By IANS,
New Delhi : A Right to Information (RTI) application Tuesday has revealed that in 34 years no one has so far been prosecuted under the bonded labour law, which was enacted by the Delhi government in 1976.
The Directorate of Prosecution of the Delhi government has informed the Central Information Commission (CIC) that “no case for prosecuting anyone” has been filed under the Bonded Labour (Abolition) System Act 1976.
“It is a known fact that bonded labourers’ cases keep surfacing in the national capital, but no prosecution seems to have taken place under anti-bonded labour law since it was enacted over 34 years ago by the Delhi government,” Priyanka Sinha, RTI applicant, told IANS.
Sinha, on behalf of NGO Pratidhi, had sought the details of pending and decided cases under Section 16 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, till date from Directorate of Prosecution in July 2010.
“About 11 officers representing various offices had come to the CIC. But no one seems to have any clue whether those accused of violating the Bonded Labour Act were prosecuted or not,” the RTI finding revealed.