3071-The political economy of new slavery

Krishna Upadhyaya 123
Despite, therefore, having been freed from bondage, traditional caste
relations continue, thus requiring workers to work as forced labour, as
‘prescribed’ by religio-cultural practices. This is enforced by the power
of the upper caste moneyed section of the population. Effectively, therefore,
labourers may simply move from debt-bondage to other forms of
bondage.
Traditionally, in South Asia, a loan is not the liability of an individual,
but of the whole family, chiefly because property is shared among the
children of the household. In view of the children’s filial duties towards
their parents, a loan passes from one generation to the next. With
enforcement by the higher caste and moneyed classes, the children, in
turn, are entrapped into bondage. Muniappa, from Chakka Shandra
village, is aged 45. He started jeeta, earning R15 per year at the age of
seven. He does not know the size of the loan granted to his father by the
landlords. His youngest son has continued as jeeta, replacing his father,
while his other children work as coolie (wage labour). The eldest son is
receiving training in connection with electric wiring, while the younger
son, having recently been released, is taking up traditional work.
The use of males only, both adults and children, in Karnataka, rather
than the whole family as in other areas, is seen as a change in the
system. New and emerging non-traditional types of bondage exist in
other sectors of the community, such as in brick kilns and gem-cutting.
This is due to lack of work in the villages and significant movement
among workers.
Seasonal debt also exists, mainly in sugar cane farming. Often such
debts are repaid by labour, but not everyone achieves this, with the
result that many remain indebted. A difference between the old form of
bondage and the new and emerging forms is shown in the relationship
between the master and his workers. The traditional relationship was
feudal and personal. At the same time, it was very much an extreme form
of exploitation. With the new types of bondage, there is much more of
a business relationship between an employer and his workers. Often,
this work is temporary, with the bonded labourers being migrant and
seasonal.
Nobody knows how many bonded labourers work in agriculture in
India, although there are estimates of the overall number of bonded
labourers. Such estimates, however, vary, with significant differences in
the numbers estimated by the government and by non-governmental
organizations. The government of India maintained: ‘as per reports
received from state governments the total number of bonded labourers
identified and freed was 256,000, of whom 223,000 have been