Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr6803f8be76996-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6803f8be76996-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr6803f8be76996-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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-The Hindu
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&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
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Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
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&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
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Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
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&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
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Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
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Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
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&lt;br /&gt;
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He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
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In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
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Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu
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&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 18 October, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-hope-of-a-life-of-dignity-for-these-bonded-labourers/article4010252.ece?homepage=true&#039;,
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the..."/>
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                <strong>No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan</strong></h1>
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                <div style="text-align: justify">-The Hindu</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify"><em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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-The Hindu
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&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
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Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
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&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
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Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
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&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
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Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
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Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
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He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
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In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
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Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
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Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu
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&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
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Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
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&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
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Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
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&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
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Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
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Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
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&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 18 October, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-hope-of-a-life-of-dignity-for-these-bonded-labourers/article4010252.ece?homepage=true&#039;,
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. 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He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. 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These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. 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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the..."/>
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                <strong>No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan</strong></h1>
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                <div style="text-align: justify">-The Hindu</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify"><em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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-The Hindu
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&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
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Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
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&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
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Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
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&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
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Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
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Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
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He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
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In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
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Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
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Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindu
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The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
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Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
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&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;
Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Patiala (Punjab): &lt;/em&gt;It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&amp;rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Jasbir&amp;rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &amp;ldquo;sold&amp;rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&amp;rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&amp;rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&amp;ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &amp;mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &amp;mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &amp;ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &amp;mdash; the only assets we owns&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&amp;rsquo;t already been taken away. &amp;ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&amp;rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &amp;ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&amp;rsquo;s agricultural sector.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &amp;mdash; men, women and children &amp;mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;&gt;Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &amp;ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&amp;rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&amp;rsquo;s debt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the..."/>
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                <strong>No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan</strong></h1>
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                <div style="text-align: justify">-The Hindu</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify"><em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>               </font>
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-The Hindu
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan',
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...',
	'disp' => '<div style="text-align: justify">-The Hindu</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify"><em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>',
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	'title' => 'No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan',
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-The Hindu
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify">
Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;
</div>',
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-The Hindu





Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan





The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the...'
$disp = '<div style="text-align: justify">-The Hindu</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify"><em>Patiala (Punjab): </em>It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab&rsquo;s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Jasbir&rsquo;s husband, Avtar Singh, had &ldquo;sold&rdquo; himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord&rsquo;s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,&rdquo; says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">&ldquo;Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son &mdash; as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family &mdash; that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also &ldquo;threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot &mdash; the only assets we owns&rdquo;.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn&rsquo;t already been taken away. &ldquo;It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,&rdquo; says Mr. Singh. &ldquo;Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab&rsquo;s agricultural sector.&rdquo;</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers &mdash; men, women and children &mdash; struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify">Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: &ldquo;Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn&rsquo;t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father&rsquo;s debt.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>'
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No hope of a life of dignity for these bonded labourers -Bindu Shajan Perappadan

-The Hindu Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab’s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With the home would go the hope for a life of dignity for her nine-year-old son Gurpreet. Jasbir’s husband, Avtar Singh, had “sold” himself and his wife as bonded labourers against a loan of Rs. 45,000 four years ago, to the village landlord. He died this August leaving behind the unpaid debt. “The fact that they [Jasbir Kaur and her husband] had worked for virtually no money and stale food at the landlord’s farms day and night did not help; the debt only accumulated interest,” says social activist Jai Singh who has been working in the area for the rescue and rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab for several decades now. Sitting alongside Mr. Jai Singh, her son huddled against her, Ms. Kaur tells her story. “Avtar Singh was often beaten up so brutally at work that he wouldn’t be able to stand up the next day. Then one day the landlord came and told me that my husband had committed suicide while at work. I got so frightened that they would now come after my son — as is a common practice in Punjab to replace an injured, dead worker with another male member from his family — that I decided to run away from the farm with my son. But last week my landlord found me and asked me to return his money with interest.” Ms. Kaur says that she has now been ex-communicated from the village until she pays the landlord who has also “threatened to take away her utensils and broken cot — the only assets we owns”. Mr. Jasbir Singh says Ms. Kaur is in fact lucky that her son hasn’t already been taken away. “It is an illegal but accepted practice in Punjab to employ labourers against a loan. These bonded labourers are paid almost no, or very little, salary and kept poor enough to be never able to pay back the landowner,” says Mr. Singh. “Despite laws and strict punishment, bonded labour continues to be widely followed across Punjab’s agricultural sector.” He estimates that the State currently has five lakh bonded workers — men, women and children — struggling in abject poverty with no access to basic health care, education or social security. In India, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh continues to have the largest population of bonded labour according to report released by the National Human Rights Commission last year. Says Manoj Verghese of International Justice Mission which along with Adivasi Solidarity Council and others will be soon launching a national advocacy campaign against bonded labour: “Lack of awareness and education among the bonded labours ensures that the schemes aimed specifically at their rescue and rehabilitation is not yielding results. Most still prefer to stay on in the farmlands with the assurance of at least one meal a day. Sadly even death isn’t able to rescue the families out of the vicious cycle with their children often being pushed into this vicious cycle to repay their father’s debt.”