Empowering bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalits and adivasis to eradicate bonded labour.
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Ending Global Slavery: Everyday Heroes Leading the Way competition.
Building up the agency of bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalit and adivasi youth to take action against bonded labour.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
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Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Sector Focus
Civil society
Year the initative began (yyyy)
1983
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Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Vulnerability of targeted populations
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Increase community resilience
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
Government apathy and inaction to implement The Bonded Labour system Abolition Act, 1976. This barrier is attempted to be overcome by continuous lobbying and advocacy with the government agencies through the leadership of bonded labourers themselves and the groups that are vulnerable to bonded labour like dalits (the ‘untouchables’ in Indian society- they form the lowest rung in the caste hierarchy), adivasis (literally means indigenous people) and landless agricultural workers. For this a movement of dalit and adivsi youth is built up in Karnataka with the name of JEEVIKA - Jeeta Vimukti Karnataka since 1993. the dalit and adivasi youth take up a number of programmes and activities regarding lobbying and advocacy with government agencies to implement the Act on bonded labour and to conscientise and organise dalits, adivasis, villagers and general public. For those purposes they take up a number of activities like regurlar surveying of bonded labour and making the identified bonded labourers file affidavits for their release and rehabilitation to the various authorities concerned; bring pressure on the those authorities to take action according to the law on behalf those bonded labourers who have filed their affidavits; carrying on regular cultural programmes; secure various poverty alleviation programmes for the benefit of bonded labourers and agricultural workers; bu9ild up Self help groups among women in the families of bonded labourers and agricultural workers; work towards universalization of quality elementary education; promote scientific temper and cultural diversity; promote access to health care and herbal medicine; promote sustainable ecology and so on. A National Alliance on Bonded Labour (NABoL) is also promoted since 2007 to bring together various organisations and movements working on bonded labour in the country and to strengthen their involvement on bonded labour. In Karnataka, bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers are formed into a trade union since 1990 which has been registered in 1997. The union takes up various rights issues of bonded labourers and agricultural workers like the implementation of minimum and equal wages, right to education, right to information, right to housing, right to food, right to work and right to drinking water. They also take part in Panchayat Raj institutions, especially in getting elected to Gram Panchayata and in seeing that the funds for development reach the intended beneficiaries.
Name Your Project
Empowering bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalits and adivasis to eradicate bonded labour.
Describe Your Idea
Building up the agency of bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalit and adivasi youth to take action against bonded labour.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Building up the agency of bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalit and adivasi youth to take action against bonded labour.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
From the very beginning of taking up the first initiatives on bonded labour in Karnataka, dalit youth were involved on a voluntary basis and as a movement. The first initiative was to get the correct data on bonded labour in the entire taluk through a scientific survey and analysis. Hence the emphasis from the beginning on action oriented research and research backed action in our movement. Once the data was gathered and analysed, the data was taken up almost simultaneously in a two pronged action, which characterises all the activities of the movement to this day. The two pronged action was lobbying with the government to make it commit to action on bonded labour according to the law and organising and conscientizing bonded labourers identified in the different villages in the taluk of Anekal, Bangalore Urban district. [A taluk is a sub-district under a revenue administrator called tahsildar]. After the survey, each of the identified bonded labourers were motivated and guided to file applications for their release and rehabilitation to the district magistrate. A prominent dalit leader and initiator and ideologue of the the dalit movement in Karnataka who was just then nominated to the Karnataka legislature was persuaded to raise a question on bonded labour in the legislature based on the data of the survey. The bonded labourers in the different villages were formed into organizations/union in their villages. They were brought together for trainings on leadership and social analysis and for struggles to secure their rights.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
A team of 7 to 15 committed dalit and adivasi youth are identified in a taluk. They are given sufficient orientations and trainings on bonded labour Act, social analysis and leadership skills and empowered to take up action action on behalf of the bonded labourers in their taluks. The bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers in the taluk are formed into a union with units in a village and at the taluk level. They are made to gather for weekly meetings where in the presence of Jeevika activists they discuss their issues and find ways to mitigate them. The activists take up their case with the concerned authorities. The union leaders and members are also given regular trainings at the taluk level and also at the state level and empowered to take up action on their own behalf.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
Right now the Jeevika activists and the union leaders carry out various activities in association with each other almost merging the two identities. The union will be guided to become totally independent to plan and execute its activities. The union members being very vulnerable and very poor, are not in a position to mobilise the financial resources from their own contributions. Some sort of support requires to mobilised to support their livelihood concerns and also to support their struggles. The Jeevika activists being from dalit and adivasi communities are likewise very poor. Some means will be found to strengthen their livelihood sources. They have already been trained in a number of areas in which they themselves can be trainers and can take up various activities. The Jeevika activists in each taluk, nearly twenty, are enabled to register their own societies. This will help them to mobilise resources from the government agencies in the Gram Panchayats, their taluks and districts. Informal groups of dalit and adivasi youth are promoted in almost all the taluks in Karnataka state. All these groups form the Jeevika network. The movement and the union are supported by an NGO - Vimukti Trust. Some of the dalit youth in the movement are in the executive and governing bodies of the Trust. Provisions will have to be made to see that periodically leaders from the movement and the union are elected/nominated to the trust.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how do you create them?
