3071-The political economy of new slavery

120 Bonded Labour in South Asia
to districts bordering India. These social segregations, cultural practices,
political moves and economic conditions reinforced and sustained
bonded labour in the traditional agricultural economy. It is, therefore,
very much a system. Nevertheless, it has not been static. The changes in
labour practices have led to ‘new’, ‘non-traditional’ or ‘emerging’ forms
of bonded labour, particularly in services, rural industries and primary
sources, such as mining and quarrying. These changes can be attributed
to the expanding foreign markets for Indian products like stone for
gravestones and, in some cases, investments by multinational companies
in industries like silk.
A final distinction to be made is the variation in the types of labour
in use in different sectors and countries. They include family labour,
migrant labour, child labour and individual male and female labour. Those
working may be permanent or seasonal and locals or migrant.
Incidence of bondage in different sectors of the economy
Agriculture
Bonded labour was first reported in agriculture in the Indian state of
Bihar in 1858. Bonded labourers were known as kamauti. Now, bonded
labourers are known as kaimaiya, kamiyah, haruwahi, kandh in Bihar
and haliah in Orissa, harwashee or kamiya in Madhya Pradesh, hali in
Uttar Pradesh and in Maharastra (Robertson and Misra, 1997). Naukari
is another name they are given in Maharastra, whereas it is vatti in
Rajasthan. In South India, they are called gothi, halia or jeetam in
Andhra Pradesh, and jeeta in Karnataka (Menon, 1997). All these terms,
however, literally mean ‘ploughman’ or ‘worker’.
Labourers are ‘contracted’ to work for their masters under the condition
of bondage when they become indebted to them. This indebtedness
can occur for different reasons, according to the time and place.
In some places, the traditional system remains intact. Elsewhere, changes
have taken place with time and changes in the rural economy. Usually,
‘low caste’ or dalits, who undertake ‘polluted’ work in the field, are easy
victims of such a system.
A typical example of such a situation is Gujarat during the 1960s
(ASI, 2002b). During this period, an extreme form of labour relationship
between landlords and labourers existed in Gujarat villages. In the rural
setting, only certain types of people were deployed for ‘unclean’ and
‘polluted’ work. The workers who, in many cases, eventually became
bonded, were mainly dalits or other ‘low caste’ people. The caste rules
played an important role in their selection. This indicates that bonded