To

The Labor commissioner, Haryana Chandigarh.

Subject: Draft Report of Survey on bonded labor in district Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetra & Rewari.

Kindly refer to your office letter no. 31681 dated 4-7-12 with regard to above mentioned subject. The report has been re-examined in the light of the observations and suggestions made by you and the same has been re-edited. The following are the point vise changes/explanations:

1. The last Para on page No. 26 has been redrafted. The incoherence has been removed to the possible extent. 2. The phrase ‘in their home state’ has been added at suitable place in the said lines. 3. It was noted during the survey that there exist two views regarding the payment of the work of building water channels, leveling of floor for laying down the molded bricks: the one of the workers and another of the employers. The workers consider it to be an extra infra structural work done by them for the smooth running of the main job that of moulding of bricks from mud. On the other hand, the employer claim that their agreement is on getting the moulded bricks ready at piece rate, no matter what the laborer does for this i.e the job of leveling and that of laying down water channels is the part and parcel of the brick moulding work. These two views have frequently come up during the negotiations over the rate of brick molding.

So it seems fit to incorporate both the views, nevertheless, our observation is that in the intrest of the welfare of the workmen, the job of channel laying and leveling must be considered as an infrastructural work required for the smooth running of the brick molding work and hence be paid or got done by the employer on his own. The relevant lines of page 28 and 56 have been so edited that the para does not be judgmental and rather place the debate on the issue along with our comment based on different observations. 4. The comments on the next lines on page 28 have been edited in the light of the suggestions. 5. The relevant documents on the settled or unsettled negotiations between the employers and the trade unions may be with the labor department itself. 6. The said comment has been deleted as suggested by you. 7. It is noted and supported by data that the actual wage rate is decided only at the end of the season. So the advance extended during the season keeps the workers in oblivion. Also the

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debt in the form of advances strike a balance with the earned wages by nearly may. So only after May is it possible that the worker will get something in hand once he settles the final account. If he thinks of quitting before may, he will owe some debt to the employer. 8. The relevant data is not available. The observations here are given on the basis of inputs of the surveyors but were not substantiated statistically. 9. The said Para on page 34 has been amended in the light of your observation 10. The analysis part of para 2 on page 37 has been amended and a more practical conclusion has been drawn out of the fact that female workers work longer and males work for lesser time span of the year in the brick kiln industry. 11. It seems that the said lines on page 38 have been misunderstood because the word ‘cunning’ has not been used there for the Jamadars but for the ‘device’ of the management. The description of the jamadar is further contained in the same Para when we mention him as “not only the manager, but also himself a workman often”. So clearly the jamadar has not been mentioned as cunning device as mentioned in your observation. Moreover, to avoid such miscommunication further, the word ‘device’ has been replaced with the word ‘method’ to make the sense clear. Also, though the category of jamadar has been rightly abolished by a notification, still it has been seen during the survey that it exists by force of the custom on the ground, and his commission is deducted from the workers’ wages. 12. The relevant data is not available with us. It is with the labor department. 13. It has not been said in the report that the Factories Act, the Trade Union Act etc. are social security legislatives. Rather what has been observed during the survey is that the workers are exploited and devoid of provisions of law because they are not aware of the provisions of laws made for their economic and social welfare (Table 3.8-8a). So, the issue of some effective mechanism for making them aware of these legislations confronts the path of their welfare. The relevant lines have been amended in this light. As far as the time of work is concerned, the working hours have been noted in the report as supplied by the field surveyors. The same has been confirmed by comparing data from a large no. of brick kilns (Table 3.5-5a). 14. The comment on page 63 has been amended in the light of your suggestions. 15. Some case histories relevant to the type of indicator mentioned are being supplied.

Kindly, accept the enclosed report along with the above said amendments.

Date: Dr. Jagdish. C. Mehta Chandigarh President, Heal Society S.C.O. 35-36, 1st floor, sec. 17. Chandigarh.

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Utilisation Certificate

It is certified that the amount of Rs 8,00,000 (rupees eight lakh only) sanctioned to the HEAL Society, Chandigarh to conduct a “Survey on the Bonded Labour in four Districts of Haryana namely Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, and Rewari” by the Labour Department, Government of Haryana vide agreement dated 13th December 2011 has been utilized for the purpose for which it was sanctioned. The total expenditure of Rs. 8,00,000 has been incurred on the above project.

Jagdish C. Mehta President For HEAL Society, Chandigarh

Signature Auditor/ Chartered Accountant with Seal

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4

Report

of

Survey on Bonded Labour in Haryana (Districts: Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Rewari)

Prepared by: Dr. Jagdish C. Mehta Principal Investigator

Representing

HEAL SOCIETY, Head Office: Near Govt. Sr. Secondary School, Rania (Sirsa) Regional Office: SCO 35-36, Ist Floor, cabin 3, Sector-17C Chandigarh-160017 E-mail- [email protected]

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SURVEY TEAM

Sh.Neelam Kumar, (Coordinator) Sh. Sohan Lal (Asst. Coordinator) Harsh Malhotra (Data Operator)

Sh.mannu Gupta Sh. Jasvinder Singh Saini Sh.Parveen Gupta Sh. Navdeep Singh Sh.Vikash Chouhan Sh. Bram Chand Sh.Mohit Rastogi Sh. Satish Kumar Sh.Jaipal Chouhan Sh. Anil Kumar Sh. Sandip Kumar Sh. Sandip Sharma Sh. Rahul Kumar Sh.Gurdas Singh Sh.Kuldeep Singh Sh.Harbans Singh Sh.Darshan Lal Sh.Narender Kumar

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all we are thankful to the Department of Labour, Government of Haryana for recognizing the importance to conduct the survey on Bonded Labour in the State of Haryana and provided the funds to do the same. We are thankful to the Officers of the Labour Department for their interest in the survey and also unstinting support and cooperation extended to us at all level. Haryana was one of the few states to take initiative to conduct exhaustive survey on such a sensitive issue. The district magistrates and the officers of the labour department extended full cooperation in obtaining information at the district level and ensured that the survey team does face any obstruction in their work. We express most heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Manjit Singh, coordinator ,Ambedkar Centre, Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh for his continuous support in providing expert advice from beginning to the completion of the present study. Our sincere thanks and gratitude is also due to Mr. Kanwaljit Singh for providing expert comments and inputs for finalizing the report. Studying bonded labour is not an ordinary type of survey, it was very difficult task for us. We needed teams of highly trained field workers/ investigators. All the research investigators worked hard in the field under the leadership of Mr. Neelam Kumar. We thank all of them for all the pains they took in field and worked sincerely to complete the project. We are thankful to the labourers, trade union leaders and even the owners of the industrial units for extending their cooperation to collect the information. We are highly obliged to Mr. Dinesh Kumar, Mrs. Sucheta and Miss Gunjan who helped us in our fieldwork and statistical analysis and application on computer respectively.

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CONTENTS

Chapter Acknowledgments 3

Survey Team 4

List of Tables 5-6

I. Introduction 7-26

II. Workers from the Brick Kiln Industry 27-40

II. Wages, Working Conditions and Indebtedness 41-66 of Brick Kiln Workers

IV. Socio-economic Profile of the Labourers and 67-76 Their Working conditions V. Nature of Indebtedness and Bondage 77-84

Summary and Conclusion 85-95

Appendices (I) 96 Appendices(11) 97-114

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List of Tables

Table Title No. 2.1 Industries wise total no of Respondents surveyed by District 2.2 District wise total no of brick kilns and the number surveyed out of them 2.3 District wise total no of poultry farms and the number surveyed out of them 2.4 District wise total no of rice mills and the number surveyed out of them 2.5 Details of the source of drinking water at the brick kilns in different districts 2.5a Details of the source of drinking water at the brick kilns in different districts (Row %) 2.6 Place of origin of workers engaged in different occupations at the brick kiln 2.6a Place of origin of workers engaged in different occupations at the brick kiln (row %) 2.7 Caste &category of the respondents in bricks kiln 2.8 Level of education of the respondents in the bricks kiln industry 2.9 Age, gender, and occupation of the family members of the brick kiln workers 2.9a Percentage of age, gender, and occupation of the family members of the brick kiln workers 2.10 Number of days available to the respondents at bricks kilns 2.11 Number of days worked and the level of income accrued in 2011-12 to the respondents working on bricks kiln 2.11a Percentage of the workers who worked for different number of days on bricks kiln and their income in 2011-12 3.1 Comparative statement of statutory minimum wage and the wages paid to the workers 3.2 Number of workers working for different amount of time in the brick kiln industry 3.2a Percentage of workers working for different amount of time in the brick kiln industry 3.3 Number of workers working for different amount of time on the current brick kiln 3.3a Percentage of workers working for different amount of time on the current brick kiln 3.4 Distribution of workers on the basis of entering into work contract with the employer 3.5 Number of daily working hours of workers engaged in different occupations 3.5a Percentage of workers working for different number of hours daily 3.6 Percentage of workers bearing medical expenses in case of accident at work place 3.7 Response of the workers on whether they can quit job at their own will or not 3.7a Percentage of Response of workers on whether they can quit job at their will or not 3.8 Number of workers contributing free labour in their respective occupation 3.8a Percentage of workers contributing free labour in their respective occupation 3.9 Amount of outstanding debt on workers borrowed at their respective place of origin 3.9a Percentage of workers indebted at their respective place of origin 3.10 Extent of indebtedness of workers and their respective caste affiliation 3.10a Percentage of workers belonging to different castes and their indebtedness 3.11 Reasons of indebtedness of workers hailing from different states 3.11a Reasons of indebtedness of workers hailing from different states in percentage 3.12 Reasons of indebtedness of workers and their caste affiliation 3.12a Reasons of indebtedness of workers and their caste affiliation in percentage 3.13 Annual rate of interest charged from workers in different states 3.13a Percentage of workers paying different amount of annual rate of interest on debt from different states 4.1 Distribution of labours by type of industry 4.2 Registered contractors in all industry

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4.3 Religion wise Distribution of all labourers 4.4 Caste Categories wise Distribution of all labourers 4.5 Ownership of land (in acre) all respondents 4.6 Livestock ownership all respondents 4.7 Asset ownership all respondents 4.8 House ownership all respondents 4.9 Source of water, electricity/lighting and fuel all respondents 4.10 Place of defecation all respondents 4.11 Average distance of pucca road from the village(in kms) all respondents 4.12 Educational Infrastructure all respondents 4.13 House at the Place of work all respondents 4.14 Source of electricity/lighting (at the place of work) all respondents 4.15 Place of defecation (at the place of work) all respondents 4.16 Health Issues all respondents 4.17 No. of months wasted due to disease all respondents 4.18 Type of medical of measures all respondents 4.19 Money spent on getting cured all respondents 4.20 Source of money all respondents 5.1 Indebtedness all respondents 5.2 Debt Amount all respondents 5.3 Factors of Indebtedness all respondents 5.4 Duration of indebtedness all respondents 5.5 Source of Borrowing all respondents 5.6 Rate of Interest all respondents 5.7 Terms of Payment all respondents 5.8 Length of work all respondents 5.9 Agreement structure all respondents 5.10 Daily working hours all respondents 5.11 Awareness of minimum wage all respondents 5.12 Nature of payment rate all respondents 5.13 Monthly wage rate all respondents 5.14 Record maintenance all respondents 5.15 Expenses during exigencies all respondents 5.16 Awareness of statutes and schemes all respondents 5.17 Bondage statues of all respondents

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Chapter I Introduction

Background "[Bonded labourers] are non-beings, exiles of civilization, living a life worse than that of animals, for the animals are at least free to roam about as they like; This system, under which one person can be bonded to provide labour for another for years and years until an alleged debt is supposed to be wiped out, which never seems to happen during the lifetime of the bonded labourer, is totally incompatible with the new egalitarian socio-economic order which we have promised to build" - Justice PN Bhagwati, Indian Supreme Court, 1982

The problem of bonded labour was closely linked to the broader socio- economic problems of surplus labour, unemployment/under-employment, inequitable distribution of land and assets, low wages, distress migration, social customs etc. with the phenomenon of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans steadily becoming landless labourers generating an environment, which perpetuated the system of bonded labour. Concepts & Definition

The phenomenon of bonded labour has been widely debated at the Princeton University (in the mid-twentieth century) as an illegal practice in which employers give high-interest loans to workers whose entire families then labour at low wages to pay off the debt (Princeton University) Convention, 1930 (No. 29) [Article 2(i)] - The term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service, which is exacted, from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 4 says: “No one shall be held in or servitude; slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Salary (1956) - Under this Convention is defined as “the status or condition arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal service or those of a person under his control as security for a debt, if the value of

11 those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined”.

As per ILO Report on Stopping Forced Labour: (2001) - The very term “bonded labour” refers to a worker who rendered service under condition of bondage arising from economic consideration, notably indebtedness through a loan or an advance. Where debt is the root cause of bondage, the implication is that the worker (or dependents or heirs) is tied to a particular creditor for a specified or unspecified period until the loan is repaid. As per the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976: “Bonded labour” means any labour or service rendered under the bonded labour system - Section 2 (e) “Bonded labourer” means a labourer who incurs, or has, or is presumed to have incurred a bonded debt - Section 2 (f).“ bonded labour system” means the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that he would – (i) render, by himself or through any member of his family, or any person dependent on him, labour or service to the creditor, or for the benefit of the creditor, for a specified period or for any unspecified period, either without wages or for nominal wages, or (ii) for the freedom of employment or other means of livelihood for a specified period or for an unspecified period, or (iii) forfeit the right to move freely throughout the territory of , or (iv) forfeit the right to appropriate or sell at market value any of his property or product of his labour or the labour of a member of his family or any person dependent on him; and includes the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a surety for a debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that in the event of the failure of the debtor to repay the debt, he would render the bonded labour on behalf of the debtor – Section 2(g) Through its various judgments, Supreme Court has given a very broad, liberal and expansive interpretation of the definition of the bonded labour. According to the interpretation given by the apex court, where a person provided labour or service to another for remuneration less than the minimum wage, the labour or service falls clearly within the scope and ambit of the words forced labour under the constitution.

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Constitutional and Legal Provisions

The guarantees to all its citizens- justice, social, economic and political, freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equity of status and opportunity and fraternity, dignity of individual and unity of the Nation. Under Article 23 of the Constitution Traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance was promulgated. Which was later on replaced by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. Salient Features of The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 This Act provides for the abolition of the system of bonded labour. It freed unilaterally all the bonded labourers from bondage with simultaneous liquidation of their debts. The Act does away with every obligation of a bonded labourer to repay any bonded debt; it also dispenses with the future liability of repaying a bonded debt. The law provides that (a) no suit or other proceedings shall be instituted in any Civil Court for the recovery of any bonded debt (b) every attachment made before the commencement of the Act for the recovery of any bonded debt shall stand vacated and (c) such movable property shall be restored to the bonded labourer.

The district and sub-divisional magistrates have been entrusted with certain duties/responsibilities towards implementation of statutory provisions. Under Section-13 of the Act, Vigilance Committees are required to be constituted at the district and sub-divisional level for implementation of the provisions of the law. They are composite bodies with representatives from different cross sections of the society and have a life of 2 years. Registers containing the names and addresses of all freed bonded labourers, their vacation, occupation and income, details of the benefits received are required to be maintained under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Rules. The Act provides for imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to Rs.2000/- to whoever compels any person to render any bonded labour and whoever advances any bonded debt. An

13 offence of bonded labour under the Act may be tried summarily and every offence under the Act shall be cognizable and bailable. International Labour Organization and Forced/bonded labour:

There are two ILO Conventions, Convention No.29 concerning Forced or Compulsory labour (1930) and Convention No. 105 concerning Abolition of forced labour (1957). Government of India has rectified both the Conventions. Before the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2001) the Director General of ILO submitted a global report on ‘Stopping Forced Labour’. This report contained references regarding incidences of bonded on the basis of a survey conducted by the Gandhi Peace Foundation and National Labour Institute and also the estimates of some other NGOs. The Gandhi Peace Foundation and the National Labour Institute conducted a survey in 1978-79, which had estimated the number of bonded labour as 2.6 million. This survey was based on a random sample drawn from a total of 4,50,199 villages in the ten selected States. Finally 1000 villages from out of the 4,50,000 villages were selected. Every 450th villages in the census list of villages of each State starting with a random number was selected for the survey. The findings of the survey in respect of the above 1000 villages were multiplied by 450 to find out the total number of bonded labourers in ten States. Since the methodology adopted by the Gandhi Peace Foundation was not scientific the Government have not accepted their estimates. The need for having authentic data on number of bonded labourers in India was emphasized. It was urged that a more comprehensive and authoritative survey might be conducted in this regard. From the Government side, it was stated that the Government has strong will and intent to abolish and totally banish the bonded labour system from every nook and corner of the country. It was indicated that the Government of India’s estimates of bonded labour , as also reported in the following pages, were based on the information submitted by the concerned State Governments after conducting detailed surveys in their States. The same information was submitted to the Supreme Court by the State Governments in the form of affidavits in 1997. One ILO project namely “Prevention of Family Indebtedness with Micro Finance Scheme and Related Services” is being implemented in three States, namely , and . The objective of the project is to induce existing micro finance institutions to develop, test and offer savings and loan products, particularly tailor-made for

14 vulnerable families at the risk of getting into debt traps. The prime focus of the project is on preventing marginal families from falling into debt bondage and also to ensure sustainable rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers. Based on its experience, a model could be considered for replication or application in other parts of the Country.

Role of the National Human Rights Commission

The Apex Court of India in its order dated 11-11- 1997 in People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) case has directed that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should be involved in dealing with the issue of bonded labour. In pursuance to the above order, a Central Action Group has been constituted in the NHRC. This Group is holding regular meetings and the matter is being pursued with the State Governments. In Bandhuwa Mukti Morcha case also the Supreme Court had issued certain directions to the Central Government, the State of Haryana and various authorities. In order to ensure compliance of the above directions, Ministry of Labour constituted a Task Force, comprising of officers of the Central Government and the Government of Haryana who are responsible for enforcement of various labour laws. The Task Force was required to undertake periodic visits and inspections of the Stone Quarries and Crushers to ascertain facts about working and living condition of the workers. The Task Force is carrying out its assignment regularly and submitting reports to the Central as well as the State Government indicating therein status of compliance on the part of the concerned authorities with the statutory provisions and the directions of the Supreme Court. Bonded Labour as a Global Phenomenon:

The High Commissioner for Human Rights in his Opening Statement to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (WGCFS), 23rd SESSION, 18-28 MAY 1998 (Geneva, 18 May 1998) stated that "Slavery and its prohibition is enshrined in international treaties and in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the international community is actually commemorating its 50th Anniversary. Article 4 of the Universal Declaration guarantees that 'No one shall be held in slavery or servitude, slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.' But still, slavery is not dead. It continues to be reported in a wide range of forms: traditional chattel slavery, bonded labour, , , migrant labour, domestic labour, forced labour and slavery for ritual or religious purposes."

