Jharkhand HC orders welfare benefits for 300 bonded labourers rescued in 1992

A division bench of Chief Justice S.M. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar issued the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ghanshyam Pathak.

According to the petition, nearly 300 bonded labourers were freed from different districts of Uttar Pradesh in 1992. Many of them subsequently settled in Jharkhand's Garhwa district.

However, despite the passage of more than three decades, they have not received rehabilitation assistance under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, nor have they been adequately covered under government welfare schemes related to housing, healthcare, employment. and pensions.

The PIL was filed in 2023. During the course of the hearing, the High Court repeatedly sought responses from the authorities concerned.

Counsel for the petitioner informed the court that, over the past three years, officials had merely engaged in correspondence without taking any concrete steps to extend benefits to the workers.

The petitioner argued that bureaucratic formalities had delayed substantive action, depriving eligible beneficiaries of assistance guaranteed under law.

Expressing concern over the prolonged delay, the court observed that it was unacceptable for eligible people to be denied their rightful benefits for such an extended period.

The bench directed the Garhwa Deputy Commissioner to identify all eligible labourers and ensure that they are provided benefits under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act as well as other applicable government welfare schemes.

The court further emphasised that mere paperwork would not suffice and that authorities must ensure the actual delivery of benefits to those legally entitled.