Vimukti Trust / Jeevika is associating with movements/networks like, Campaign Aginst Child Labour - K, National Alliance of People's Movements - K, Karnataka Social Forum, Karnataka State Forum for School Development and Monitoring Committees, Joint Action Forum for the Rights of Children, and national Alliance on Bonded Labour. In the first network, Jeevika joined with the existing network. In the other networks, it is the constituent member; it joined seven other movements and networks to promote the forum. In the last alliance, it took the leading role in promoting the alliance.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
The impact so far has been phenomenal and has shown possibilities of developing into a people's movement to encompass all the dimensions of the life of the vulnerable.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
The apathy of the government agencies, the vulnerable situation of dalits, adivasis, bonded labourers and agricultural workers, the strong feudal tendencies of the landlords, the entrenched caste mentalities in the Indian society, lack of education and awareness, prevalence of superstitious attitudes, callous disregard of the just claims of unskilled labour.
How many people have you served or plan to serve?
We have reached out directly to twenty thousand or so bonded labourers, agricultural workers and child labourers. Indirectly we may have reached out to lakhs [one lakh is hundred thousand] and lakhs of villagers and the general public, through our cultural programmes, processions, mass public programmes, public speeches, handbills, wall posters, wall writings and reports and articles in news papers and magazines. We plan to reach out to the entire agricultural labour and bonded labour population and also all dalits and adivasis in the state and also the entire population on the dignity of labour and the requirement to build up an egalitarian and exploitation-free society.
Directly
See above.
Indirectly
See above.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation?
Many bonded labourers have on their own taken decisions to wean themselves away from bonded labour without waiting for any grants for rehabilitation from the government. Many bonded laourers have developed into promising leaders of their union. Many women leaders have emerged from the self help groups taking up the causes of women in their villages. The incidence of bonded labour is reduced much in the twenty taluks of intense involvement in the past ten years or so. The movement leaders and the movement is recognised by other movements and government agencies and are invited to conduct different programmes. They easily take up leadership roles in any gathering or common programme.
Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation?
Jeevika / Vimukti Trust was invited by the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Ministry, Karnataka in 2004 to draw up an Action Plan for the rehabilitation of bonded labourers in the state. The Action Plan was drawn up by Kiraan Kamal Prasad in 2005. It has been finally approved in July 2007 and is being printed by the Karnataka Government. Vimukti Trust has suggested to the GOK to print 10,000 copies of the Action Plan in Kannada and 1000 copies in English and circulate it to the the GP secretaries and all the revenue inspectors and village accountants. Vimukti Trust has suggested to involve all the government functionaries, administrative, police and judicial while distributing the Action Plan, so that the Action Plan is taken seriously by the officials concerned.
Exactly who are the beneficiaries of your innovation?
Bonded labourers, landless agricultural workers, dalits, adivasis, landless agricultural workers, child workers, women in the families of bonded labourers and agricultural workers, villagers and also the general public. Dalits (technically the former untouchables in Indian society) were the ‘captive slaves’ in the caste system and even now +90%of the bonded labourers in India come from dalit communities. Adivasis, number about 7.5%of the Indian population, and though they do not form part of the caste system, some of the adivasis are treated in worse than the untouchables.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
By international donor agencies to a great extent, by government funds minimally, by public donations and by membership fees of the union to a small extent.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization
Annual Budget in 2006-2007
Funds Received
From Govt: Rs. 6,79,711/-; From Foreign sources: 71,11,211; From Other sources: 26,01,985.
Total Income: 103,92,907. Total Expenditure: Rs. 135,64,639.
Activists:
Full time: 47 Male; 28 Female.
Part time: 95 Male; 8 Female.