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Contemporary slavery is not always easy to identify or root out because much of it is accepted within a culture. Debt bondage is practiced in many parts of the world, particularly in South Asia. In India and Nepal it is supported by a caste system that makes subjugation socially acceptable.

The more oppressive forms of slavery affect migrant labourers rendered vulnerable because of language and other cultural barriers which make them easy targets for exploitation. Worldwide, the victims of contemporary forms of slavery are characterized by their and vulnerability.

Bonded Labour: The Scenario in India

The system of debt bondage in India is an outcome of certain categories of indebtedness, which have been prevailing for a long time involving certain economically, exploited, helpless and weaker sections of society. This system originated from the uneven social structure characterized by feudal and semi-feudal conditions. Bonded Labourers constitute perhaps the weakest section of the rural poor. The genesis of rural dates back to the later half of the 18th Century when the erstwhile colonial rulers introduced the Zamindary System. Subsequently the anti-farmers policies of the colonial Government had also contributed towards the indebtedness of a large number of small and medium farmers, eventually pushing them into the category of landless labourers. Both the Constitution and specific statutes prohibit forced or compulsory labour, and bonded labour, as a form of compulsory labour, also is prohibited by statute; however, such practices are widespread. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act prohibits all bonded labour, by adults and children. Offenders may be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison, but prosecutions are rare. Enforcement of this statute, which is the responsibility of state and local governments, varies from state to state and generally has not been effective, due to inadequate resources and to societal acceptance of bonded or forced labour. Labour inspectors at the state and local level have overwhelming case loads, and in many cases, do not receive adequate support or protection to challenge employers, who often have direct access to government officials. On the occasions when inspectors refer violations for prosecution, long court backlogs and inadequate funding for legal counsel frequently result in acquittals. NGO's estimate that there are 5 to 40 million bonded labourers in the country,

16 including a large number of children. According to Human Rights Watch, the majority of bonded labourers are SCs/STs, and bondage is passed from one generation to the next.

Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour

In order to assist the State Governments in their task of rehabilitation of released bonded labourers, the Ministry of Labour launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme since May, 1978 for rehabilitation of bonded labourers. Under this Scheme rehabilitation assistance of Rs. 20,000/- per freed bonded labour is provided, which is shared by the Central and State Governments on 50:50 basis. However, in the case of the Seven North Eastern States, 100% central assistance is provided if they express their inability to provide their share. The Scheme also provide for financing of the following activities.

Rs. 2.00 lakh per sensitive district can be provided to concerned state government to conduct survey for identification of bonded labour once in three years.

Central assistance of Rs. 10.00 lakhs every year can be sanctioned to every state government to undertake awareness generation activities relating to bonded labour system. Rs. 5.00 lakh per year can be sanctioned to every state government to study impact of existing land-debt related issues affecting bonded labourers and the impact of poverty alleviation programmes and financial assistance provided by various Government sources so far. Besides the above, the State Governments have also been advised to integrate the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labour with other ongoing poverty alleviation schemes such as Swarna Jayanti Gram Swa-Rojgar Yojana (SJGSRY), Special Component Plan for Supreme Court, Tribal Sub-Plan etc. Accordingly, the rehabilitation package provided by the concerned Stated Governments for the freed bonded labourers includes the following major components: (i) Allotment of house-site and agricultural land; (ii) Land development; (iii) Provision of low cost dwelling units; (iv) Animal husbandry, dairy, poultry, piggery etc.; (v) Training for acquiring new skills; developing existing skills; (vi) Wage employment, enforcement of minimum wages etc.; (vii) Collection and processing of minor forest products;

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(viii) Supply of essential commodities under targeted public distribution system; (ix) Education for children; and (x) Protection of civil rights. The History of Bondage in India

The historical account of bondage in India clearly reveals the link between the character and extent of bondage on the one hand, and the level of development of economy and culture on the other. The pastoral society of the Vedic period had slaves that were captured during war. Mackay (1948:39) has shown that slaves existed even during Mohenjo-Daro civilisation. The references about the prevalence of are also available in Rig-Veda (Sharma, 1980). The ownership of cattle and dasas/ dasis (unfree labourers) were the two most important sources of property. Slowly the pastoral economy was replaced by the settled agricultural economy and this change also influenced the nature of bondage and dependence. The slaves captured in war were reduced to a small number compared to the servile labourers who were tied through debt bondage. The emergence of Mauryan state as the biggest controller over the sources of production gave fresh impetus to the bondage and neo-slavery in the existing relations of production. Kautilya while writing Arthashastra – a rare document on the prevalent political economy – gave protection to debt bonded labourers and not to the slaves (Chakravarti, 1985:50). Consequently, the available evidences show that there was an extensive use of debt bondage by the Mauryan state itself. The post-Mauryan developments of the period between 200 BC to 300 AD have best been reflected by Manu (Sharma, 1980:192). It is period when a tension was strongly felt between what the brahminical ideology of caste propounded and the lived reality of the working masses. It was Manu who interpreted slavery not as socially constituted system but as an eternally sanctioned state of shudras. It means the social uneasiness about the state of bondsmen and slaves was put to peace under the domination of brahminical ideology of caste and dharma. The ideology that Shudras are borne slave and are meant to serve the brahmins added a religious dimension to the prevailing inegalitarian social system. It is perhaps unique to India where this combination of the secular with the sacred produced a social, political and economic hierarchy that ended up producing social structure worse than the societies composed of hierarchical race relations. That is why all the attempts to loosen the chains of caste bindings from the days of Buddha till today have not yielded much results. During the Gupta period the dasas were mainly withdrawn to the domestic chores and their role as servile agricultural workers was minimised. One of the reasons for the shift of

18 bondsmen from agriculture to domestic work has been cited as the progressive fragmentation of land holdings. During the early medieval period the customary right over the labour of the lower castes, what was called visti (forced labour), extended socially and geographically. That is, socially, the right to extract forced labour extended over to the large number of local subordinate officials and geographically, it extended to the states of , Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and karnataka (Rai,1976:41). Sharma (1965:66) has found that the practice of charging various forms of interest on loans could be traced to the 5th century AD onwards which later on became instrumental in putting labourers in bondage. During this period, the need for slave labour was obviated by the large scale use of bonded or dependent labour (Chakravarti, 1985:56). It is interesting to note that the rate of interest charged was determined by the status of the debtor in the caste hierarchy, that is, lower the status of birth, higher the rate of interest charged on debt (Ibid). Kosambi (1975a) wrote that the social maintenance of a perpetual indebted working class is Indian counterpart of the classical slavery or the feudal serfdom of Europe. It is not that only male were slaves. In fact, in Vedic society there were more female than male slaves. In early Vedic period cattle and women slaves were the only form of movable property. Dasis (female slaves) were owned by the brahman priests in large number. They served biological function as well as performed other work. At times dasis were also part of dowry of rich bride (cf Chakravarti, 1985). It is interesting to note that not even the most humane thinker of the time stood for the abolition of slavery and bondage. Even Buddha talked of only refining the system so that the existing alienation among the labourers was converted into loyalty to the master and the element of force is obfuscated. He seems to be bothered more about social harmony than the elimination of the unjust system, the argument which is put forward even today to legitimise the debt bondage. The fact that the bondage and slavery in India was legitimised even at the religious level did not leave scope for a casual observer to comment upon (Kidwai, 1985:76). Bondage was increasingly incorporated into the caste system by successive social and political theorists so that it had become accepted part of the medieval rural India. As mentioned earlier forced labour and debt bondage were rampant during the early medieval period. From 8th century onwards, interest on loans was being paid for by physical labour (Sharma, 1965:68). Expansion of urbanisation during the medieval period enhanced the importance of money and market economy which also gave impetus to the urban (Kidwai, 1985:80). There were 12,000 slaves working in the royal workshop

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(karkhana) of Firuz Shah Tughlaq. For the same reason the domestic slavery also increased during this period.

Slavery and bondage in India was of the nature of a continuum unlike the west where it was clearly defined in contrast to the master class. Sarkar (1985) has identified three types of slavery prevalent in India during the colonial period. First, those urban based slaves who were essentially engaged by the Indian royal and aristocratic households and the new metropolitan white elites. These were the slaves who were traded in the well established slave markets of Kolkata, , and Mumbai. The social relations between the master and the slave, and also amongst the slaves themselves, were regulated purely from the market point of view. In other words, slaves existed in a social void. Second, those slaves who were owned by the large and prosperous households living in the cities, towns and villages. The possession of slaves by the gentry was a symbol of social respectability. “Slaves were drawn from purely indigenous local sources through kidnapping, distress sales, voluntary bondage and marriage or cohabitation with another slave,”(Sarkar, 1985:101). The relation between the master and the slave here was not anonymous unlike the first category. It was of the nature of patron and client. That is why many slaves after the abolition of slavery probably preferred to stay back with their master as servants. Third form of slavery was agrestic and remained a widespread structural feature of rural India. These slaves constituted captive agricultural labour for upper and even substantial peasant castes, and were employed at less than market rates on pure subsistence wages which were usually paid in kind (Ibid, p102). The caste structure played a major role in defining and sustaining agrestic slavery. All the untouchables were ‘collectively designated as slaves’. Agrestic slaves were the absolute property of their masters who theoretically held the right of buying, selling, mortgaging or renting them out at will. In the southern India the ownership of slaves was both of the village as a whole and also by individual while in Eastern Bengal, and Orissa the ownership was individual. The individual owner could transfer his slave in three forms – absolute sale, mortgage or renting out (Ibid, p105). It is worth noting that the slave market was reinforced by the differential social hierarchy. Prices almost always varied with the ritual position of the slave’s caste and bore no relation to the work he did. Master paid the expenses incurred for the wedding and funeral of his slaves. Further, apart from subsistence wages in kind and occasional grants of land for cultivation, slaves were generally provided rent-free accommodation set at a distance from the maser’s house (Kumar, 1965:38). It has been argued that there was not much difference between the slaves and the non-slaves as both were

20 highly deprived in various respects. Due to lack of reasonable employment, social subjection and the near impossibility of acquiring land for untouchable and impure castes, freedom for the non-slave agricultural worker was but notional. In this situation of generalised poverty and helplessness, the additional stigma carried by slave status was largely counterbalanced by the assurance of minimum subsistence. These three strands of slavery were legally abolished by mid nineteenth century but forced labour and even slave labour continued to operate. The contemporary debt bondage can be traced to this historical root of slavery. In practice it was difficult to clearly demarcate where debt bondage ended and where slavery started. A debt bonded labourer would start working after taking debt and the interest on that debt was supposed to be exchanged for labour power. Under the debt conditions the labourer was paid just for survival and no scope was left to clear the principal amount. Consequently, debt bondage could easily be converted into hereditary bondage akin to the status of a slave. Debts were often taken to cover the wedding expenses (Risley, 1891). The use of debt bondage in agriculture is found in the southern states, western states as also the eastern states, such as, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. In Chhotanagpur area tribals and untouchables were either slaves in perpetuity or bonded labourers who sold themselves for life through agreements which could be renewed for fresh loans. So were the halis from Gujarat. Bondage was officially strengthened by the Workman’s Breach of Contract Act of 1859 which made any violation of contract terms legally punishable and thus made it impossible for bonded laburers to escape servitude unless the entire debt was repaid (Sarkar, 1985:110). It was in the interest of the landowning castes not to allow the bonded labourers to own land. However not all the bonded labourers were a unified lot. The ideology of impure/pure did not allow the lower castes to unite and they practiced same “untouchability” even among themselves. The dominant ideology disseminated in the garb of eternal will of God established subjugation almost as a natural order even for the lower castes. Hegemony was achieved through a hierarchical ordering of diversities bound together within an overall exploitative structure of purity and pollution. Even Breman (1974) is convinced that all agricultural labourers in traditional India were working under some kind of bondage. A survey of bonded labour in India by Sarma Marla conducted as late as in 1981 clearly shows that out of total population of bonded labourers in India 87 per cent were and . A small amount of debt, that was often taken for social ceremonies, was enough to perpetuate debt bondage over generations. Sarkar (1985:113) writes that taking debt on some pretext could also be the way out of employment uncertainties and scarcity or starvation. Bondage

21 could be construed as not only obligation to work but also a right to employment (Kumar Dharma, 1965). Sarkar (1985) is ready to go with this idea of employment guarantee ‘as debt bondage was basically a voluntary submission.’(pp113-14). The commercialisation of economy does not automatically breaks the feudal relations of production. In certain situations it actually aggravate the situation. The most vivid example of this is the use of indentured labour in the tea and sugar plantations for more than half a century which got a final blow in 1915 when it was legally abolished. The British too, therefore, ended up reinforcing bondage. Bonded Labour in Independent India

The Royal Commission on Labour in India (1931) had already defined bonded labour whereby “the labourer borrows money from the landlord under a contract to work until the debt is repaid. The debt tends to increase rather than diminish and man, and sometimes his family, is bound for life,”(cf Nainta, 1997:2). In independent India though land reforms were on the immediate agenda, hardly any attention was paid to the agricultural labourers working under conditions of debt bondage for generations. Article 23 (1) of the Constitution prohibits begar or forced labour but the government did not care to materialise the spirit of the Constitutional provision. Debt bondage continued to be the cheapest source of secure labour for the landlords in rural India. It was during the early 1970s that the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in its Report (1971-72 and 1972-73) redefined bonded labour system as “the practice under which a man pledges his own person or a member of his family against a loan. The pledger or his nominee is released only on its discharge. Until then the man himself or the member of his family is required to work for his creditor against his daily meals or low wages. Since he gets very little money, he has to depend upon someone in the family to procure the sum required for his release and this, of course, is rarely available. The relationship lasts for months and sometime years, occasionally for entire life time and not infrequently follows the male heir.” The publication of the Report gave sufficient ground to conduct survey and find out the extensity of bondage and its various forms. VV Giri National Labour Institute conducted survey in the states of Bihar, Orissa and other adjoining areas (cf different Issues of Bulletin up to mid 1970s). The upshot was that the government of India not only had to acknowledge the existence of bonded labour in agriculture but it also had to pass an Act in the parliament for its abolition. The Bondage has been exhaustively defined in the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (cf Appendix -A). According to the Act the bonded labour not only

22 stands abolished it also extinguishes all the debt, releases all the property of the bonded labour, protect freed labour from eviction from their homestead, and make it a criminal offence for creditors to accept payment against an extinguished debt. The Act clearly makes the District Magistrate responsible for the abolition of bondage from his jurisdiction, failing which disciplinary action can be initiated against him. It is also mandatory for the D.M. to constitute Vigilance Committee both at the level of district and the sub-division. The Act also makes the D.M. responsible for the rehabilitation of the released bonded labour and provides the infra-structural facilities so that the released labourers do not relapse into bondage. The political scenario of the late 1970s seemed rather in flux and the Act could not attract much attention. The issue of bonded labour in agriculture emerged as one of the important issues after the publication of the Report on bondage by Sarma Marla (1981). The following figures on bonded labour were provided by three different sources:

State Governments- National Sample Survey- Gandhi Peace Foundation- 1984 1979 1981 (12 states) 1,20,561 3,45,000 26,17,000 Source: Report of the National Centre for Human Settlement and Environment, 1987, vol I,II.

The wide gap between figures is due to the difference in the interpretation of bondage. Even if we go by the figures of NSS, it is clear that a large number bonded labourers did survive in independent India who were engaged by the rural rich. Thereafter a huge amount of literature has been produced by the various voluntary organisations, research institutes and even by the government officials (cf Hollup, 1994; Singh, 1994; and Prakash, 1990). Consequently, the Union Government has created a complete bureaucratic structure to deal with the problem of bondage in different parts of the country. The Director General Labour Welfare, Ministry of Labour, GOI, is responsible for monitoring the identification, release and the rehabilitation of bonded labourers on a regular basis. Similarly, the state governments, in turn, are expected to constitute their own Monitoring and Review Committees that can activate the Vigilance Committes at the district and further down at the sub-divisional level. According to a study conducted by the Programme Evaluation Organisation of the Planning Commission, Vigilance Committees, which are mandatory, have either not been constituted in many states or they are non-functional. Though the Ministry of Labour publishes statistics on the release of bonded labour on a regular basis, the real problem of the abolition of the system of bondage is yet to be addressed squarely.

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The Government of India reported to the ILO that up to 31st March, 2000, 2,88,411 bonded labourers were identified through the Vigilance Committees. Out of this number 2,51,569 bonded labourers have been rehabilitated, 19,962 freed labourers have either died or migrated to other parts of the country and another 8,880 identified bonded labourers are under the process of rehabilitation. In 1999, United States, Deptt of States found the following types of servitude labour in India: bonded labour, forced labour, indentured and bonded child labour, , contracting prison labour to private employers and brothels. The workers are engaged largely in unorganised sector and some of them are also working as domestic servants. It was estimated that there are five million bonded labour in India. There are some poor parents who are forced to sell their children (cf James and Heiliger, 2000). The system of bondage is not simply a symptom of pre-capitalist method of labour extraction. It is as rampant in underdeveloped states as in the most developed states like and Haryana. The reason is that the bondage not only ensures the regular supply of labour it also ensures high cost effectiveness in the labour market. This is precisely the reason that the farmers of Punjab love to engage bonded labour despite Punjab being the most advanced state in agricultural production.

Haryana and the Bonded Labour

Haryana does not fall out of the historical sketch on bondage drawn here at all India level. The only difference between Haryana and many other parts of India is that there is relative paucity of literature on bondage in the state and, consequently, the phenomenon of bondage has never come to limelight. Even the British civil servants focused more on the Punjab (that included Haryana at that time) peasantry rather than on agricultural laborers. It is quite likely that the severity of bondage might not have been as intense as in the South or other zamindari settlement states due the anti-castism role played by the Arya Samaj and Sikh reform movements. However, sepi, sanjhi, and siri (different forms of attached labour) are some of the traditional forms of bondage, which had got legitimacy from the dominant social structure, and which has survived even today. Lack of alternative employment opportunities outside agriculture and the absence of ideology of Enlightenment were two causes that assured the submission of the labourers belonging to untouchable castes to the demand of the farmers for servile labour. Traditionally, the attached labourers were paid their wages in kind either in the form of the share of the crop or fixed

24 amount of the produce. In order to camouflage the servile condition of the attached labour the employer offered him helping hand at the time of special social or religious occasion, such as, festival, wedding or any other crisis. The rise of modern agriculture has extended the role of labour market on the one hand, and, proportionately, has intensified the severity of bondage on the other. From 1860s onwards rich farmers in the erstwhile Punjab, with very large holdings, acquired a stable supply of labour through loans and advances, and in the early twentieth century they began to issue written contracts to these labourers known as siris, sajjis or sanjhis (Neeladri Bhattacharya, 1982). There is hardly any statistics on the employment of bonded labourers in agriculture at the time of independence. The earliest figures available on the existence of bonded labourers in Haryana were collected by the National Sample Survey after the promulgation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. As many as 1,29,000 bonded labourers were detected by the NSS in 1979. In the neighbouring state of Punjab, which was part of Haryana till 1966 and has a similar social and economic structure, there were only 4300 debt bonded labourers but the government of Punjab did not accept the fact. The figure of bonded labourers from Haryana suggests that the number of bonded labourers in Punjab also must be much higher than what had been reported in the NSS survey. It is important to mention here that the NSS data is generally respected in the academic and government circles. In India, admittedly, Tamilnadu has the largest number of bonded labour followed by Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. However the scenario in Haryana is equally worse given its total population in comparison to other states. Details on bonded labourers identified/released and rehabilitated as reported by the respective State Governments and the Central Assistance released under the above mentioned Centrally Sponsored Scheme are given in the following table: Table 1.1 Number of Bonded Labourers Name of the State Identified and Rehabilitated Central Released assistance provided (Rs. in lakhs) Andhra Pradesh 36,289 29,552 680.10

Bihar (including 13,092 12,368 314.48 Jharkhand) Karnataka 62,763 55,269 1386.38

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Madhya Pradesh 12,822 11,897 146.35 (including Chattisgarh) Orissa 49,971 46,843 898.13 Rajasthan 7,478 6,321 71.42 Maharashtra 1,393 1,309 8.70 27,797 27,797 533.22 (including Uttaranchal) Kerala 823 710 15.56 Haryana 544 21 0.42 Gujarat 64 64 1.01 Arunachal 3,526 2,992 568.48 Pradesh Tamil Nadu 65,573 65,573 1661.94 Total 2,82,135 2,60,714 6286.19 (Source: Labour Department, GOI, 2002)

The table above reveals that the scenario in Haryana so far as the issue of release and rehabilitation of bonded labourers is concerned, is abysmally poor which calls for an objective and careful identification of such vulnerable people who remain in the grip of the curse as they call ‘bonded labour” unless external interventions come to their rescue.

