"Problem of Bonded Labour" which is haunting the Indian society is one of the problems of the socio-economic importance. Bonded labour has existed in India for centuries. In fact, the practice of one man keeping another man in perpetual bondage for his selfish and personal whims and fancies --seems to be a global phenomenon. It has been in existence for thousands of years, right from the Biblical days to the present era. The system of bonded labour as prevalent in India, appears as a relic of feudal hierarchical society. Social workers, social scientists and the government have evinced a great interest in this phenomenon during the recent years. The magnitude of the problem of bonded labour is also highly distressing for the lakhs of people including men, women and children are condemned to servitude under its yoke. Bonded labourers have been existing in India for the past several centuries. It is a peculiar phenomenon of our agricultural economy. The system grew out of extreme poverty and helplessness of the unprivileged sections of the Indian rural populace such as the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and semi-tribal people, who depended upon wage income which they received only for a part of the year. Bonded labourers live in pitiable and miserable conditions. They are socially exploited and made to work sometimes 12 to 14 hours a day. If they fall ill, they many be given medicines collected from the local quacks depending upon the mercy of the employer. In all the possible ways they are cheated by their employers and maximum labour is extracted from them for minimum remunerations.
