Chennai:
About 645 bonded labourers were rescued across Tamil Nadu this year and the state has more than 65,000 bonded labourers, according to International Justice Mission.
Speaking after the Inauguration of the awareness campaign Bonded Labour – Freedom Denied to mark the International Day for Abolition of Salvery, Andy Griffiths, field office director of International Justice Mission said that his organisation has assisted the district administrations of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to release more than 3,500 victims from bondage since 2001.
He said of the released, 90 per cent victims belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes community and in many cases there has been additional violations such as physical, verbal or sexual abuse.
The campaign, which was launched by ‘Neeya Naana’ Vijay TV talk show host Gopinath, had a colourful opening with the opening of the freedom canvas. This campaign aims to create awareness on the existence of bonded labour system in India and encourage the populace of Chennai to stand up for the rights of bonded labourers.
Later speaking on the occasion, Gopinath highlighted that despite the law in 1976 to abolish bonded labour, it is still prevalent in India.
Human Rights Watch estimates that there are still four crore bonded labourers in India. “There is a need to acquaint people with the prevalence of social ills in their community and inspire them to stand for a cause,” he said.
Griffith said this is the second annual awareness campaign on the existence of bonded labour system in India. “We have used painting as the support platform for wide visual appeal. We hope that this initiative will help the public to connect with the issue and proactively engage with the problem,” he added.
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