It is important to note that the responsibility for the enforcement of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 entirely rests with the State Governments. Subsequent studies and court cases filed in different districts are indicative of the fact that the problem of engaging bonded labour/ forced labour in the state never came to an end. The various provisions of the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976 has not cut much ice in the bonded labour prone industries/ occupations. It was for this reason that the Union Government was under pressure from the Apex Court to investigate the nature and extent of the problem of bondage in different states of India. Currently thirteen districts have been asked to be surveyed by the independent agencies in Haryana. We have been given the task of conductiong a survey of four districts namely Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, and Rewari. It is in this background that the study has been conceived with the following objectives: Objectives of the Study

1. To identify the incidence of bonded labour in the unorganized industry in Haryana.

2. To find out the causes and forms of bondage in the districts under study.

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3. To collect information on the socio-economic background of the workers under study.

4. To suggest measures and methodology for the abolition of bondage, if found in the area/ occupations under study

Methodology

As a first step, to study the bonded labour in Haryana a list of those occupations/ industries was prepared that were thought to be prone to bonded labour. For instance, Brick Kiln, Stone Crusher, Mining and quarrying, Agriculture, Farm House, Poultry Farm, Rice Sheller, was identified as some of the important industries/ areas where there is possibility of engaging bonded labour. After preparing the list of potential areas the details of every industry was collected from the respective district head quarter through the Deputy Commissioner and attempt was made to cover as many areas/units as possible. A list regarding the number of industrial units and their locations is procured from the various government department rural development, agriculture, food and supply and mines. Some of the Brick Kilns in Kurukshetra and Yamuna Nagar were temporarily closed down due to the winter season (in the First week of January) and we could not found the labourers because they moved towards their native places. In the remaining areas mentioned above detailed study has been conducted. Rice sellers were also not found in the district of Rewari. As far as bonded labour in agriculture is concerned, 10 per cent of the villages were visited from each block of the four districts under study. The villages were selected from each of the block within the district, on the basis of high concentration of attached agricultural labour. However the actual data about the concentration of these labourers is not available, an officer from the agricultural department after discussion among other officers provided the list of villages where the possibility of availability of attached agricultural labourer is there. In the present time of commercialization of agriculture on the one side and holding of small agricultural land, the phenomenon of attached agricultural labourers or ‘Siris’ is vanishing away. In district Rewari, the phenomenon of ‘Siris’ (attached agricultural labour is not prevalent. To collect the data, a structured interview schedule provided by the Department of labour, Government of India was used. We tried to collect over all information from each of the brick kiln, Rice sellers, and poultry farms. Stone crushers, mining and quarries are closed down and not functioning in the districts under study. Attempt was made to cover as many workers representing the different categories of labour as possible from each of the unit under study

27 but due to time constraint it was not possible to cover each and every worker working in the industry. We felt that there was not even need. The collected Data was codified and feeded into the microsoft Excell. The whole data was transferred in to the SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences). The frequency and cross tables of the data were drawn with the use of SPSS. The Brick Kiln industry is more prone to the bonded labour and poor working conditions due to its nature of means of production. Therefore, the detail analysis of the workers from Brick kilns was made in two different chapters. To avoid the repetitiveness of the facts, further analysis of the labourers working in different industry such as Rice sellers, Poultry Farms, Farms, Stone Crushers and mines was made collectively in one chapter. Thus the current chapter has dealt with the introduction that includes the concept of Bonded Labour and its prevalence and history. The subsequent chapters deal with the Workers from the Brick Kilns industry along with their details of the socio-economic backgrounds, the Wages and working conditions followed by the Conclusion and recommendations.

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Chapter II Workers from the Brick Kiln Industry

An Overview Our field survey has given us the following picture of the functioning of the brick kilns in different districts of Haryana and the nature of the labor process involved. Generally, the total time period of the functioning of the brick kilns extends between October (after Diwali) and end of June. The closing of the kilns also depends on the weather. In case the weather is good and hot it is good for the kilns and the season of the industry may extend up to the end of June. But in case there is early monsoon, the closing of the kilns may take place a couple of weeks earlier. It is helpful for producing large number of bricks during the prolonged hot weather to the brick kilns but it is equally harsh to the labourers as well to the market of the bricks, i.e. peasants. So while brick kiln owners are happy to produce large number of bricks, cost effectively, during the dry hot weather, at the same time they are also worried about the market in case the prolonged dry spell ends up into the failure of the agriculture. In fact, the whole activity of brick kilns starts right from the days of departure of labour which is usually migrant labour from Rajasthan, UP and even Bihar and MP. Some trusted old labourers are elevated to the level of Jamadars who act as mediators between the brick kiln owners and the labourers who are already in their respective villages of origin during the rainy season. The Jamadars take first round to their known labourers and distribute small amounts of cash in return for the promise from the labourers to work through him for the particular brick kiln owner who has managed the finances. The initial amount is a token money, which may be from Rs.10-15,000/- per household, to take a promise from the labourers lest they go somewhere else in search of better wages. Once again in the month of October, usually around Diwali, the Jamadars take big cash advances which may range between Rupees one lakh to two lakh and make this cash advance to different labourers who had earlier given a word during the rainy season to the same Jamadar. We asked some of the employers that why they advance heavy cash debt to the laborers even when they know that the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act prohibits such enticement of the laborers. The general response of the employers was that no laborer is ready to come and join work in brick kiln industry without taking advance debt, and it has become a part and parcel of the

29 mobilization of labor for the brick kilns. Since the laborers did not have any regular employment during the lean period, they find themselves already indebted to various persons or shopkeepers of their native state, from whom they want to get relief by taking advance debt from the Jamadar. The advance by the Jamadar, which may range between Rs.20-25000 per household, is used towards clearing the pending due debt as well as towards bearing the cost of journey for going to the work site from their place of residence at different places. After joining the workforce at the brick kiln the labourers, particularly the brick layers, spend a few days (often nearly a week) to prepare the ground, level it and make water channels extending from the source of water to the brick molding floor sans labour cost. According to the workers it is a begaar, means unpaid labour, which is customarily provided by the labor before setting on to work, whereas the employers claim that as they have a piece rate agreement so all the channel building and the leveling work is included in the process of the brick molding. Though in the interest of the workmen this work should be considered as the infrastructural work and must be paid for separately Very soon in December winter sets in and brick molding work slowly comes to a grinding halt for want of sufficient sun in the winter, as bricks do not dry up for days together. Practically, brick kilns slow down for nearly two months of extreme cold in December and January. During these two months already indebted labourers do not have resources for survival and they depend on the cash advanced to them by the employer every fortnightly. It means the already indebted labourers get further burdened with debt for want of work, which is not possible due to bad weather. Once again the work starts picking up from February and continues normally till the end of June. It is interesting to note that all these months the labourers do not know what wage rates they would be paid at the end of the season as it depends on the negotiations between the trade unions, administration and the employers and the labour department. This type of negotiations in Haryana takes place from Mid of March to the first half of May, as the Trade Unions think it easy to pressurize the brick kiln owners due to the peak period of labour demand in that month. During all these months of work the labourers are paid no wages but are given advance cash fortnightly for the maintenance of their family members. The work stops during the 2nd half of the day, prior to the date of receiving of the fortnightly advance cash from the employer. On the date of receiving advance the labourers would go in the evening for shopping for the next fortnight to the nearby market or the shop and, as it is usually claimed by the brick kiln owners, the labourers would also booze heavily for a day.

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The contract of the labourers is not per month but per season, and the payment of wages is made on the basis of the bricks molded, removed or placed in oven by the workers. It is akin to the contract of tenant with the landlord whereby they share the produce at the end of the harvesting of the crop. It is also true on two accounts that the people who are working as labourers are distressed peasants or labourers from the rural areas of different states of India. They also enter into a similar arrangement of attaching like that of agricultural labourers in rural Haryana on the 4th, 5th or 6th share of the crop as the mode of employment of labourers. Interestingly, in agriculture the attached labourers being paid wages on the basis of sharing of the crop invariably also take advances from the landlords like brick kiln workers. Living conditions The living conditions of the workers are awful. They are living in temporary hutment with very low roof, and each family is given one small tenement usually of the size of 10-12 feet. Our visit to different brick kilns has given us an understanding that no rent is charged for those tenements by the employers. However, the worst victims of this pattern of labor use and nature of labor process are the children. Since most of the brick kiln labourers are migrants they do not continuously stay at one place and cannot send their children to regular schools whose timings do not tally with the timings of busy and lean period of the brick kilns. It means special attention with special schools needs to be provided which can cater to the needs of the brick kilns labourers whose timings should that meet the seasonal demand of the labor at the place of work. So far as general cleanliness and general hygiene is concerned, the less said the better it is. Findings from the Field

As is clear from the methodology that four districts of Haryana are under study namely Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetra and Rewari, the official list of number of brick kilns received from the Department of Food Supply, Govt. Of Haryana supplied us the respective number of brick kilns in each districts as Ambala (110), Yamuna Nagar (95),Kurukshetra (74), and Rewari (139) . In total there were 418 brick kilns in the four districts out of which 93.54% were studied. From the district of Ambala and Rewari, we could successfully cover 100% of the brick kilns, in Yamuna Nagar 85%, Kurukshetra 82%. In total 391 brick kilns have been surveyed from all the four district.

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Table No.2.1 Industry wise total no. of Respondents surveyed by District District Agricultre Poultry Farms Bricks Kiln Rice Mills Total Ambala 00 45 616 384 1045 Yamuna Nagar 48 66 365 74 553 Kurukshetra 29 69 423 139 660 Rewari 00 41 1179 00 1220 Total 77 221 2583 597 3478

Table No.2.2 District wise total no. of brick kilns and the number surveyed out of them District Total No of No of Brick No. of Brick Percentage of the Brick Kilns Kilns Kilns Closed Surveyed Brick Kilns Surveyed Ambala 110 103 07 100.0 Yamuna Nagar 95 74 05 85.0 Kurukshetra 74 48 03 82.0 Rewari 139 133 06 100.0 Total 418 358 21 93.54

Table No.2.3 District wise total no. poultry farms and the number surveyed out of them District Total no. of No. of Closed No. of Poultry % of the Surveyed Poultry Farms Poultry Farms FarmsSurveyed Poultry Farm Ambala 95 32 30 65.0 Yamuna Nagar 168 26 96 72.0 Kurukshetra 65 30 22 80.0 Rewari 60 28 22 83.0 Total 368 116 170 77.0

From the point of view of the availability of different facilities to the respondents we also collected data on the provision of school, water, medical aid etc. The district wise break up of the availability of drinking water from different sources that the brick kiln is presented in table No.2.5 & 2.5a.

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Table No.2.4 District wise total no. of Rice Mills and the Surveyed out of sthem District Total no. of No. of Closed No. of Rice %of the Surveyed Rice Mills Rice Mills Mills Surveyed Rice Mills Ambala 109 07 96 94.0 Yamuna Nagar 75 02 65 86.0 Kurukshetra 90 04 63 74.0 Total 274 13 220 85.0

Table No .2.5 Details of the source of drinking water of respondent at brick kilns in four districts

Source of Drinking Water Hand Tube Public water Mobile Total Districts Pump Well well supply water tank Ambala 616 00 00 01 00 617 Yamuna Nagar 327 08 00 29 00 364 Kurukshetra 416 00 00 08 00 424 Rewari 956 74 08 135 05 1178 Total 2315 82 08 173 05 2583

Table No .2.5a Details of the source of drinking water of respondents brick kilns in districts (Row%)

Source of Drinking Water Public Total Hand Tube water Mobile Districts Pump Well well supply water tank Ambala 99.83 0.00 0.00 0.17 0.00 100.00 Yamuna Nagar 89.84 2.19 0.00 7.97 0.00 100.00 Kurukshetra 98.11 0.00 0.00 1.89 0.00 100.00 Rewari 81.16 6.28 0.68 11.46 0.42 100.00 Total 89.62 3.18 0.31 6.70 0.19 100.00

Out of the total 2583 respondents at the brick kilns, 89.62 per cent were fetching water from hand pump, 0.31 per cent from tube-well, 6.70 per cent from public water supply and 3.18 per cent from the wells. However, there were 0.19 per cent such brick kilns, where the water had to be supplied with the help of mobile water tanks. Mobile water tanks were particularly used in the dry district of Rewari. The district of Rewari, which is partly irrigated and partly

33 dry, 0.42 per cent of the brick kilns were supplying drinking water with mobile water tanks. The data also shows that the highest proportion of brick kilns supply drinking water to the workers from hand pump. In fact, the supply of water from the tube-wells on these brick kilns is used for both the purposes, i.e. for preparing the mud to be used in brick moulding and for drinking. Brick kiln is one industry, where the majority of the workers are migrated from other states. The entire family members are engaged in the process of production of bricks particularly in making the bricks from mud (Pathers). Even when there are migrant labourers, they migrate with the entire family to the brick kiln, along with their children. It is, therefore, important to look into the provision of education for the children of brick kiln workers. It is encouraging to note that there is provision of ‘Bhatta Pathshala’ by the government of Haryana near by the cluster of Brick Kilns. It is a fact that most of the children of the brick kiln workers are not encourage to go to school as they help their parents in easy jobs like transporting mud from the source to the brick laying place. They also turn up and down the moulded bricks in order to dry them in the sun. Otherwise also if the childrens are not helping their parents, they just remain non-worker and remain free all the time. Another important barrier in the education of children of the brick kiln workers is the seasonality of the brick kiln work. The brick kilns in Haryana, as has already been mentioned, start in October. By the time, migrant workers reach Haryana from Uttar Pradesh and other states, it is already middle of the school session. Therefore, unless some special school provisions are made to suit the timings of the brick kiln industry, it is not easy to send children of the brick kiln workers to formal school education system. Socio-economic Background of the Brick Kiln Workers Details of family background of 2583 respondents of brick kiln have been collected from 358 brick kilns spread over four districts of Haryana. Basic information, such as, gender, education, marital status, age, caste, occupation, number of days employment available, and average annual income of each of the earning family member have been collected about all the members from the sampled households. It is important to place the brick kiln workers in a proper context. This information is collected on 8888 family members, who are living with 2583 respondent’s workers.

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Table No 2.6 Place of origin of respondent engaged in different occupations at the brick kiln Number of workers from different places Chha Uttra w. Occupatio tisgar Hary khan Punj Rajas Benga n Bihar h ana d MP Nepal ab than UP l Total Nikasiwala 18 02 37 00 00 00 00 01 198 138 22 416 Bharaiwala 02 00 71 00 00 00 00 00 22 14 00 109 Loading / Unloading 00 00 32 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 03 37 Pather 446 06 146 03 13 00 09 03 98 511 150 1385 Beldar 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 39 Driver 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Jalaiwala 07 00 07 00 00 01 00 00 27 494 01 537 Munshi 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Keriwala 01 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 40 Watchman 01 00 07 00 00 01 00 00 02 08 01 20 Total 505 08 303 03 13 02 09 04 349 1201 186 2583

Table No 2.6a Place of origin of respond. engaged in different occupations at the brick kiln (row%)

Percentage of workers from different places Chha Uttra w- Occupatio tisgar Hary khan Punja Rajas Benga n Bihar h ana d MP Nepal Assam b than UP l Total

Nikasiwala 4.32 0.48 8.90 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.25 47.60 33.17 5.28 16.10

Bharaiwala 1.83 0.0 65.13 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 20.18 12.85 0.0 4.21 Loading Unloading 0.0 0.0 86.48 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.40 0.0 8.10 1.55

Pather 32.20 0.43 10.54 0.21 0.93 0.0 0.64 0.21 7.07 36.89 10.83 53.60

Beldar 76.92 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 23.07 1.50 Driver 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Jalaiwala 1.03 0.0 1.03 0.0 0.0 0.18 0.0 0.0 5.02 92.00 0.18 20.78 Munshi 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Keriwala 2.5 0.0 7.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 90.00 0.0 1.52 Watchman 5.0 0.0 35.00 0.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 10.00 40.00 5.00 0.75 Total 19.56 0.30 11.73 0.12 0.50 0.8 0.35 0.15 13.52 46.49 7.20 100.0

The workers hail from 11 different states of India, including Haryana. About 12 per cent of the total workers is from Haryana and the remaining about 88 per cent is from other

35 states. From outside Haryana the highest proportion of 46 per cent is from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar with 20 per cent. Out of 2583 households only 04 (0.15%) were from Punjab. and there were only 35 households all together from five different places, namely, Chhatisgarh, Uttrakhand, M.P., Nepal, Assam, and West Bengal. The pattern that emerges shows a clear domination of workers from Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar, Rajasthan and and local workers from Haryana. Caste and Occupation It is unique to India that economic life is closely tied to social status with the finer threads of hierarchical caste structure. In other words, economic agents are not rational actor, they are rather doubly constrained simultaneously both by the social and economic framework. It is precisely for this reason that economic analysis is always looked in the social context of caste system. Broadly it is true that better paid economic opportunities are grabbed by the upper castes and the menial jobs are left with the lower castes, constitutionally designated as Scheduled Castes. Out of the total 2583 respondents of the brick kiln, more than half of the respondents belonged to Scheduled Castes; they also occupy a social position which is highly debilitating to make mobility in the economic arena. There was 24.0 per cent family members belonging to Backward Castes and only 17.8 per cent were from the general castes.