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
All the bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers will be attracted to the union and the movement of Jeevika. The dalit and adivasi youth will join the movement of Jeevika in great numbers. Other community youth will also be attracted to the egalitarian dreams and other ideals of the movement.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
The main barriers are the utter poverty of bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers and also the very poor situation of many of the dalit and adivasi youth in the villages. Many villagers and Indians do not come forward easily to support social causes.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
I was motivated from my childhood and teen age days to devote myself to the cause of the poor. In the course of my studies, I realised that poor in India means to a great extent dalits and adivasis and also the best way of working for the poor was to work for structural change and to organise and conscientize the people to take up their own struggle for their emancipation and empowerment. I sought out a junior research fellowship offered by the Karnataka University because I had secured a first class first in my post graduation studies in Social Anthropology and went to stay with Siddis (Africans in Karnataka brought as slaves by the Portuguese) in June 1983 so as to study their life and conditions, to organise and conscientize them. As part of of the effort I undertook a complete monograph on the socio economic and political and cultural situation and took up the cause of getting them recognised as a scheduled tribe. They have been recognised as an ST group by the Parliament in 2003. I again sought out the Junior Research Fellowship offered by the UGC in 1985 when I had passed the NET when UGC first conducted it in that year. I went and stayed with dalits in Anekal. I cultivated dalit youth to put up street theatre to canvas on Panchayat Raj when PR Act was brought in Karnataka in 1986. This caused a lot of turmoil in the village which resulted in a social boycott on the dalits in the village to send me away from the village. I was once literally thrown out of the village with one high caste person kicking me from behind. The SPO investing the incident asked me how many bonded labourers were there in the village. When I gave her a list of 40 bonded labourers in that village, she remarked "Now I know why they are against you." This remark made me reflect on the issue and to take up the issue for systematic intervention.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material
Born in 16-9-1951 (by some mistake registered at the panchayat office as 14-09-1951)
Studies: (Science and Maths up to Intermediate), BA in Kannada Major, B.Ph. in Philosophy, B.Th. in Theology, MA in Social Anthropology, LL.B., registered for doctoral studies at the national Law School Of India University, Bangalore.
Taught Kannada in a High School in 1975-76; in a College in 1979-1980 and part time in 1987-1992;
Married in 1998; wife died from a motor accident in 2003; now am single and no children.
Involvement with Siddis in 1983-84
Involvement with dalits and bonded labour in one taluk in 1985 - 1993; at the state level since 1993.
Emphasis of Work
Emphasis is mainly protection and prevention. All the interventions detailed above either speak of the various measures at protecting the interests of bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers, dalits and adivasis. They also highlight the concern to effectively promote the preventive mechanisms mainly by building up strong people's movement and the agency of the bonded labourers and the agricultural workers and by securing the various pertinent rights of the vulnerable.
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Comments
Hello Kiran,
It looks like your program is having a lot of impact. This is great! You mention that the bonded labourers were formed into organizations/union in their villages and that they were then brought together for trainings. Could you tell us how many of these unions were formed and hoe often they have trainings and workshops? What are the main points that you focus on in these workshops?
Lastly, you mention that you have "reached out" directly to twenty thousand or so bonded labourers, workers and child laborers. Could you please describe what you mean by "reach out?" What is your relationship with each of these groups? What do you provide for them? How are they engaged?
Thank you.
Dana Frasz
Ashoka's Changemakers
Villge level unions of bonded labourers and landless agricultural workers have been formed in over 800 villages spread over 20 taluks (sub-districts) in 11 districts in Karnataka. The dalit youth volunteers from the surrounding villages who directly build up these groups meet these groups once a week or a fortnight to discuss their problems. Once a month, the taluk level volunteers conduct preliminary tranings to the members and leaders of the different unions together. Union leaders from different taluks are given in-depth trainings at the state level by me or other resource persons. The content of the regular trainings consists of: structural analysis of society; self understnding, leadership; analysis of the situation of dalits and bonded labourers; basic features of Indian constitution, especially the fundamental rights; expalanation of some relevant statutues like the Bonded Labour system Abolition Act, the Minimum Wages Act, the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, the court system and the structure of the police; how to file a complaint. apart from the regular training, special traianings are arranged on specific issues like the Panchayat Raj (local bodies) Act and the functions and powers of a Gram (village) Panchayat; gender justice; forming self help groups for savings and credits; school development and monitroing committees; natural farming methods; herbal medicine and so on.
Reaching out is done through their own agency of the Union. The union is a state level registered body under the Indian Trade Union Act. The union leaders and members are given various trainings as explained above to tackle various issues affecting them. Together with the Union, there is the movement, JEEVIKA ( a short from for Jeeta Vimukti Karnataka = Bonded Labour liberation Front in Karnataka) consisting of dalit and adivasi youth and the VimuktiTrust,the regietered trustwho support the cuase of the bonded labourers and agricultural workers. We on own do not 'provide' any material resources to bonded labourers and other workers. We make them secure various benefits fromthegovernmentorthemsevesaddresstheirissues.
