of G20 leaders concerned about workers, holding two meetings in India.

Indian Work force

• India is the world’s largest migrant-sending country, with an estimated 13 million workers abroad.

1. 1. Of these, an estimated nine million are working in exploitative conditions in the Arab Gulf.

• According to the Walk Free Foundation, there are an estimated 27 million people trapped in modern-day slavery in G-20 countries, of whom 11 million are in India.
• But the exploitation of Indian workers is not limited to the Arab Gulf. In India itself, workers in a number of industries, including textiles, brick kilns, shrimp farming, copper manufacturing, stone cutting, and plantations, face forced labour and modern-day slavery.

The serious issues faced by workers/labours in India are:

• Forced labour
• Modern-day slavery
• The kafala system in the Arab gulf

Arab Gulf countries- labour system

The kafala system in the Arab gulf:

• Where some nine million Indians are working under exploitative working
  conditions.
• Which ties migrant workers to their employers.
• This system makes it difficult for migrant workers to leave their jobs or
  change employers
• It increases the risk of forced labour and modern-day slavery.

Labour Inside India

Constitutional and legal Provisions

The Indian Constitution includes several articles related to labour, including:

• Article 21, which guarantees the right to livelihood
• Article 23, which prohibits forced labour and trafficking in human beings
• Article 24, which prohibits child labour for children under 14
• Article 39 (d), which ensures equal pay for equal work for both men and
  women

The Indian government has also enacted several laws to protect the working class,
including:

• Industrial Disputes Act
• ESI Act
• Factories Act
• Minimum Wages Act

Problems

• Recent investigative experience of forced labour in the shrimp industry in Andhra Pradesh suggests that workers who are paid less or unpaid for overtime, under the threat of being fired if they ask for it, are victims of forced labour.
• Workers who are forced to work until they have paid off a loan, they took from the company are also victims of forced labour.
• There are 530 million workers, of whom 430 million are in the informal sector, who are prone to different forms of exploitation, especially forced labour.
• India missed the ideal opportunity during the Delhi summit to protect the rights of workers and ensure their welfare.

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