Educational status of the Respondents

We also analysed data on the level of educational achievement of the respondents working in the brick kiln. It is found that nearly 65 per cent of the respondents are illiterate. The relative proportion of female illiteracy is higher than the male counterpart, which is understandable in a patriarchal society. Those who have some level of education, or better are just literate, constituted 14.5 per cent of the total population. However, there were also 12.2 per cent educated up to 8th standard and another 6.8 per cent up to matriculation level. Among the workers the better educated were drivers, accountants, and some local workers. Taking into consideration high drop out rate we are not sure how many of them would achieve even the status of just being literate. But about 30 per cent of them had already become literate, that is, they had crossed Primary level of school education. The proportion shows that only a few lucky ones would cross Matriculation level of education

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Table No 2.7 Caste &category of the respondents in bricks kiln Caste/Category Bricks Kiln Industry General caste N 459 % 17.8 Scheduled caste N 263 % 57.7 Scheduled tribe N 15 % 0.6 N 619

Backward caste %

24.0 N 2583 Total % 100.0

Table No 2.8 Level of education of the respondents in the Brick Kiln’s industry Education Respondents al Status Male Female Total 1660 Illiterate 1622(93.9) 38(84.4) (64.2) I-IV 373 03 376(14.5) 316 V-VIII 313 03 (12.2) 178 IX-X 177 01 (6.8) X-XII 38 00 38(1.5) XII+ 15 00 15(0.5) Total 2538 45 2583 Note: figures in the brackets show column percentage.

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Table No 2.9 Age and Gender distribution of the total number of respondents working on the brick kiln Age Respondents Categories (Years) Male Female Total 7-14 04 00 04 15-20 264 02 266 21-30 954 14 968 31-40 773 20 793 41-50 371 06 377 51+ 172 03 175 Total 2538 45 2583

Table No 2.9a Percentage of the respondents working on the brick kiln by their age & gender Age Respondents Categories (Years) Male Female Total 7-14 100.0 0.0 100.0 15-20 99.2 0.8 100.0 21-30 98.6 1.4 100.0 31-40 97.5 2.5 100.0 41-50 98.4 1.6 100.0 51+ 98.3 1.7 100.0

Table No 2.10 Number of days work available to the respondents at bricks kiln Working Number of Respondents Days/annum Male Female Total Less than 120 00 00 00

121-180 1809(71.2) 26(57.7) 1835(71.1) 601 618 181-240 (23.6) 17(37.7) (23.9) 241-365 128(5.0) 02(4.4) 130 (5.0) Total 2538 45 2583 Note: figures in bracket shows the column percentage.

Brick kiln work is a seasonal work. We also found that most of the workers do not work at their respective village of origin during the lean period. Before calculating income of the brick kiln workers it is important to have a look at the number of days work available to

38 the workers in a year (Table 2.10). It is found that non-students are working equally hard at the brick kiln, though the number of student workers is limited. There were 71 per cent such workers who could get work in the previous year only for four to six months. There were 24 per cent workers who did get work for six to eight months. The percentage of those workers who worked for more than eight months was only 5.0 per cent and they were mostly either security workers or doing managerial work for their respective employer. The pattern and range of employment available in the brick kiln industry shows that its nature is as uncertain as in agriculture, and is open to the vagaries of nature. Since this industry, like agriculture, is labor intensive and is dependent on nature both for drying of the bricks as also burning in the oven, there is always uncertainty of the total number of days work available to the workers during the season. Gender Breakup Gender breakup of the workers shows that female workers take up the brick kiln work for larger time of the year than the male workers. The percentage of male workers working for less than six months in a year is 71.2 whereas the percentage of female workers working for less than six months is as low as 57.7. The reverse is true for the workers working for more than six months in a year. There were 28.6 per cent male workers and 42 per cent female workers working for more than six months in a year. The data clearly indicates that women, despite their involvement in household chores, work for longer period than males in the brick kilns. This also suggests that, in the rural areas, the brick kilns are one of the few viable avenues of employment for the women as also that the males may have other possibilities, along with or better than it, for some period of the year. The percentage for women for longer employment would have been still higher if administrative jobs that are for longer period would have been open for women. Feminization of work is a known phenomenon and brick kiln industry is not immune to it.

Working Days and Gross Income It is important to restate the nature of labor process before going into the details of income and employment. Not all workers in the brick kiln industry are bound to the same brick kiln and not all of them earn only by doing wage labor. For instance, a Jamadars is a labor recruiting agent for the brick kiln owner, and as such performs the role of a middleman between the employer and workers. All the advance debt and later on wages to the workers are paid through the Jamandar. In fact he is a immediate manager whose return to the management is not born by the employer but by the workers themselves. Jamandar would go

39 to the areas of labor supply after taking advance cash from the employer and would hunt for the labor heads. After bringing the groups of labor to the place of work he is a person who is responsible for the management of the workforce recruited by him for which the workers pay a small share out of their wages to him. It is a tricky method of the employers that instead of bearing the economic burden of the maintenance of the management they have left management to the workers by appointing one person as their head, the so called Jamandar, and whose maintenance cost is born by the workers themselves. It is convenient for the brick kiln owners to deal with a handful of Jamandars, instead of having direct dealing with each and every worker. Such Jamandars are employed in the detailed labor processes of brick molding, brick transportation, brick firing and brick removing from the oven. The steps in the detailed labor process that are sensitive to the production process are closely monitored directly and workers employed therein are paid on time rate basis. For instance, brick stackers in the oven are skilled persons and if the stacks are out of balance the entire bricks in the oven may ruin. These workers are paid on time rate basis and also are relatively better paid. The most sensitive step is firing the bricks. It is important on two accounts: one, that by better management of expensive fuel these workers can save a lot for the owner, and second, a small mischief by the firing labor can ruin the entire oven. Most of the brick kiln owners fear Mistry (head of the fire workers) precisely for this reason. Let us be clear that Jamandars are not only ‘bare foot managers’, parasiting on workers, they themselves also work along with the workers. In other words, a Jamandar is a worker-cum- manager and earning out of both the jobs he performs. Out of the total 2583 earners, the Minimum Wage rate suggests that if a worker is engaged on regular basis he should be in a position to earn more than Rs.72,000/- per annum. Our data shows that 22 per cent of the brick kiln workers are earning less than Rs.20000/- per annum. One of the important reasons for poor earnings of the brick kiln workers is the seasonal nature of the brick kiln industry. There were only four per cent workers who got work for more than 8 months during the year. Nearly 60 per cent of the workers were employed for 6-8 months only. Even for this period of 6-8 months full work was not available. During the peak period of winter the workers have to sit idle and wait till last half of February to restart major work of brick molding. During the lean period the employer keeps on advancing debt through the labor contractor that eats into the savings of the workers and makes them economically vulnerable. These are the conditions that eventually lead to a situation where a worker falls into the debt trap pushing to bondage. But even for those workers who are more regular the annual earnings is not enough to meet their minimum

40 economic needs. For instance in the top category of employment where workers get work for more than 8 months only 42 per cent seem to cross the Minimum Wage and the remaining fall below the Minimum Wage. Seasonal employment, under employment, uncertain employment due to vagaries of nature, piece rate mode of wage payment, high rate of interest on debt, and exploitation by middlemen altogether push the brick kiln workers to the margin. The workers are left with no option but to employ most of their family members in order to earn two square meals. Even children are not spared and are forced the parents to engage into productive activity in order to meet the challenge of sheer physical survival. In the absence of availability of alternative employment opportunities the brick kiln workers try their best to earn enough from the brick kiln industry for the entire family for the whole year. Even when the entire family cannot earn enough to make both ends meet, they look for debt from the moneylenders at usurious rate of interest that further sinks them to economic disabilities.

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Table No 2.11

Number of days worked and the level of income accrued in 2011-12 to the respondents working on brick kiln Working Income Range (2011-12) Rs. Days/ 2011- 0-20000 20001-40000 40001-60000 60001-80000 80001+ TOTAL G. 12 M F T M F T M F` T M F T M F T M F Total <120 31 02 33 45 05 50 01 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 77 07 84 173 121-180 187 04 191 1252 07 1259 262 05 267 26 00 26 08 00 08 5 16 1751 181-240 22 7 29 373 03 376 191 03 194 15 00 15 04 00 04 605 13 618 241-365 02 00 02 23 06 29 74 03 77 19 00 19 03 00 03 121 09 130 253 Total 242 13 255 1693 21 1714 528 11 539 60 00 60 15 00 15 8 45 2583

Table No 2.11a Percentage of the workers who worked for different number of days on brick kiln and their income in 2011-12 Income in Rupees Per Annum Working Days/ 2011- 0-20000 20001-40000 40001-60000 60001-80000 80001+ 12 M F T M F T M F` T M F T M F T 12.9 <120 12.9 0.07 7 1.74 0.19 1.93 0.03 0.0 0.03 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 48.4 48.7 10.1 10.3 0.3 121-180 7.23 0.15 7.38 7 0.27 4 4 0.19 3 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.30 0.0 0 14.4 14.5 0.1 181-240 0.85 0.27 1.12 4 0.11 5 7.39 0.11 7.5 0.58 0.0 0.58 0.15 0.0 5 0.1 241-365 0.07 0.0 0.07 0.89 0.23 1.12 2.86 0.11 2.97 0.73 0.0 0.73 0.11 0.0 1 21.0 21.5 65.5 66.3 20.4 20.8 0.5 Total 5 0.49 4 4 0.80 4 2 0.41 3 2.31 0.0 2.31 0.56 0.0 6

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Chapter III Wages, Working Conditions and Indebtedness of Brick Kiln Workers

It is a general precedent for all the brick kilns that the wage rates would be decided not in the beginning of the season. The workers would start working after taking advance debt from the employer, either directly or through a middleman, and this advance debt would continue till the end of the season when the final account is settled. The piece rate workers are promised wage rates of the previous year but the trade unions start negotiating for the revised rates, in the light of fresh notification by the government of Minimum Wage rates, sometime during the months of April/ May, which is a peak period for the industry. By the time the brick kiln season comes to an end, before the onset of monsoon in late June or early July, the revised wage rates come in vogue. Since the entire account of the workers is settled only at the end of the season, the workers receive their wages in the light of the new wages implemented after negotiation. In case there is no strong trade union to represent the interest of the workers, the employers decide according to their own whims. However they cannot go beyond the certain acceptable minimum wage rates, as they would also need labour for the next year. In the following Table 3.1 we have compared the wage rates paid to the workers during the previous year with the official rate of Minimum Wage circulated in the Notification. Table 3.1 Comparative statement of statutory minimum wage and the wages paid to the workers

Wage Rate fixed by Average Wage Rate Paid to Occupation Government Workers Nikasiwala Rs. 87.32/1000 bricks Rs. 133/1000 bricks Bharaiwala Rs. 109.07/1000 bricks Rs. 166/1000 bricks Loading Unloading Rs. 87.73 per day Rs. 50/1000 bricks Pather Rs. 264.61/1000 bricks Rs. 349/1000 bricks Beldar Rs. 5033.89pm Rs. 5500pm Jalaiwala Rs. 5033.89pm Rs. 5500pm Keriwala Rs. 21.47/1000 bricks Rs. 33/1000 bricks Watchman Rs. 4773.89pm Rs. 4000pm

There are two modes of wage payment: one is piece rate and the second is time rate. The sensitive steps in the detailed labour process are paid by time rate while the other steps are paid by piece rate. The piece rate payment is made where workers can choose their speed of work while time rate workers have to work continuously, without break, in order to complete the cycle of extended reproduction. The autonomy of workers is lost to the cycle of

43 reproduction, the workers are bound to work at the same pace and are paid according to the overall speed of the brick production at a kiln. Pather (brick moulders) labour is the largest in number on any brick kiln. It is the first step in the brick production though it requires other preparatory work such as cleaning the floor, making channel for water supply, and preparing wet mud of a particular consistency that can be moulded into frames. Pathers are piece rate workers and paid per thousand of bricks moulded. In this first step often all the family members work together like the family of a poor peasant. Men and women would mould the bricks while small children would transport mud, by using hand-carts, from the pit to the brick moulding floor. Small children would also help in turning around the bricks so that they are properly dried up before they are transported to the oven for firing. In other words, like the family division of labour of a poor peasant family, all the family members have some work to perform. At the end of the day all the bricks moulded are counted and an account is maintained by the Munshi whose one entry is also made in the pocket diary of each of the head of the household. The official wage rate for the Pather labour was fixed at Rs.264.61/- per thousand of bricks moulded (including commission of Jamandar). However our data indicate that the average amount of piece wage rate was Rs.349/ per thousand of bricks moulded. Our data of 1385 brick moulders has shown that 40 per cent were such labourers who received piece rate per thousand brick moulded between Rs. 349-55, and the same proportion between Rs.355- 60.(both data without Jamandar commission) It clearly shows that there are a large number of brick moulders, who is the main workforce on any brick kiln, receive the minimum wage fixed by the department of labour and notified by the state government. Bharai is a term used for sun dried brick loading into the oven of the kiln after transporting from the floor of the brick moulding. The distance between the brick moulding floor and oven may vary form kiln to kiln depending upon the availability of suitable soil, and the rates of Bharaiwala are fixed accordingly. Also the means of transport are different at different places. At some places mechanical devices such as tractor-trolley or tempo are used while at other places mule cart is popular means of transport. The rate of payment per thousand bricks transported again varies according to the means of transport employed by the workers. Out of the total 109 workers engaged in Bharai 20 per cent were using tractor-trolley for transportation of the sun dried bricks and the remaining used donkeys/ mule cart. The Minimum Wage is Rs.109 per thousand bricks transported and loaded into the oven. Our field observation has shown that all the Bharaiwala workers were receiving wage rates in the range of Rs.130-33/ per thousand brick loaded into the oven. For those workers who used animals,

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However, they were not earning better than the previous range of workers as the distance covered by these workers was much longer, resulting into the cut into the total earning of the workers. Chunaiwala (Stacking worker) are not piece rate workers. They are paid monthly wage rate. There are two reasons for their payment on time rate basis, one that they are tied down to the timings of Bharaiwala and cannot shirk their duty, and second they are skilled persons and a slight negligence on account of stacking may ruin the entire bricks in the oven whose number may be around 11-12 lakh. Moreover the number of stacking labourers is small and not difficult to supervise. Also a little better payment to stacking workers does not tell much on the cost of production the number of Chunaiwala being small. That is why we discovered that the average wage rate of these skilled workers was above the Minimum Wage. Data collected from 39 Chunaiwala, also called beldar, give us average wage received of Rs. 5500 per month against the official Minimum Wage of Rs.5033.89/- per month. Moreover all these workers are male and doing skilled and heavy work, the more payment is justified. It is worth noting over here that on an average a Chunaiwala worker works for 10 hours day. After stacking the bricks in the oven they are covered with the burnt soil (keri) from the top in order to conserve heat in the oven. Usually the Nikasi workers who are also paid wage by piece rate perform this work. The manpower required for this work was least among all the various detailed steps of the labour process. One of the most feared workers in the brick kiln industry is Mistry, that is, a worker who regulates fuel and firing of the bricks. . Mistry heads the team of fire workers and is responsible for regulating the work of team members. The number of team members depends on the size of the oven of the brick kiln. If the brick kiln has the capacity of 12 lakh bricks at a time then the number of workers would be 6+6+1=13, and the if the capacity of the oven is of 9-10 lakh bricks then the workers would be 4+4+1=9. On the bigger brick kiln 3 workers at a time are required to supply fuel and the same number is required to drop fuel into the hole in the oven and cover it with lid and burnt soil. Mistry is overall manager (and at times worker as well) of the firing process and everything regarding firing is carried out under his supervision. He may work along side workers or just limit to his supervisory role. He does not necessarily limit his role only to one brick kiln. The common practice is that a Mistry supervises firing workers of a cluster of brick kilns simultaneously and has to make himself available whenever any kiln owner wishes him to visit his workers urgently. On the bigger brick kiln therefore a team of 6 workers work for 8 hours at a stretch, till the alternative team of six workers takes over. The

45 first team of six workers (3 engaged in supplying fuel and the other three engages in dropping fuel into the hole) go for rest for the next eight hours till the second team completes its 8 hours work. And this alternation of two teams of firing workers continues endlessly till the season is over. Before explaining the wages here it is important to mention about the working conditions of Jalaiwala workers. The whole team of workers stays at the centre of oven in the temporary room meant for rest. It is all right during the winter but during the summer of June-July when the sun at the top is hot like fire ball it is unimaginable to sleep in a room surrounded by literal fire all around in the oven. Hot air ducts connecting oven fire and chimney pass underneath the sleeping room. We observed that in the month of June when our middle class take a sound sleep in the air conditioned room made of fired bricks, the manufacturer of bricks roast under double heat of sun and burning coal. The fire workers (Jalaiwala) always wear wooden clog in place of regular shoes. The ordinary shoes cannot withstand the high temperature of burning fire and fails to protect the sole from heat. A slight carelessness can directly plunge them into fire. Since every team work alternatively for eight hours, and there are only two teams instead of three, the fire workers end up working for 12 hours a day. It is interesting to note that the Minimum Wage rate fixed for the Mistry, Coalman, and Jalaiwala is same of Rs.5033.89/- per month whereas all the three types of workers are paid at different rates by the brick kiln owners owing to the skill and harshness of labour involved. For instance, Mistry is often paid at double the rate of Jalaiwala (who drop fuel in the fire hole), and coal man further less than the Jalaiwala. Coal man, who supply coal/fuel from the source on to the top of the oven are often paid between Rs.5000-5500 depending upon the age and experience of the worker. Since supplying coal involves least risk and is an unskilled job they end up receiving wage a little less than the statutory Minimum Wage fixed by the state government. Taking more legalistic view, the over time work has to be paid at double the normal rate of wage payment, the 12 hours work of a coal man should fetch him double the amount of Minimum Wage rate for an unskilled worker, that is, Rs. 4500/- a month. The calculations on these lines show that a coal man, who works under such a harsh conditions like a machine, is receiving one-third of the due share of his wages. Similarly on an average a Jalaiwala (who drop fuel in the fire hole) worker receives wage @ Rs.5500/- per month . At the face of it this wage rate is Rs. 250/- more than the monthly statutory wage rate fixed by the government. It is only Mistry who is receiving not only the Minimum Wage from any single brick kiln, he earns much more than that as he often supervises more than one brick kilns simultaneously.