Further elaboration on reaching out to bonded labourers and landless agricultural labourers. The main way of reaching out is through "psychological rehabiolitation". Given the rampant illiteracy and the deeply imbibed inegalitatrain and non-human values of the caste system, almost all the bonded labourers and agri. workers are not aware of their rights as citizens and as human beings. Making them realise the new values and rights they were supposed to breathe under the Indian constitution, I consider, is the greatest liberation we can lead them to. I have personally witnessed the changes that hav brought out in the minda and lives of bonded labourers after a few hours of these sessions. another way of reaching out through building up their collective agency through the Union and get the strength from it to face most of their problems and difficulties. The Jeevika activists render their help in various ways besides making thm themselves solve their issues. Various govermnt poverty alleviation shcmes are accssed: housing, subisdised loans for self employment; pensions - widow, old age, disability; caste certificates, ration cards; through self help groups, promote small savings which are then lent out to members to meet their urgent needs; the SHGs are linked to banks and helped to maintain their accounts and helped to intaract with the banks directly and procure subisdiesed for self- employment; take up land dispute cases and settle them through negotiation, administration and courts; take up cases of atrocities on dalits and women; run one year residential brigde courses for bonded and other working children - right now four such batches of 50 children are held every year - with more funds available, there is scope to conduct more such courses in all the 20 taluks of our invovlement; they are encouraged to get elected local bodies and see that the development funds reach the needy; they are enlightened to use the right to information act and see benefits reach people; agitations aretakenuptoimplementminimumwages,drinkingwaterconnectionsandotherfacilities....
Further, through street theatre, playback theatr and awarenss songs, they ar enlightned to give u superstiitious beliefs and practices, give up child labour and ensure universalisation of education, gender justice, conserve environment, promote unity; through promotion of the unique drum beaten by dalits, dlait culutr is safeguarded and promoted and thus their dignity as a peoplethe marginal and small farmers among them are encouraged to follow natural farming methodsefforts are made to allot them government lands for cultivation; encouraged to conduct marraiges and funerals with minimum expenditures so as not to get into debtedness leading to further bondage; mainly address the issue of bonded labour systemically by making the government institutions act according to the Statutes and the Constitution.
It was uplifting to read the efforts and the success that followed in addressing the problem of bonded labourer, empowerment of the dailits engaged in bonded labour there by impacting the empowerment process of the marginalised sections in Karnataka. Especially the success in influening civil society and the GOs is commendable as it raises t he impact several notches higher.
My deep conviction and the guiding spirit of VimuktiTrust/Jeevika is that lasting social change is brought about only by empowering the margianalised and the victims of social evils and bringing about changes at the policy levels by influencing the civil society and the governmental agencies. If we succeed in getting suitable legislations passed, required policies promulgated and necessary institutional processes established at the levels of society and government, then we can strike at any social evil systemically. For this to take place and be maintained continuously, the affected people must be consicentized and organised to keep an vigilant eye and pressure on societal and governmental agencies. The dimensions of any evil all must also be assessed scientifically. After the situation of bondedlabour in Anekal taluk was gathered painstakingly from 1987 to 1989, a question was raised in Karnataka legislature in 1990. The minister concerned readily agreed to take action according to law, which resulted in sanctioning INR 12,00,000 for 192 bondedlabourers. Efforts at orgnaising and conscientizing bondedlabourers were also undertaken simultaneously. After this intial success, there was a lull from 1993 till 2000, with the government refusing to take action on the 20,000 bondedlabourers identified by VimuktiTrust/Jeevika in different parts of karnataka from 1993 to 1995. Yet VimuktiTrust kept up its organisational and conscientizing efforts. Karnataka/India has strong constituional and legal provisions in Article 23 as a Fundamental Right and BondedLabour Act, 1976. But the bureaucracy which consists mainly of so called 'higher' castes is reluctant to take action according to those provisions. From 2000, GOK invited Jevika activists to conduct trainings to officials. In 2007, it approved an ActionPlan written by KirankamalPrasad to tackle bondedlabour. VimuktiTrust now wants to use the ActionPlan to train various officials-administrative,police,judicial,and peoples'representatives and also to see that proper institutional processes are set up at various levels of the administration to tackle bondedlabour. VimuktTrust will strengthen 29district, 55sub-district VigilanceCommittees on bondedlabour with dalit representatives.
I heartily recommend the project of the award!!
I greatly appreciate Thomas your recommending Vimukti Trust for the award. As the commuincation from the Ashoka changemakers team reveals, if selected for the award will mean a greater visibility to our organisation and its work internationally and a vast possibility of mobilising support from a wide range of persons and institutions, which we direly need to strengthen our work and support our activists.
I have know Kiran and Jeevika over a period of more than 15 years. We have learned things together, worked toghther, conducted training together.I have also know his staff and seen their staff's work.
He has been clear in his thinking, a clarity that has helped him and his organisations to be effective in their interventions.
I wish Kiran and Jeevika every success.
I recommend their project for the Ashoka Change Makers Award.
Thomas Pallithanam
Director
People's Action For Rural Awakening
Ravulapalem 533238
East Godavari Dt.
Andhra Pradesh
India
Thank you Thomas for recognising effective interventions our organisation has been been able to make. I attribute the main reason for this to the commitment and zeal of all our activists.
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