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There seems another lacuna in fixing same Statutory Minimum Wage rate of Rs.5033.89/- per month both for the Beldar who stacks dry bricks in the oven and that of Jalaiwala worker whose work is not only risky but also much more harsh. Finally there are Nikasi workers (workers engaged in removing bricks after firing) who often hail from Rajasthan and work on piece rate basis. In this detailed step of the entire labour process the entire family works, including children, as the payment is made on the basis of total bricks removed from the oven. Our data collected from 416 workers gave the average piece rate wage of Rs.133/. This work is full of hazards as lot of dust is inhaled into the lungs while removing bricks from underneath the burnt soil with which they are covered. At the time of removing bricks they are still hot and tender hands of children have to hold hot bricks tightly to remove them out of the oven using hand carts. There are no fixed hours of work for piece rate workers but the whole labour process in organised in such a way that the workers end up stretching their working day far beyond the 8 hours day. In category B, as per the notification of Minimum Wages, other workers are munshi, chowkidar (watchmen), driver, and loading/unloading workers. The role of a munshi on a brick kiln is to maintain all sorts of accounts (wages, brick production, sales accounts, and also act as personnel manager. Most of the Munshi were undergraduate but a few of them were graduate. The average wage rate of a munshi was Rs.5000/- per month which is above the minimum wage of Rs.4000/- per month fixed for a graduate munshi. In contrast to munshi a watchman was not paid even a Minimum Wage. The average wage received by a watchman in the brick kiln industry was Rs. 4000 per month . A watchman was receiving wage at a rate of 65.5 per cent of the Minimum Wage. The loading/ unloading workers are not employed on daily wage basis as mentioned in the notification of the Minimum Wage. Since the demand for bricks cannot be ascertained on regular basis in the market the employers decided to pay them on the basis of piece rate of Rs.50/- per thousand of bricks loaded/unloaded. It was not easy to calculate their wages per month due to uncertainty of availability of work. Work Status Data was collected from 2583 brick kiln respondents on their total duration of work experience in brick kiln industry (table no 3.2-3.2a). Out of 2583 respondents there were only 9.98 percent who join the industry during the last one-year. But there were 14.36 percent such respondents who are working in the brick kiln industry for the past 1 to 5 years. There were 18 percent such respondents who are

47

working for the last 5 to 10 years, 26.65 percent for 10 to 15 years and and lastly there were 30.24 percent such respondents for the last more than 15 years in this industry. The details of different types of workers suggest that those who are working under very harsh conditions such as Jalaiwala, their maximum tenure of work in the brick kiln industry is relatively much smaller than those workers whose working conditions are relatively less stressful such as Beldar (Stacking Worker), Loading-unloading and Nikasiwala workers. There were 36 percent Jalaiwala workers who work between 1 to 5 years in the industry and the Beldars 35 percent work between 1 to 5 years in the industry. This indicates that the harsh and hazardous working conditions take the lot of the worker and cut short their working life span in the industry. Table No 3.2 Number of workers working for different amount of time in the brick kiln industry Number of years working in the brick kiln industry Occupation Up to 1 1.1-5.0 5.1-10.0 10.1-15.0 15+ Total Nikasiwala 14 42 40 120 200 416 Bharaiwala 18 22 21 15 33 109 Loading Unloading 05 05 09 08 10 37 Pather 98 202 298 412 375 1385 Beldar 04 10 06 07 12 39 Jalaiwala 110 82 95 108 142 537 Keriwala 05 05 09 16 05 40 Watchman 04 03 07 02 04 20 Total 258 371 485 688 781 2583

Table No 3.2a Percentage of workers working for different amount of time in the brick kiln industry Number of years working in the brick kiln industry Occupation Up to 1 1.1-5.0 5.1-10.0 10.1-15.0 15+ Total Nikasiwala 3.36 10.10 9.61 28.85 48.07 16.10 Bharaiwala 16.52 20.18 18.35 13.76 30.27 4.22 Loading Unloading 13.52 13.52 24.32 21.62 27.02 1.45 Pather 7.07 14.58 21.52 29.75 27.07 53.63 Beldar 10.25 25.64 15.39 17.95 30.76 1.53 Jalaiwala 20.48 15.28 17.70 20.11 26.45 20.80 Keriwala 12.5 12.5 22.5 40.0 12.5 1.55 Watchman 20.0 15.0 35.0 10.0 20.0 0.72 Total 9.98 14.36 18.77 26.65 30.24 100.00

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Table No 3.3 Number of workers working for different amount of time on the current brick kiln Number of years working on the current brick kiln Occupation Up to 1 1.1-5.0 5.1-10.0 10.1-15.0 15+ Total Nikasiwala 292 88 20 14 02 416 Bharaiwala 59 25 18 06 01 109 Loading Unloading 16 11 05 05 00 37 Pather 954 320 53 55 03 1385 Beldar 19 06 07 05 02 39 Jalaiwala 355 111 55 12 04 537 Keriwala 11 09 05 09 06 40 Watchman 10 06 04 00 00 20 Total 1716 576 167 106 18 2583

Table No 3.3a Percentage of workers working for different amount of time on the current brick kiln Number of years working on the current brick kiln 5.1.1- Total Occupation Up to 1 1.1-5.0 10.0 10..1-15.0 15+ Nikasiwala 70.20 21.15 04.81 03.37 00.48 16.10 Bharaiwala 54.12 22.93 16.52 05.50 00.92 04.22 Loading Unloading 43.25 29.72 13.52 13.52 0.0 01.45 Pather 68.88 23.10 03.82 03.97 0.22 53.63 Beldar 48.72 15.38 17.95 12.82 05.12 01.53 Jalaiwala 66.10 20.67 10.25 02.24 0.75 20.80 Keriwala 27.50 22.50 12.50 22.50 15.00 01.55 Watchman 50.00 30.00 20.00 0.0 0.0 00.72 Total 66.45 22.30 06.46 04.10 0.69 100.00

In order to know the mobility and circulation of the brick kiln workers data was also collected on their continuously working on the same brick kiln (table 3.3-3.3a). It is not surprising to find that nearly 3/4th of the work force was working on the same brick kiln only for the last one season. It shows that the brick kiln work force keep on rotating every year and go to the brick kilns that offer best terms under the given circumstances. Out of the remaining workers who are working for more than one year continuously with the same employer, 22.30 percent were working for the last 1 to 5 years, 6.46 percent for the 5 to 10 years, 4.10 percent for the last 10 to 15 years and the remaining 0.69 percent for last more than 15 years. Among the other types of workers, particularly the piece rated workers working under contractors, there is relatively less stability and more mobility. Labour contractors, who are middlemen

49 between the employer and the workers, try to allure workers offering the best piece wage rates available in the labour market in the beginning of the every season. It indicates that the brick kiln labour market remains in flux and do not establish working relation with the same employer on the enduring basis. This instability of work force has implications for the security of job in the eyes of law. Most of the brick kiln workers remain out side the purview of various social security and employment benefits due to their continuous rotation from one brick kiln to another at the beginning of every season. Table No 3.4 Distribution of workers on the basis of entering into work contract with the employer Written/ oral contract of respondent workers

Occupation Yes No Nikasiwala 20 396 Bharaiwala 07 102 Loading/ Unloading 11 26 Pather 66 1319

Beldar 06 33 Jalaiwala 30 507 Keriwala 10 30 Watchman 08 12 Total 158 2425

We found that there was not a single worker who underwent written agreement with the employer or contractor regarding their wages, working conditions and employment. However, nearly half of the workers told that their contractor had orally explained the amount of piece wage rate or time rate wages that would be paid to them. But the other half were just working without knowing that what will be the wages paid to them at the end of the season. Right from the beginning these workers start working by taking advance debt and this practice of taking advance continues till the end of the season when full and final account is settled at the wage rate which is either decided by the Department of Labour or negotiated at the level of each and every districts by the respective trade unions. In this sense, brick kiln industry is one such industry, may be rather the only industry in India, where workers keep on working for 7 to 8 months against the advance debt offered every fortnightly to the entire work force, sans wages. Our field survey has also given us to understand that most of the workers start working at the wage rates received during the previous year. In other words the previous year’s wage rates are the rock bottom but there can also be upward revision under the organized pressure from the workers and trade unions. Wage rates is only one part of the

50 entire story. The number of daily working hours depicts the other part of the working conditions and earnings of the workers (table 3.5-3.5a).Out of the total 18.05 percent workers were working up to 8 hours a day. There were 16.6 percent such workers who were working between 8 to 10 hours a day. Still there were such workers who were working more than 12 hours a day whose respective percentage was 55.91 percent and 1.8 percent for the number of daily working hours between 13 to 14 hours. The details if different types of workers who work for longer hours further throw light on the speed of different types of work on the brick kilns. The maximum numbers of workers who work for 12 hours a day are firing workers (Jalaiwala). They are bond to work for 12 hours a day as there are two teams working alternatively for 8 hours on continuous basis and ends up working 12 hours in a day. The other workers who work for much longer hours are brick moulding workers. It is not surprising to note that 46.93 percent of the brick moulding workers work more than 12 hours a day and 29.96 percent work for between 8 to 10 hours a day. In fact, we found that moulding workers start moulding bricks at the middle of night with the help of Petromax and continue till 11 to 12 on the following day. Again after free they prepare mud for the next day and spent 3 to 4 hours in that work, since most of the family members, including women and children work together, they work for different duration during the day depending upon the age and gender of the family members. It is generally adult males who work for longer hours followed by women folk and children. Spending less time on brick moulding by women workers does not mean that they sit idle at home. The entire responsibility of rearing children and feeding them also lies with the women workers. Therefore, they keep on doing alternative activity between brick moulding and household chores. We have also found that compare to other workers Nikasiwala also spent much longer time every day in brick removing from the oven. It is, therefore, very important that when we look at the wage rates of the brick kiln workers we should not overlook the ground reality of working almost at double the rate of a normal worker. Our team also asked the workers whether they receive wages daily or weekly or fortnightly or monthly or at the end of the season. The actual mode of payment of wages was at the end of the season. However, the workers were surviving all the time against the advance debt offered by their employer every fortnightly. There was no definite rule followed for granting leaves to the workers. Every fortnightly when the workers were paid advance debt for the following two weeks during the second half of the day the workers will go on leave for the next day. In contrast to time wage rate workers, the principle followed in the case of piece rate worker is ‘no work no payment’. That is the piece rate workers ‘enjoy’ one-day holiday

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at their own cost. The holiday is primarily used to buy eatables and other grocery items from the nearby market, to wash and clean clothes, and also to booze around in the evening. Once again, in the following days the continuous nonstop work starts for the next fortnight. In a nutshell, the brick kiln workers keep on working for the entire season against advance debt and receive wages only at the end of the season when accounts are settled after all the deduction made for the advance debt. Table No 3.5 Number of daily working hours of workers engaged in different occupations Daily working hours of respondent workers less than Total Occupation 8 8 to 10 11 to12 13 to 14 14+ Nikasiwala 78 99 237 02 0 416 Bharaiwala 40 04 66 09 0 109 Loading Unloading 03 10 20 04 0 37 Pather 270 415 650 19 31 1385 Beldar 06 13 15 04 02 39 Jalaiwala 62 39 429 04 03 537 Keriwala 05 16 18 01 0 40 Watchman 02 03 10 05 0 20 Total 466 599 1445 48 36 2583

Table No 3.5a Percentage of workers working for different number of hours daily Daily working hours of respondent workers Occupation less than 8 8 to 10 11 to12 13 to 14 14+ Total Nikasiwala 18.75 23.80 59.98 0.48 0.0 16.10 Bharaiwala 36.70 03.66 60.55 08.25 0.0 04.22 Loading Unloading 08.10 27.02 54.05 10.81 0.0 01.45 Pather 19.49 29.96 46.93 01.37 02.23 53.63 Beldar 15.38 33.33 38.46 10.25 5.12 01.53 Jalaiwala 11.55 07.26 79.88 0.74 0.55 20.80 Keriwala 12.50 40.00 45.00 02.5 0.0 01.55 Watchman 10.0 15.0 50.0 25.0 0.0 0.72 Total 18.05 23.20 55.91 01.80 01.04 100.00

It was observed that all the migrant workers who come from out side are provided dwellings also much they shabby may be. The owner of a brick kiln does not charge any cost of electricity drinking water or rent for the accommodation. Employer also provides with the tools such as moulding frame to the Pather labour and wooden clog and other wherewithal to the Jalaiwala workers. There is also a precedent of providing utensils to Jalaiwala workers

52 and also some times eatables like sugar, milk, tea, lemon etc. It seems that this special favour to the Jalaiwala workers is done to compensate their much harsh working conditions. However, hand carts, spades and other similar tools particularly used by brick moulding labourers are not provided by the employer. All these tools are taken away by the workers along with them at the end of the season. As far as paid holidays enjoyed by the workers is concerned, there is no such precedent as most of the workers are casual and figure no where in the formal record. Whether the workers are time rated or piece rated there is no provision for paid holiday. This is all the more true for the Jalaiwala workers, as firing is a continuous process and they can not have a holiday unlike other workers. However, the time rated workers such as Beldar, Munshi etc may get some relieve from work when ever there is bad whether and the work has to be halted temporarily. Maintenance of the regular muster roll and payment of wages with wage slip can be some of the records that can establish employer and worker relation. This record is important from the workers point of view in order to ameliorate conditions of work at the brick kilns. There is no question of providing wage slips to the brick kiln workers as they are paid wages only at the end of the season. We also observed that some minimum statutory rules, teased out of Factories Act, Minimum Wages Act, Trade Unions Act, and other Acts relating to the social security of the workers, are not displayed at any prominent place at the brick kilns in the local language to make workers aware of their legal rights. The most important thing, which is often missing, is the name of the brick kiln to be displayed on a board. It was found that Munshi, who performs dual role of a manager and an accountant, maintains daily record of piece rated workers. So much so that moulding labourers maintained small pocket dairy in which regular entries of the number of bricks moulded in a day are entered by the Munshi. The same is also recorded in the official registers of the brick kiln owner. We thought that it is important to ask from the workers whether they can have access to the official record of the brick kiln owner about the total work done and the total advance debt taken by them. There was one uniform response from the workers and that was ‘No’. Brick kiln industry is not free of hazards and risk to life. That is why we found it appropriate to ask a question that who bear the medical expenses in case a worker meets with an accident. The response to this question is presented in table No.3.6. Out of the total workers 98 percent of them told us that they have to bear the treatment expenses all by themselves. However, there were 2 percent such worker who said that employer would bear the expenses towards

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medical treatment in case of any injury to a worker at the work place. It is interesting to note down that among those workers who responded

Table No 3.6 Percentage of workers bearing medical expenses in case of accident at work place Who bear the medical expenses Row Employe Row Col Occupation Self %age r %age Total %age Nikasiwala 414 99.50 02 0.50 416 16.10 Bharaiwala 109 100.00 00 0.00 109 04.22 Loading/ Unloading 32 86.50 05 13.50 37 01.45 Pather 1375 99.27 10 0.73 1385 53.63 Beldar 36 92.30 03 7.70 39 01.53 Jalaiwala 533 99.25 04 0.75 537 20.80 Keriwala 35 87.50 05 12.50 40 01.55 Watchman 18 90.00 02 10.00 20 00.72 Total 2552 98.80 31 01.20 2583 100.00

that employer would bear the medical expenses, were watchman Munshi, driver and Jalaiwala workers. It is not sheer coincidence that all of them are also time rated workers. But on the whole, 90 to 95 percent workers, whether they are time rated or piece rated workers, were not hopeful of receiving medical aid from their employer in case of any accident. Instead we recorded some of the stories where after accident the employer came forward to bear all the treatment expenses initially, but later on that amount was debited against the name of the worker. Table No 3.7 Response of the workers on whether they can quit job at their own will or not Quit the Job on Will (Number)

Occupation Yes No Total Nikasiwala 349 67 416 Bharaiwala 84 25 109 Loading Unloading 24 13 37 Pather 1222 163 1385 Beldar 22 17 39 Jalaiwala 511 26 537 Keriwala 10 30 40 Watchman 16 04 20 Total 2238 345 2583

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Table No 3.7a Percentage of Response of workers on whether they can quit job at their will or not Quit the Job on Will (Percentage)

Occupation Yes No Total Nikasiwala 83.90 16.10 16.10 Bharaiwala 77.07 22.93 04.22 Loading Unloading 64.86 35.14 01.45 Pather 88.25 11.75 53.63 Beldar 56.45 43.55 01.53 Jalaiwala 95.0 05.0 20.80 Keriwala 25.0 75.0 01.55 Watchman 80.0 20.0 0.72 Total 86.64 13.36 100.00

It is known fact that part of the working conditions at the brick kiln is hazardous to the health of the workers. In this background, we asked the workers that in case they catch some disease due to bad working conditions at the brick kiln whether employer would come forward to bear the cost of treatment of the disease. Out of the total 2583workers, 98 percent said that they have to bear all the expenses of treatment themselves. And the remaining 2 percent were hopeful of receiving medical assistance from their employer. Again Jalaiwalas and other time rated workers were more hopeful of receiving free medical help from their employer compare to other types of labourer. On the whole it can be concluded therefore, that in case of any emergency medical paid more often than not the brick kiln workers would be left to fend for themselves. We asked a question that ‘if you want to quit this work right away would you be allowed to do so?’ Here we should not forget that these questions are being raised in the background of their indebtedness to their employer. The response has been placed in Table 3.7-3.7a. 86.64 per cent said that they would be allowed to quit their job in case they wish to do so. However there were still 13.36 per cent such workers who said that they would not be allowed to quit. That is any worker can quit any time but he or she has to incur loss. All such workers who would decide to quit at their will would be charged regular room rent, cess for the electricity used and also for the water if it is supplied by the water tanker. We made calculation with some of the old workers and found that in case a worker wants to quit at his own will he would be left with half the amount of normal wage after making deductions on various accounts by the employer. It is precisely for this reason that large majority of the workers has responded negatively. A little closer look at the political economy of the employment and earnings reveals that all the workers start working at the beginning of the

55 season after taking advance debt depending upon the prevalent supply/demand of particular type of labour. When the workers start working after Deepavali in the month of October they are already indebted to their employer. After a couple of months the work slows down and finally comes to a grinding halt during winter while the food expenses of the workers continue that is met by the brick kiln owner by advancing more debt. We were told that it is only somewhere at the end of April the earnings of the workers and their due debt strike a balance. The net earnings of the workers starts accumulating only during the last two months of May and June. At the end of June brick kiln labour desert the place as monsoon season sets in. It shows that in case workers want to quit before the month of May they have to repay at least some amount which would be charged on various accounts as mentioned above. Alternatively if the workers continue to work without resistance and questioning, no deductions would be made on account of room rent, electricity, or usurious rat of interest on the entire debt advanced time to time. Since the poor workers have no alternative source of cash to clear their outstanding debt of the brick kiln owner, they would rather not to think of quitting work and land themselves into soup. That is why both the responses are correct if seen in the right perspective. That is, those workers who think that they cannot quit, they do not mean that they would be chained or locked by the employer. They simply mean that the cost of quitting work is so heavy that only fools would decide to quit and suffer. We also asked another question from the workers: ‘In case you are unable to work due to bad health or some urgent personal work, do you have to send your substitute for work?’ We found that those workers who were being paid wage on piece rate basis they need not supply any substitute for the simple reason that the loss production for the employer is simultaneously also the loss of wages for the worker. Here the piece rate workers are exempted from the supply of their substitute under the simple logic of ‘No work No payment’. The same is not true of the workers paid wages on time rate basis. It is for this reason that the time rated workers have to supply their substitute before they could proceed on ‘leave’ for medical treatment. There was another query made by us from the workers: ‘Do you have to contribute any free labour in lieu of advance debt (if yes, specify nature and extent)?’ This is a query regarding beggar (unpaid labour). We found that Pather labour do contribute unpaid labour at the time of cleaning and leveling brick laying floor, and also digging channel for the supply of water to prepare mud. They also work without wages for making steps to facilitate transportation of mud and bricks. But there is no custom of extracting large scale free labour from the brick kiln workers.

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Table No 3.8 Number of workers contributing free labour in their respective occupation Response of Respondents Occupation Yes No Total Nikasiwala 04 412 416 Bharaiwala 02 107 109 Loading Unloading 03 34 37 Pather 30 1355 1385 Beldar 02 37 39 Jalaiwala 02 535 537 Keriwala 01 39 40 Watchman 01 19 20 Total 45 2538 2583

We did try to gather little sensitive information on the sexual exploitation of women workers either by the contractors or by the brick kiln owner. Due to the shortage of time, and also this not being our major focus of the study, we did not come across any case of sexual exploitation of women workers. Table No 3.8a Percentage of workers contributing free labour in their respective occupation Response of Respondents Occupation Self Employer Total Nikasiwala 1.00 99.00 16.10 Bharaiwala 1.85 98.15 04.22 Loading Unloading 9.00 91.00 01.45 Pather 2.17 97.83 53.63 Beldar 5.12 94.88 01.53 Jalaiwala 0.40 99.60 20.80 Keriwala 2.50 97.50 01.55 Watchman 5.00 95.00 0.72 Total 01.75 98.25 100.00

In order to gauge the awareness level of the workers about the legal provisions we asked them if they know the existence of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. The repose has been presented in Table 3.8-3.8a. Out of the total 2583 workers 98 per cent workers expressed their ignorance about the existence of any such Act. One of the reasons for this ignorance is that, over the years, the workers have internalised the given wages and working conditions to such an extent that it seems to them almost natural condition. The vicious circle between deprivation and ignorance has to be broken if we wish to change the existing conditions of work in the brick kiln industry. Once again it can also be seen that what

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so ever little awareness is there, it is more common among the time the time rated workers than otherwise.

Indebtedness Indebtedness is the most important means to perpetuate bondage in the otherwise modern economy. Different levels of development of the workers at their place of origin supplemented by their particular cultural background would determine the proneness of the workers to bondage. The detailed information collected on indebtedness has been analysed in terms of place of origin of the workers, their caste affiliation, sources of debt, reasons of indebtedness, and rate of interest charged by the moneylender. Table number 3.9-3.9a below gives the details of the places from where the workers are coming and their extent of indebtedness. Out of the total 2583 workers, 17.46 percent had taken debt from different people at their place of origin. The remaining 82.54 percent of the workers had not borrowed any additional debt over and above but they had already taken from the brick kiln owner. It is important to clarify here that the debt amount of 17.46 percent of the indebted workers is in addition to the regular debt they owe to their employer at the brick kiln. As has already been clarified at the time of discussing wages that the brick kiln workers are universally working against the debt advanced to them by the brick kiln owners through the middleman. Therefore, there is no point of bring that part of the indebtedness over here once again. The debt amount and the number of workers indebted which we are going to discuss in the following pages exclusively pertains to the debt taken by the workers at their place of their origin. Table No 3.9 Amount of outstanding debt on workers borrowed at their respective place of origin Amount of Debt (Rs.) State of Up to 10001- 20001- 30001- 40001- Origin 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 50001+ Total Bihar 12 08 06 04 02 10 42 Haryana 21 18 12 07 04 13 75 W.Bangal 04 02 00 04 00 02 12 Rajasthan 98 12 08 06 05 05 134 UP 123 15 12 06 04 20 180 Other States 02 01 03 02 00 00 08 Total 260 56 41 29 15 50 451

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Table No 3.9a Percentage of workers indebted at their respective place of origin

Amount of Debt (Rs.) State of Up to 10001- 20001- 30001- 40001- Origin 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 50001+ Total Bihar 28.58 19.4 14.28 9.52 4.76 23.80 9.31 Haryana 28.0 24.0 16.0 9.33 5.33 17.33 16.62 W.Bangal 33.33 16.66 .0.0 33.33 0.0 16.66 2.66 Rajasthan 73.13 8.95 5.97 4.47 3.73 3.73 29.71 UP 68.33 8.33 6.66 3.33 2.22 11.11 39.92 Other States 25.0 12.5 37.5 25.0 0.0 0.0 1.78 Total 57.65 12.40 9.09 6.43 3.35 11.08 100

Out of the total 451 indebted workers, 39.92 percent are from Utter Pradesh, 29.71 percent from Rajasthan and 16.62 percent from Haryana. The number of indebted workers hailing from west bangal, Bihar and other states constitute almost 15 percent only. If we look at the above proportions of the indebted workers against their actual proportion of overall work force, it seems that Uttar Pradesh workers are relatively more indebted than Rajasthan and Haryana. The number of indebted workers from Bihar is relatively less not that they are better than workers from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, it may be just the opposite. Moneylenders advance debt only to those workers who have minimum assets that can be attached by the moneylender in case a worker fails to return the debt. It is a common phenomenon in the rural areas that extremely poor section of society, who need cash much more urgently than others, do not have access to any type of loan for want of matching grantee of property or assets. This is also true of workers who hail from Bihar and many others under developed states. In other words prosperity and indebtedness are directly proportionate to each other and are not inversely related as commonly understood. Our proposition is proved by the figures on the amount of debt taken by different workers presented in table 3.9-3.9a. The largest number of workers with the highest amount of debt hails from Uttar Pradesh. It is worth exploring from their respective place of origin within Uttar Pradesh that why there is so high debt on the workers who are not otherwise very well off. On whole, we found that, out of 451indebted workers,11.08 percent were burdened with more than Rs.50,000/ each. These are the workers, who are already into the debt trap and have no hope of achieving freedom from the chains of debt. There were another 3.35 percent such workers whose debt amount ranged between Rs.30,000/ to Rs. 40,000/ each. Even this

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amount is not easy to repay by the workers when we look at the additional debt these workers owe to the brick kiln owners. There were 57.65 percent such workers whose debt amount was less than Rs.10000/ each. Table No 3.10 Extent of indebtedness of workers and their respective caste affiliation

Amount of Debt (Rs.) Caste Up to 10001- 20001- 30001- 40001- categories 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 50001+ Total General caste 21 12 8 7 4 08 60 SC 209 25 19 13 9 32 307 BC 24 15 11 8 2 08 68 Unknown 6 4 3 1 0 02 16 Total 260 56 41 29 15 50 451

Table No 3.10a Percentage of workers belonging to different castes and their indebtedness Amount of Debt (Rs.) Caste Up to 10001- 20001- 30001- 40001- categories 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 50001+ Total General caste 35.0 20.0 13.33 11.66 6.66 13.33 13.30 SC 68.07 8.15 6.18 4.23 1.30 2.60 68.07 BC 35.29 22.05 16.17 11.76 2.94 11.76 15.07 Unknown 37.5 25.0 18.75 6.25 0.0 12.5 3.56 Total 57.65 12.40 9.09 6.43 3.35 11.08 100.0

In India, caste and class overlap to a large extent. It is for this reason for any social analysis caste becomes a fundamental category of analysis. The caste analysis of the indebted workers is presented in table 3.10 and 3.10a. Out of the total indebted(451) workers whose caste could be ascertained, we found that the proportion of indebted workers belonging to general caste is almost equal to their overall proportion in the work force while in the case of backward caste the proportion of indebted workers is slightly lesser than their overall proportion in the work force. However, the proportion of Scheduled Caste workers is higher than their actual proportion among the overall workers. This shows that the Scheduled Castes workers are indebted more extensively and more frequently compared to the workers belonging to other castes. General caste indebted workers constitute only 13.30 percent, the Scheduled Castes constitute 68.07 percent indicating to the fact that lower caste workers are more heavily indebted than the general caste workers. To a lesser extent, same is true when

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the Scheduled Caste debt is compared with the Backward Castes. It can be clearly seen that lower caste and extreme deprivation go hand in hand in social system. It is precisely for this reason that no economic analysis policy planning is complete without going into the ramification in terms of caste structure. Table No 3.11 Reasons of indebtedness of workers hailing from different states Reasons for Debt To clear State of Const. of Productive earlier Origin Marriage Illness House Investment Debt Any Other Total Bihar 20 11 8 0 2 1 42 Haryana 26 13 10 6 14 6 75 W. Bangal 5 2 2 1 2 0 12 Rajasthan 61 24 15 4 16 14 134 UP 93 28 17 2 22 19 180 Other States 2 2 2 0 1 1 8 Total 207 80 54 13 56 41 451

Table No 3.11a Reasons of indebtedness of workers hailing from different states in percentage Reasons for Debt To clear State of Constructio Productive earlier Origin Marriage Illness n of House Investment Debt Any Other Total Bihar 47.61 26.19 19.04 0.0 4.76 2.38 9.31 Haryana 34.66 17.33 13.33 8.0 18.66 8.0 16.62 W Bangal 41.66 16.66 16.66 8.33 16.66 0.0 2.66 Rajasthan 45.52 17.91 11.19 2.98 11.94 10.44 29.71 UP 51.66 15.55 9.45 1.11 12.22 10.55 39.92 Other States 25.0 25.0 25.0 0.0 12.5 12.5 1.78 Total 45.90 17.73 11.97 2.88 12.43 9.09 100.0

Our various studies on Scheduled Castes and Bricks Kiln labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan has shown us that the two most important reasons of their indebtedness are spending on social ceremonies (particularly marriage) and meeting medical expenses. The same has been once again confirmed by the data on reasons for debt presented in table 3.11-3.11a. The overall analysis of the reasons for debt presented in table 4.10a shows that 45.90 percent indebted workers spend their loan on marry their children and performing other related rituals. The second most important reason that emerged from the data is illness of the family members. There were 17.73 percent labourers who took loan in

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order to meet medical expenses. Together more than 63 percent of the indebted workers gave their only two reasons of indebtedness namely marriage and medical expenses. The next important reason of indebtedness is to clear earlier debt (12.43%), followed by house construction (11.97%) to productive investment (2.88%), and other miscellaneous reasons (9.09%). The detailed analysis of reasons of indebtedness of the brick kiln workers shows that 65 percent workers fall into debt to meet non-productive expenses such as social ceremonies, health, house, etc. Another interesting figure appears in the table is of perpetual indebtedness though their percentage is only 12.43. The perpetual indebtedness provides a strong ground for pushing these workers to the bonded social relations of production. Table No 3.12 Reasons of indebtedness of workers and their caste affiliation Reasons for Debt To clear Caste Constructio Productive earlier categories Marriage Illness n of House Investment Debt Any Other Total General caste 16 15 14 2 4 9 60 SC 161 50 30 7 30 29 307 BC 24 11 8 3 19 3 68 Unknown 6 4 2 1 3 0 16 Total 207 80 54 13 56 41 451

Table No 3.12a Reasons of indebtedness of workers and their caste affiliation in percentage Reasons for Debt To clear Caste Constructio Productive earlier categories Marriage Illness n of House Investment Debt Any Other Total General caste 26.66 25.0 23.33 3.33 6.66 15.0 13.30 SC 52.44 16.28 9.77 2.28 9.77 9.44 68.07 BC 35.29 16.17 11.76 4.41 27.95 4.41 15.07 Unknown 37.5 25.0 12.5 6.25 18.75 0.0 3.56 Total 45.89 17.73 11.97 2.88 12.44 9.09 100.0

In tables number 3.12-3.12a we have tried to analyse the relation between caste, origin and reasons of indebtedness. In continuation to our earlier argument that lower caste more frequently the indebtedness due to expenses on marriage and ill health, table 4.11a reinforces once again the same argument. The caste analysis of the workers shows that there were only 51 percent indebted workers from the General Castes who took debt to meet marriage and ill health expenses while the proportion of backward caste for the same reason was 51 percent and that of Scheduled Castes 68 percent. Further, among the Sacheduled

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Castes, the most frequently debt is taken for productive investment and house construction, but there is not a single caste of taking loan to clear the previous debt. However, among the Scheduled Castes and Backward Castes the proportion of indebted workers for the reasons of construction of house and productive investment is around 20 percent. It is, therefore, very important to further strengthen social sector, health sector and Public Distribution System. Table No 3.13 Annual rate of interest charged from workers in different states State of Interest Rate (%) Origin 0 1 to 12 13-24 25-36 37-60 60+ Total Bihar 1 10 13 8 7 3 42 Haryana 3 20 23 15 10 4 75 W Bengal 1 4 3 2 2 0 12 Rajasthan 6 31 50 23 19 5 134 UP 7 45 75 27 20 6 180 Other States 0 2 3 2 1 0 8 Total 18 112 167 77 59 18 451

Table No 3.13a Percentage of workers paying different amount of annual rate of interest on debt from different states State of Interest Rate (%) Origin 0 1 to 12 13-24 25-36 37-60 60+ Total Bihar 2.38 23.80 30.95 19.04 16.66 7.14 9.31 Haryana 4.0 26.66 30.66 20.0 13.33 5.33 16.62 W Bengal 8.33 33.33 25.0 2.66 2.66 0.0 2.66 Rajasthan 4.47 23.13 37.31 17.16 14.17 3.73 29.71 UP 3.88 25.0 41.66 15.0 11.11 3.33 39.91 Other States 0.0 25.0 37.5 25.0 12.5 0.0 1.79 Total 3.99 24.83 37.02 17.09 13.08 3.99 100.0

There is different rate of interest in different states and also the interest rate varies according to different districts within each state. It is for this reason we have presented our data on the rate of interest charged from the workers in their own respective state (see Table 3.13-3.13a). Out of the total 451 indebted workers 3.99 per cent did not pay any interest on their debt. There were 24.83 per cent such workers who paid interest quite reasonable @ 1-12 per cent per annum. The most common rate is found to be 13-24 per cent. In fact in the range of 13-24 per cent interest rate the real rate on interest is 24 per cent per annum and there were half the number of total workers falling into this category. Among the remaining indebted workers 17.9 per cent are indebted in the range of 25-36 annual rate of interest, 13.8 per cent in the range of 37-60, and there was a small proportion of 3.99 per cent indebted workers

63 paying annual interest @ more than 60 per cent per annum. State wise analysis of rate of interest shows that workers from Uttar Pradesh are most exploited followed by Rajasthan and Haryana. The most common rate of interest charged from the Uttar Pradesh workers is in the range of 13-24 per cent per annum while from those belonging to Haryana and Rajasthan is in the range of 37-60 per cent. If we look at the amount of debt taken in relation to the rate of interest charged it seems that 20-25 per cent of the total indebted workers are already into the debt trap at their respective place of origin. It constraints them to borrow more debt to clear the previous one and thus the chain of debt never comes to an end. Case Study on Working of the Brick Kiln Labour in Rewari On February 2nd our team visited at Luxmi bhatta co. Lukhi where was a group of workers moulding/laying bricks and they all hailing from 3-4 villages from Banda (U.P.). All of them belonged to Chamar caste. The details of the working were collected from Rajan, 35, middle education, caste Chamar, having six children. These details are applicable to other brick moulders as well. All the six children in the range of 2-18 years were with the parents and were helping them in their work of moulding bricks.All the six children are girls and All are unmarried. Rajan told that his family starts moulding bricks exactly in the middle of the night in the light of a Sollar light as there is no electricity in the area. They were living in small dwellings in the open fields where there was no provision of water, toilet, school and even electricity. They were fetching water from the near by tubewell . Out of all the families working there no child was going to any school. The brick moulding starts in the middle of the night and continues till 10-11 a.m. in the morning and then they stop and go for rest to their hutment. In the evening at 3 O’clock, once again, particularly the male members of the different families, prepare mud by mixing water in the soil which would be used for brick moulding during the following night. In total, the family members put in labour for14 hours a day. All children, wife and Rajan himself together after working for all these long hours of work could mould only up to 1500 bricks a day. Their rate of payment was Rs.361/- per 1000 bricks, out of which Rs.16/- were going to the Jamadar who had mediated between the employer and the labourers to bring them here at the given brick kiln. Rajan is one of those labourers who have not been into this brick moulding since very long. He is working only for the last two years. Last year he did not take any advance but last year before leaving for his place at Banda in UP he took Rs.5000/- as cash advance. Last year at the end of the season which extends from the end of October to middle of June he could save Rs.20,000/-. He was not sure if he could make the same saving this

64 year again as the account will be settled at the end of the season. Rajan is worried about the girls.He thinks that how he will marriage his six girls?Because he has no bank balance and no extra income for girls marriage. Since most of the workers at the brick kilns are piece rated workers, recruited through middleman (called Jamadar) all the preparatory work remains unpaid. For instance, the brick moulders level the floor to spread the moulded bricks, prepare channel for water used to wet the mud, and also dig steps to get down to work. All the bricks, after they are sun-dried, are lifted and later removed to different stacks. All such work at the brick kilns is unpaid. We found the children often do the turning up of the bricks from the ground, as it is not heavy work. Similarly children help in supplying moistened earth on small handcarts to their parents at the moulding floor. Similarly, though the stacking and removing of bricks from the oven is a paid work, to open and close windows at the side of the oven is unpaid work. There was suggestion from the trade unions that the brick kiln industry should be treated as part of industrial department and all the acts that apply to other industry should also apply to this industry. Some of the following suggestions were given: 1. The name of every brick kiln should be displayed in bold letters at the gate of the kiln in all the three languages, that is, Hindi, Punjabi and English. 2. There should be workforce information board displayed at prominent place outside the office with the detailed account of total number of workers working in each process/step and the name of their Jamadar. 3. Mode of payment of wages should also be displayed, along with the total amount of debt outstanding till date, that shall be revised every fortnightly. 4. Provident fund of all those workers who work for more than 50 days should be deposited with the office of P.F. The other eligibility that minimum 20 workers have to be employed is invariably met on brick kilns. 5. Since a large number of workers are migrant from other states, the provisions of Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act must be honoured accordingly. The provision of fuel, medicines, accommodation, etc. is to be made by the employers for the migrant workers. 6. Regular attendance register be maintained which shall be produced on inspection. Health Hazards 1. The places where workers live are totally unguarded from reptiles. There are cases of deaths due to snakebite.

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2. One of the major complaints of workers is loss of eyesight. Doctors told that it is due to lack of vitamin A which is absent from the diet of the workers. 3. Children are full of intestinal worms. They need regular deworming. 4. Suggestions: Employees State Insurance Scheme could be extended to at least those workers where there is cluster of brick-kilns. They can meet the condition of minimum 500 employees/workers to extend the facility.

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Chapter IV

Socio-economic Profile of the Labourers and Their Working conditions

The present chapter deals with the socio-economic background of the respondents and their working conditions at the different industrial units.

Socio-economic Background: Table 4.1 : Distribution of labours by type of industry N 2583 Brick kilns % 74 N 597 Rice sellers % 18 Industry type N 221 Poultry farms % 6 N 77 Farming % 2.22 N 3478 Total % 100

Most of the labourers (about 74%)were found to be located at the brink kilns followed by 17% at the ricesellers. Some were spotted at poultry farms (6%), and agricultural farming (2.22%).

Table 4.2: Registered contractors N 383 Registered % 11 Contractor N 3095 Unregistered % 89 N 3478 Total % 100

The labourers under the survey revealed that most of them (89%) were working under unregistered contractors. About three-fourth workers were working in bricks kiln industry and only 2 per cent workers were working on the agricultural farms.

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Religion wise distribution of the respondents show that most of the labourers (88%) were found to be Hindus followed by 11% Muslims, however Sikh labourers comprised of only 0.23 per cent.

Table 4.3 : Religion wise Distribution of labour N 3081 Hindu % 88 N 386 Muslim % 11 Religion N 08 Sikh % 0.23 N 03 0thers % 0 .77 N 3478 Total % 100

The table 4.4 shows the caste category-wise distribution of the labourers. We can see that most of the respondents belong to Scheduled castes (52%), however only 18 per cent of the General castes and 0.43 per cent of Scheduled Tribes were working as the labourers at the selected unorganised industrial units.

Table 4..4 : Caste Categories wise Distribution of labourers N 636 General Caste % 18 N 1838 Scheduled Caste % 52 N 15 Scheduled Tribe % 0.43 Caste/Tribe N 952 Other Backward Caste % 27.87 N 37 Not Known % 1.7 N 3478 Total % 100

The table 4.5 reveals that the average ownership of agricultural land is 2.3 acres. Out of that the average holding of dry, irrigated and wasteland were found to be 2.96, 2.36 and 2.96 acres respectively. We can see, the (non)ownership of agricultural land has a direct bearing on the person getting into the clutch of indebtedness and a subsequent possibility of being a bonded labour

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In India, after agriculture, the next most economic source of livelihood is livestock. The data above disclose that a few of the respondents own livestocks. As we can see, only 13.9% own cows, 4.8% own bulls, 13 % own buffalos, 10.65% own sheep, 0.35% own pigs,and 6.55% own poultry .

Table 4.5: Ownership of land (in acre) Average 2.3 Total agricultural land (in acre) Maximum 26 Minimum 0 2.96 Dry land (in acre) Maximum 0.6 Minimum 0 Average 2.36 Irrigated land (in acre) Maximum 1.6 Minimum 0 Average 2.96 Waste land (in acre) Maximum 0.3 Minimum 0

Table 4.6 : Livestock ownership

Livestock N 484 Cow % 13.90 N 166 Bull % 4.80 N 452 Buffalo % 13 N 370 Sheep % 10.65 N 11 Pigs % 0.35 N 227 Poultry % 6.55 N 00 Other % 0.0

While probing about the ownership of essential household items, it was found that 23.35% have cycles and 37.8% have mobiles. Other than these 11.15% have TVs and a very few were found to be having Music systems (1.6%), cooler (0.8) and rickshaw (0.3). The asset-ownership pattern shows the economic position of the respondents.

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Table 4.7 : Asset ownership N 387 TV % 11.15 N 55 Deck % 1.60 N 203 Radio % 5.85 N 812 Cycle % 23.35 N 1315 Mobile % 37.80 N 3 Cooler % 0.08 N 12 Rickshaw % 0.35

Infrastructure at the Place of Residence:

This was investigated with a primary aim to capture the living conditions of the labourers. Low living conditions necessarily push the people into the clutch of poverty and indebtedness. Table 4.8: House ownership N 3290 Owned % 94 House at place of origin N 188 Rented % 6 Total % 100 N 2767 Kutcha % 80 N 577 Pucca House type % 16 N 134 Thatched % 4 Total % 100 Avg 151 Area of the house ( in sq. feet) Maximum 1000 Minimum 0

The above table shows that at the place of origin, most of the respondents(94%) have own houses, out of which 80% have katcha houses while only 16% have pucca houses and only 4%thatched houses.

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So far as drinking water is concerned, only 9% claimed to have access to the public water supply where as majority (88%) has access to hand pumps and the rest 3% to wells. Most of the respondents (52%) claimed not to have electricity. Among those who have electricity, 17% were found to be availing electricity for less than 2 hours per day. Only 72% claimed to be getting electricity for more than 10 hours per day. Most of the respondents who do not have access to electricity were reported to be resorting to kerosene as the source of lighting. Major sources of fuel were found to be wood (95%), dung-cake (3%), and coal (0.5%). Only 1.5% were found to be using LPG.

Table 4.9 :Source of water, electricity/lighting and fuel N 96 Well % 3 N 3058 Source of drinking water Handpump % 88 N 324 Public water supply % 9 N 1679 Yes % 48 Have Electricity N 1799 No % 52 N 574 Upto 2 hours % 17 N 312 3-5 hrs % 9 Hours of electricity supply per day N 2479 6-10 hrs % 72 N 113 More than 10 hrs % 2 N 851 Lamp % 24 N 2614 Source of lighting Diya % 75 N 13 Lantern % 1 N 3342 Wood % 95 N 119 Dung cake % 3 Source of fuel N 04 Coal % 0.5 N 13 LPG % 1.5

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Table 4.10: Place of defecation

N 149 Inside the house % 4 N 09 Place of defecation Public toilet % 1 N 3320 Open space % 95 N 3478 Total % 100

As the table above suggests, sanitation was found to be very poor, as 95% of the respondents were found to be using open space for defecation purpose. Only 4% claimed to have toilets at their houses.

Table 4.11: Average Distance of pucca road from the village (in kms)

Average 0.5 Distance of pucca road from the village Maximum 10 Minimum 0

The average distance of the nearest pucca road from the village of residence of the respondents was found to be 0.5 kms. Table 4.12 Educational Infrastructure: N 918 Govt .Primary school % 30.82 N 924 Govt .Middle school % 31.02 N 816 Govt .Secondry school % 27.41 N 320 Govt. Sr.Sr.school % 10.75 N 2978 Total % 100 So far as educational institutes are concerned, about 30.82% of the respondents maintained the existence of government primary schools in their villages. The percentages of respondents who acknowledged the existence of government middle schools, govt secondry schools and govt.sr secondary schools were found to be 31.02%, 27.41% and 10.75% respectively.Out of remaining respondents(14.37%) have no govt. school.

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Infrastructure at work place

Infrastructure at the work place is one of the crucial indicators of nature of work that the labourers are engaged in. A careful assessment brought to notice some of the issues which affect their work and lead them to the vicious cycle of indebtedness and poverty

Table: 4.13- House at the Place of work N 42 Owned % 1 N 418 House at the place of work Rented % 12 N 3018 Provided by the employer % 87 N 3039 Kutcha % 87 N 313 Pucca % 9 House type N 11 Thatched % 0.70 N 115 Semi pucca % 3.30 N 3478 Total % 100 Avg. 55.2 Area of the house (in sq feet) Maximum 625 Minimum 0

At the places of work, 87% of the respondents were found to be staying in houses provided by their employers. Only 1% were reported to having their own houses and the rest 12% stayed in rented houses. 87% of the respondents said that they were staying in kutcha houses followed by 3.30% in semi pucca houses, 9% in pucca houses and0.7 % in thatched houses. Average area of houses at the place of work has been reported to be 55.2 square feet. On drinking water issue, only 3.2% claimed to have access to the public water supply where as majority (96%) has access to hand pumps and the rest 0.80% would get drinking water from wells. respondents (16%) claimed not to have electricity. Among those who have electricity, 2% were found to be availing electricity for less than 2 hours per day. However, 71% claimed to be getting electricity for more than 10 hours per day. Most of the respondents (16%) who do not have access to electricity were reported to be using kerosene as the means of light.. Major sources of fuel were found to be wood (95%) ,LPG (2.8%) dung-cake(3.5%) ,and, coal(0.6%)

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Table 4.14: Source of electricity/lighting (at the place of work) N 27 Well % 0.80 N 3357 Source of drinking water Handpump % 96 N 94 Public water supply % 3.20 N 2942 Yes % 84 Have Electricity N 536 No % 16 N 24 Upto 2 hours % 2 N 538 3-5 hrs % 15 Hours of electricity supply per day N 2488 6-10 hrs % 71 N 428 More than 10 hrs % 12 N 295 Lamp % 9 N 200 Source of lighting Diya % 6 N 41 Lantern % 11 N 3333 Wood % 95 N 121 Dung cake % 3.5 Source of fuel N 08 Coal % 0.2 N 16 LPG Gas % 2.8 N 3478 Total % 100

Table 4.15 Place of defecation (at the place of work) N 282 Inside the house % 8 N 125 Place of defecation Public toilet % 4 N 3071 Open space % 88 N 3478 Total % 100

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Similar to the sanitation practices at the places of origin, at the places of work 88% of the respondents were found to be using open space for defecation purpose. Only 8% claimed to have toilets at their houses.

Table 4.16 Health Issues

N 64 Yes % 2 Family members suffered any sickness N 3414 No % 98 N 3478 Total % 100 On health issues, only 2% of the respondents revealed that their family members suffered from diseases. And remaining 98% respondents are good health.

Table 4.17 No. of months wasted due to disease

No of months N % 1-3 40 62 3-6 02 03 6-12 12 18 >12 10 17 Total 64 100

Among those who cited sickness of family members, 62% claimed to have wasted about 1 to 3 months of time due to that, followed by 3% and 18% who cited 3-6 months and 6-12 months wastage respectively.

Table 4.18 Type of medical of measures N 22 Ayurvedic % 36 N 12 Type of medical of measures Homeopathic % 18 N 30 Allopathic % 46 N 64 Total % 100

The above tables reveals that 46% of the respondents who claimed that their family members suffered from diseases said to have taken resort to allopathic treatments.

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Table 4.19 Money spent on getting cured Money spent ( in Rs) N % Upto 5000 11 17 5000-10000 13 20 10000-15000 22 34 15000-20000 10 16 20000-30000 05 08 30000-50000 03 05 >50000 00 00 Total 64 100

The table above shows the amount of money that the respondents have spent on getting cured. 5% of the respondents claimed that they had spent 30000- 50000/ for the purpose of treatment. 20% of the respondents claimed to spent about Rs 5000- 10,000. Another 17% said to have spent less than Rs 5000.

Table 4.20: Source of money N 8 Wages % 12 Sources of money N 56 Borrowed % 88 N 64 Total % 100

While further probed about the sources of money spent for treatment about 12% claimed their wages as the source of money and rest 88% claimed to have borrowed.

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Chapter V

Nature of Indebtedness and Bondage

Bonded labour in India is invariably an outcome of indebtedness, which has been prevailing for a long time gripping certain economically exploited and helpless sections of society. This system originated from the uneven social structure characterized by feudal and semi-feudal conditions.

Table 5.1: Indebtedness N 548 Yes % 15 Are you indebted? N 2930 No % 85 N 3478 Total % 100

Among those who claimed to have been indebted, about 15% of the respondents revealed that they were indebted. The following table reveals that 20.07% of the respondents have borrowed 10-20 thousand rupees followed by 14.96% who have 20-30 thousand, 9.30% who have 30-40 thousand and 16.97% who have 40-50 thousand rupees. There are also case where the respondents have borrowed huge amounts like more than 1 lakh (6.39%), 80-90 thousand (0.36%) and 60-70 thousand (4.39%) . Table 5.2: Debt Amount Amount in Rs N % Upto 10000 105 19.16 10000-20000 110 20.07 20000-30000 82 14.96 30000-40000 51 9.30 40000-50000 93 16.97 50000-60000 14 2.55 60000-70000 24 4.39 70000-80000 07 1.29 80000-90000 02 0.36 90000-100000 25 4.56 >100000 35 6.39 Total 548 100.00

Probing on the nature of indebtedness reveals (ref table below) that the major reasons for indebtedness were found to be marriage of family members (44.34%), parents death/illness (23.72%), to build house (26.64%), etc.

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Table 5.3 Factors of Indebtedness N 243 Marriage of family members % 44.34 N 146 to build house % 26.64 N 29 Reason for indebtedness To purchase property % 5.30 N 130 Parents illness or death % 23.72 N 548 Total % 100

The following table exposes that about (51.27%) of the respondents have been indebted for more than 1-6 months, followed by 30.47% who have been so for 18-24 months, 0.59 % who have been so for 6-12 months, and 1.27% each who have been indebted for 30-36 months . Table 5.4 Duration of indebtedness Months N % 1-6 281 51.27 6-12 03 0.59 12-18 167 30.47 18-24 56 10.21 24-30 19 3.46 30-36 07 1.27 >more than 36 15 2.73 Total 548 100.00

The following table (5.5) reveals that most of the respondents (41.97%) had borrowed money from private moneylenders. Other major sources include banks (1.09%), relatives (7.29), contractors (14.96%) etc. Table 5.5 Source of Borrowing N 06 Bank % 1.09 N 230 Money lender % 41.97 N 40 Relatives % 7.29 N 10 Creditor Neighbour % 1.82 N 82 Contractor % 14.96 N 00 Credit Society % 0.0 N 172 Employer % 31.38

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N 08 Village Pradhan % 1.45 N 548 Total % 100 . Table 5.6 Rate of Interest Interest rate (in percentage) N % 0-6 81 14.78 6-12 170 31.03 12-18 84 15.33 18-24 15 2.73 24-30 142 25.91 >30 13 2.37 No answer 43 7.85 Total 548 100.00

Table 5.7 Terms of Payment

N 495 Cash % 90.32 Terms of repayment N 53 Labour % 9.68 N 548 Total % 100

The table above shows that cash is the predominant mode of paying back the debt as 90.32% of the respondents claimed so. Only 9.68% of the respondents revealed to have been paying through labour Table 5.8 Length of work

In the industry With the current employer No of months N % No of months N % 0-12 425 12.22 0-12 1911 54.95 12-18 732 21.05 12-24 403 11.58 18-24 378 10.87 24-36 76 2.18 24-36 549 15.79 36-48 245 7.05 36-48 301 8.66 48-60 132 3.79 48-60 98 2.82 60-72 169 4.85 60-72 257 7.38 72-84 106 3.05 72-84 33 0.95 84-96 80 2.30 84-96 97 2.78 96-108 118 3.39 96-108 50 1.44 108-120 103 2.97 108-120 58 1.66 >120 135 3.89 >120 500 14.38 3478 Total 3478 100.0 Total 100.00

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As the above table shows 14.38% of the respondents have been working in the industry for more than 10 years. Except 12.22% of the respondents who said to have been working for less than one year, no significant observations were found concerning the years of working.

When asked about the length of working with the current employer, 54.95% of the respondents claimed that they have been working for less than a year followed by 2.18% who have been there for 1 to 2 years. However, 3.89 respondents were reported to be working with their current employer for more than 10 years.

Table 5.9: Agreement Structure

N 190 Yes % 5.46 Agreement between worker and employer N 3288 No % 94.54 N 130 Yes % 3.73 Paid according to agreement N 3348 No % 96.27

The above table reveals that in most of the cases (94.54%) there is no agreement between the worker and the employers and most of the respondents (96.27%) claimed that they were not getting paid according to the agreement. Table 5.10 Daily working hours

No of hours N % <8 40 1.15 8 477 13.73 8-10 759 21.82 10-12 2100 60.38 12-14 32 0.92 14-16 37 1.06 >16 33 0.94  Total 3478 100.00

Data on daily working hours, as shown in the table above reveal that more than half (60.38%) of the respondents worked for 10-12 hours per day followed by about 21.82% who worked for about 8 to 10 hours per days. However, few cases(0.94%) were reported where people were working even more than 16 hours per day.

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Table 5.11 Awareness of Minimum wage N 191 Yes % 5.49 Aware of statutory minimum wage N 3287 No % 94.51

The table above reveals that most of the labourers (94.51%) were unaware of the statutory provisions regarding the minimum wage. This situation leaves them in a possible state of getting exploited by the contractors and the employers.

Table 5.12 Nature of Payment Rate N 1253 Time rate % 36.2 Paid rate N 2225 Piece rate % 63.98

Wage structure reveals that majority of the workers ( 63.98%) availed their wages at piece rate and the rest at time rate. The following table makes us known to the fact that majority of the workers (65.06%) were receiving three to four thousand rupees per month as wage followed by 23.5% who were receiving four to five thousand rupees per month.

Table 5.13 Monthly Wage Rate

Amount (in Rs) N % <3000 290 8.34 3000-4000 2263 65.06 4000-5000 817 23.50 5000-6000 89 2.55 6000> 19 0.55 Total 3478 100.00

The kind of works that the respondent workers were found to be engaged in, apparently do not provide employment round the year. That forces the workers to sit out during off seasons. The present study finds that advance from the contractor/employer( 95%) is the mostly adopted means for survival during the intervening period.

It was also found during the survey that the workers mostly did not get the benefits of paid holidays. 100% of the respondents claimed that they did not avail any paid holidays in a year.

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Maintenance of the Record

Though it is mandatory for the employer to regularly maintain the record of all the workers in an industry to avoid any kind of exploitation, our study reveals the other side of the story. As the table below shows, 33.88% of the respondents claimed that their names did not feature in the muster roll. However, the respondents knew about the records and these were maintained by munshies (66.10%), contractors (8.36%) and the employer themselves (3.17%). While asked about the accessibility of the record to the labourers mixed response was obtained.

Table 5.14 Record Maintenance N 2300 Yes % 66.12 Name recorded in muster roll N 1178 No % 33.88 N 291 Contractor % 8.36 N 2299 Munshi % 66.10 N 00 Who maintains the record Both % 0.0 N 110 Employer/Manager % 3.17 N 778 Not required % 22.37 N 165 Yes % 4.74 Accessibility of the record to the labourers N 3313 No % 95.26 N 3478 Total % 100

Safety and Safeguards:

The industries cited earlier, where the respondents were contacted, mostly involve hazardous work atmosphere. In this concern, the employer should provide all safety measures to its workers. The data collected from the field suggest that 99.2% conceded to have been bearing the expenses in case of accidents at the work place. In case of other health related hazards, 98.87% of the respondents said that they had to bear the expenses.

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Table 5.15: Expenses during Exigencies N 3444 Self % 99.2 Expense borne in case of accident at work N 34 place Employer % 0.98 % N 3439 Self % 98.87 Expense borne by in case of health hazard N 39 Employer % 1.13 % 100 N 34 Yes % 0.98 Availed medical aid from employer N 3444 No % 99.2 % 100 N 33 Yes % 0.95 Send your substitute for work? N 3445 No % 99.05 N 3478 Total % 100

All most all of the respondents (99.2%) said that they did not receive any medical aid from the employer. Even while they had to miss out work during the situation when they fell ill or met with an accident, most of the respondents(99.5) said that they did not require sending any substitute in their places. As per the following table, most of the respondents (96.76%) were reported to be unaware of the Bonded Labour (abolition) Act. The probing on whether any one had made attempt to get released from bondage reveal admittance of bondage by 0 respondents. However, they have made no such attempt to get free. Baring none of the respondents were found to be aware of rehabilitation schemes for bonded labour.

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Table 5.16 : Awareness of statutes and schemes N 113 Yes % 3.24 Are you aware of bonded labor act? N 3365 No % 96.76 N 00 No Attempted to get released from bondage % 0.0 % 00 N 81 Yes % 2.32 Aware of rehabilitation scheme N 3397 No % 97.68 N 3478 Total % 100

Table 5.17 Bondage N 0 Yes % 0 Working in lieu of debt N 3478 No % 100 % 0 N 0 Yes % 0 Any other family member working in N 3478 bonded labour No % 100 % 0 N 0 Yes % 0 Employer keeps some wages pending? N 3478 No % 100

As we can see in the table above, that no worker is working under debt.

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Chapter VI Summary and Conclusion The present study on Bonded Labour is conducted in the four districts of Haryana namely Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, and Rewari. The basic objective of the study was to identify the incidence of bonded labour, its causes and forms, and to understand the working conditions of the labourers possibly prone to bondage in the unorganized industry in Haryana. The unorganised industries, where there is a possibility of engaging bonded labour, such as Brick Kiln, Stone Crusher, Mining and quarrying, Agriculture, Farm House, Poultry Farm, Rice Sheller, were taken for the present study. Data was collected from the labourers working in these industries. To collect the data, a structured interview schedule provided by the Department of labour, Government of India was used. We tried to collect over all information from each of the brick kiln, Rice sellers, and poultry farms. Stone crushers, mining and quarries are closed down and not functioning in the districts under study. Attempt was made to cover as many workers representing the different categories of labour as possible from each of the unit under study but due to time constraint it was not possible to cover each and every worker working in the industry. The collected Data was analysed with the use of a software namely SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences). As the Brick Kiln industry is more prone to the bonded labour and poor working conditions due to its nature of means of production. Therefore, the detail analysis of the workers from Brick kilns was made in two different chapters. To avoid the repetitiveness of the facts, further analysis of the labourers working in different industry such as Rice sellers, Poultry Farms, Farms, Stone Crushers and mines was made collectively in one chapter.

The following executive summary is prepared industry wise on the basis of the detailed Report elabourated in the subsequent chapters. Brick Kilns 1. In total there were 418 brick kilns in the four districts namely Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetra and Rewari under study out of which 249 (93.54%) were studied.

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2. Total number of respondents of the brick kiln workers studied was 2,583, and the total number of family members residing with them at the work place on the brick kilns were 7608. Data on socio-economic background was collected on all the family members, numbering 7608, of the 2583 respondents of the workers. Most of the workers are migrant in origin. 3. The caste composition of the respondents shows that there was 57.7 per cent Scheduled Castes, 24.0 per cent Backward Castes and only 17.8 per cent General Castes. 4. Among the 2583 brick kiln respondents under study there were 98.25 per cent male and 1.75 per cent female workers. 5. 66.45 per cent workers working in the brick kiln industry for the last more than 1 year. Also only 6.46 per cent workers were working for more than one year with the same employer. 6. Though generally there is no failure of the implementation of the Statutory Minimum Wage, a large number of workers do not save much at the end of the season for one or the other reason for various socioeconomic reasons. 7. 1/5th of the total respondents was daily working up to 8 hours, 23.20 per cent between 8-10 hours a day, nearly 55.91 per cent for 11-12 hours, 1.80 percent for13-14 hours and remaining 8.3 percent were working for more than 14 hours daily. 8. On an average workers earn Rs.5000-6000 per month by working about 6-8 months at the Brick kilns. Thus, annual income is amounted to be only in the range of about Rs. 40-45000 only 9. Since the workers were working under contractors, mostly on piece rate basis, there was no provision of any social security. It is notable that the contractor is only a senior among equals and is a sometimes himself a worker. 10. If a worker wants to quit work at his own will he can do so after paying penalty in the form of payment for the accommodation, cess for the electricity used and also for the water if it is supplied from the water tanker. He would be charged interest, @ 24 per cent per annum, on the entire amount of debt taken right from the

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beginning. Consequently, the worker would be left with half the amount of normal wage after making all the deductions. 11. 97.0 per cent of the workers have no knowledge of the existence of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. 12. Besides taking regular advance from the respective employer against wages being equalized regularly, there were 17.46 per cent such workers who were additionally indebted at their respective place of origin in a much larger way. 13. 30.24 per cent workers working in the brick kiln industry for the last more than 15+ years. Also only 9.98 per cent workers were working for less than one year with the same employer. It shows the high turn over the brick kiln workforce. 14. On the whole, nearly 11.8 per cent workers indebted for more than Rs.50,000/- each were highly prone to bondage. Most of them were SCs. Expenses on marriage of children and medical treatment are the two most important reasons of indebtedness.

Rice Mills 1. In total there were 274 Rice mills in the three districts namely Ambala, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra.under study out of which 233 (85%) were studied. 13 rice mills were closed. 2. Total number of respondents workers on the rice mills studied were 597. For giving the socio-economic background data was collected on all the family members who were residing with them at the industrial place, numbering 681, of the 597 respondents workers. Most of the workers are migrant in origin. 3. There were 681 persons living with 597 respondents out of which 663 (97.35%) were male and 18(2.65%) female. 4. 95.0 per cent of the workers have no knowledge of the existence of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. 5. The average wage rate of a worker from rice mills was Rs.4000-5000. 6. Most of the labourers hail from Nepal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh 7. There was not a single rice mills respondents who enjoyed any paid holiday during the whole season. There is no social security, and no medical help from any source in case of bad health or accident. 8.72 per cent of the workers did not have any knowledge of the Minimum Wages

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prescribed by the Government 9.The caste composition of the respondents shows that there was 6.86 per cent Scheduled Castes, 5.02 per cent Backward Castes , 6.03 per cent General Castes and other castes was 82.7percent 10. In the absence of social security to the workers they have to fend for themselves in the event of crisis. 100 per cent of the workers never received any financial help for medical treatment from their employer. 11. 93 per cent were denied accessibility to the official record of wages and working conditions. 12. The annual income of 68.77 per cent respondents was less than Rs.40,000/ and the remaining respondents were earning more than Rs.40,000/- per annum 13. In rice mills 57.78 per cent of the respondents were illiterate, and 42.22 per cent were literate. Agricultural Labourers 1. Now a days the phenomenon of attached agriculture labour is vanishing away and replacing it with the casual labour or leasing out of land on the contract basis. 2. The Survey team visited the 170 villages suggested by the officer of the agriculture department where the possibility of attached labour may be there; but our team found the presence of attached agricultural labour was negligible. Only 77 such respondents living with 140 members were found mainly from the Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar districts only. This type of labour was non-existent in Ambala and Rewari. In Rewari it is due to the pattern of small holdings and dry land, however in Ambala more consumption of labour in other industry prevalent in the areas at the boundary of Kala Amb (Himachal Pradesh) 3. 92.06 per cent of the total attached agricultural labourers under study were Scheduled Castes. 4. Most of the agriculture labourers Annual income was Rs.35000-40000. 5. 34 per cent of the labourers were burdened with debt. And debt is defined as that amount which is over and above the regular advance taken in lieu of earned advance wage.

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6. Out of the total labourers more than 80 per cent are such who are paying 24 per cent or more annual rate of interest which is prohibitive. 7. 99.0 per cent of the rural labourers do own their own house but, at the same time, 96.15 per cent households were using open space for answering the call of nature. 8. Three-fourth of the total attached labourers was working with their current employer only from the current year. It shows that the bondage, if any, is to the system and not to the individual. 9. In the case of attached labourer if a worker wants to take off from work either he has to produce a substitute worker, or his wage would be deducted at double the rate he is paid for day’s work. 10. Out of the total labourers, 95.3 per cent showed their ignorance about the existence of Bonded Labour System (Abolition), 1976.

Poultry Farms

1. There are 368 poultry farms in the list in the four districts having nearly 30 lakh birds, and employing 1400 labourers. 2. 60percent of the poultry farm owners are from Punjab, hailing from traditional trading castes, such as Singla, Gupta, Garg, Bansal, etc. 3. In the sample study of 230 poultry farms where our survey team visited, about 116 poultry farms were closed down due to one or other reason. In the 170 poultry farms there were 459 persons living with 221 respondents. In the majority of the poultry farms under study only one or two worker were working. 4. The analysis of the total number of 459 persons living with 221 respondents at the poultry workers, shows that 68 per cent were male and 32 per cent female. Out of 221 respondents under study 14.5 per cent were indebted at their respective place of origin. Moneylenders avoid advancing debt to poultry workers, as they are not sure of their repayment capacity. 5. Most of the labourers hail from Nepal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Often family as a whole migrates to the poultry farm, and some of the children help in egg collection. That is why the total number of family members working in the poultry farms was 221

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6. 73 per cent of the workers were illiterate and another 27 per cent were just literate. 7. 57.92 per cent workers were working in this industry for the past more than 4 years. 8. In the absence of social security to the workers they have to fend for themselves in the event of crisis. 100 per cent of the workers never received any financial help for medical treatment from their employer. 9. There was not a single worker on the regular muster roll of the employers. 10. The working day of the poultry workers is extended from 4-5 O’clock in the morning to 5-5.30 PM in the evening, with intermittent rest of nearly 2 hours. However the duty of watchman and other supervisory staff was of 12 hours/day. 11. Out of the total respondents, 98 per cent said that they could quit work any time they wish to do so. 12. The wages of previous month are paid between 5th -10th day of the following month. 13. The workers receiving monthly income the range of Rs.3500-4000. 14. 97 per cent have no knowledge of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. 15. Often a room of 10’ x 10’ feet is allotted to a family inside the premises of the poultry farm. The workers, including small children, have to put up with swarms of flies all over along with strong stink of poultry droppings. There is no proper provision of toilets and bathroom or any private space to take bath, particularly for the women workers. 16. 42.0 per cent respondents were working in this industry for the past more than 5 years. 17. Total 89.59 respondents were working in the same poultry farm for the past more than two year. 60 per cent were denied accessibility to the official record of wages and working conditions.

Stone crushing and mines Our survey team visited various stone crushers and mining’s and found them closed since 01.03.2010 in compliance of the order dated 15.05.2009 in CWP 20134 Vijay Bansal v/s State of Haryana.

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Conclusion and Recommendations: On the basis of this survey carried out under the auspice of the Department of Labour of Government of Haryana, We can conclude that it may be concluded that the understanding the phenomenon of bonded labour as it prevalent in the present condition is complex. The owners of the industries said that without making the advance payment, we cannot procure any labour. However, according to the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, section 2(g) labour made in considerations of advance obtained by the labourers or by any of his lineal ascendants or descendants (whether or not such advance is evidenced by the document) and in considerations of the interest, if any, due on such advance is considered as a bonded labour. In the spirit of this Act about all the labourer may be considered as a bonded labourer. As of bonded labour, we found that labourers themselves admitted that they are not ready to work in the industry without taking the advance as the industry is seasonal and we have already spent all the amount to feed our family. Thus, to feed our family we required the advance payment. But they accepted that they are not working under any forced condition only in lieu of advance. In majority of the cases, employers are found to be keeping wages pending for some time, the labourers have no objection for that rather they voluntary accept this. This allowed them the facility of repaying back the debts by utilizing the final settlement at the end of the season. However, this does create some insecurity among the labourers in general. Most of the labourers are not aware about the ‘Bonded Labour Act, 1976 and other schemes of the government benefitting them. In studying the socioeconomic factors of the surveyed labourers, it has been found that they hail from poor socio-economic background and are mostly belong to states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Nepal ect. Most of the labourers are landless, illiterate and belong to the lower castes. Overall they are living in pathetic condition as for as living condition and working conditions is concerned. However most of the dwellings are provided by the employer together with attendant facilities like water, electricity, etc. But it the small makeshift type of rooms that are provided to the whole family of the labourer. They have to use open space for defection at the outskirts. Most of them use wood as the source of fuel to cook the food and source of water is hand

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pump. As regard health issues, very few have suffered major illness, which have been treated by using their own wages as well as borrowed funds. However, the possibility of major illness or some infection due to unhygienic conditions and smoke at the work place cannot be ruled out. They are not being granted any paid holiday. Wages are being paid on the basis of piece rate and that too after every fifteen days, particularly in the Brick kilns. Due to the piece rate wage structure, the whole family work together at the Brick kilns, but only one person is considered as the employee. It may lead to the possibility of the exploitation of some family members’ particularly women and children. Most of the labourers are engaged through unregistered contractor in these industries. More than half of the labourers have kaccha house and no electricity at their place of origin. There is no direct written agreement between workers and employer. No proper record of the enrollment of the workers and their wage structure is maintained in the selected industrial units. Most of labourers work for 6-8 months in the Brick kilns and rice sellers, however in poultry farms and in agriculture they found the work more for than 10 months. However as far as wages are concerned the labourers at the poultry farms are poorly paid. The average working hours is in the range of 10-12 hours daily. In Brick kilns, there is worker’s union who negotiate the wages with the association of brick kilns owners and these wages, are higher than the minimum wages. Thus, it is satisfactory that minimum wage act is implemented in these industries in Haryana. However, in general most of the labourers were not aware of the exact minimum wages prescribed by the Government. The school facility for the education of the children of the labourer is not functioning properly.

Recommendations:

While the case of actual bonded laboureres are nonexistent in the selected districts but the labourers are facing the problems of poor working and living conditions. Therefore some steps need to be taken for generating the awareness about the abolition of bonded labourers and improving the welfare of labourers in the unorganized sector, so that the evil menace does not resurface in future. This is a socio-economic problem and

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does necessary entails slavery. It involves conditions where they got in to the whirlpool of financial deprivation and get them in to the culture of poverty. It may facilitate to create the possibility of some element of bondage. This needs to be control so that people do not get into the vicious circle poverty. Thus, for the abolition of bonded labour and for the upliftment of the labour in the unorganized industry, we recommend the following measures:

* Designing and implementing a multi-pronged effort to end bonded labour, composed of both persuasive and mandatory means. At a minimum, this effort should include stepped-up enforcement efforts, free, compulsory, and quality public education, and financial support for children to go to school.

* Constituting and overseeing bonded labour vigilance committees, as required by the Bonded Labour (System) Abolition Act, 1976. Ensure that a sufficient number of investigators can be included in the committee to guarantee implementation of the act. Given the massive numbers of children involved, nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives, lawyers, social workers, teachers, civil servants, and others with ties to bonded labourers and their families should be enlisted as investigators. Provide in-depth training to district officials charged with enforcing the act, as directed by the Supreme Court in Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1984.

* Establishing an independent monitoring agency at the state and national level to oversee the enforcement of the Bonded Labour (System Abolition) Act, 1976. For full implementation of the Act, this body should be statutorily empowered to receive and address complaints of Act violations and complaints of official misconduct. It should also be able to file First Information Reports (FIRs), the first step in prosecution of a criminal charge, when bonded labourers are identified.

* Ensuring the active involvement of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission in the process of identifying, releasing, and rehabilitating bonded labourers.

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* Establishing and making public a master list or national register of labourers released from bondage, including how they were rehabilitated (provided with vocational training, or other alternative measures).

* Establish and make public a master list or national register of people prosecuted under the Bonded Labour (System Abolition) Act, 1976 and include information on the nature of sentences given to guilty parties.

* Establishing and making public up-to-date and accurate information regarding the incidence and distribution of bonded labourers, and the industries in which such people work.

* Investigating the abusing and exploitation of labourers by contractors and employers, and prosecute such agents and employers under the relevant domestic law

* Conditioning all entitlements, subsidies, special tax allowances, and other concessions currently extended to industries that employ bonded labour on compliance with the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and other relevant laws.

* Conditioning all new subsidies and incentives on industry compliance with applicable domestic laws banning bonded labour.

* Launching a nationwide public awareness campaign regarding the legal prohibition of bonded labour. This campaign should explain in simple terms what actions are legally prohibited and what recourses and resources are available to bonded child labourers and their families.

* Making it compulsory for all the employers to regularly maintain the muster roll of all the employees.

*Creating awareness among the vulnerable worker on the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976

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* Penalizing the employers, agents, and creditors, and the funds collected to be contributed to the compensation and rehabilitation of the labourers exploited; imprisonment as a sentencing alternative

* Amending the Factories Act to cover all factories or workshops employing formal and informal labour.

* Continuing cooperation with international organizations working to abolish bonded labour, in particular the International Labour Organization’s International Programme to Eliminate Bonded Labour

*The wage system of piece rate should be abolished and uniform time based wage system as prevalent in the mainstream industries should be applicable to these unorganized industries. The working hours should be maintained to eight hours per day only so that one can give sufficient time to family members and children to grow.

* The system of paying ‘Lay-off’ during the off season to the seasonal workers as prevalent in other seasonal industries to be introduced so that the practice of giving advances to the labour be put to an end and the labour should be retained in the same industrial unit.

*The provisions of Inter-state Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 should be enforced and its benefits be extended effectively to the labour of these unorganized industries.

*A temporary shed be erected at the site Brick Moulding so that the working hours be regularized and the season dependent nature of the job of brick moulder may be converted into a more certain nature.

*The provisions of ‘ Haryana Building and other Construction Workers’ Welfere Board be extended to the workers engaged in the Brick Kilns industry as has been done in Utter Pradesh.

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*The provision of Financial assistance in the form of loan without interest, medical and accidental insurance to the family members should be implemented to all the workers engaged in all unorganized industries.

*Regular medical check ups and vaccination of all the workers should be performed.

*The provision of EPF (Employed Provident Fund) should be extended to the workers of these industries.

* The regular checks up to control the menace of drug abuse among the workers should be undertaken time to time.

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Appendix- I

Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (Excerpts)

According to the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Section 2(g):

“bonded labour system” means the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which the debtor enters, or is presumed to have entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that-

(i) in consideration of an advance obtained by him or by any of his lineal ascendants of descendants (whether or not such advance is evidenced by the document) and in consideration of the interest, if any, due on such advance, or (ii) in pursuance of any customary or social obligation, or (iii) in pursuance of any obligation devolving on him by succession, or (iv) for any economic consideration received by him or any of his lineal ascendants or descendants, or (v) by reason of his birth in any particular caste or community, he would –

(1) render, by himself or through any of his family, or any person dependent on him, labour or service, to the creditor, or for the benefit of creditor, for a specified period or for an unspecified period either without wages or for nominal wages, or

(2) forfeit the freedom of employment or other means of livelihood for a specified period or for an unspecified period, or

(3) forfeit the right to move freely throughout the territory of India, or

(4) forfeit the right to appropriate or sell at market-value any of his property or product of his labour or the labour of a member of his family or any person dependent on him.

Section 2(i) further explains that what is nominal wage:

“Nominal wage”, in relation to any labour, means a wage which is less than, -

(a) the minimum wages fixed by the Government, in relation to the same or similar labour, under any law for the time being in force; and

(b) Where no such minimum wage has been fixed in relation to any form of labour, the wages that are normally paid, for the same or similar labour, to the labourers working in the same locality.

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Appendix I

List of Brick Kilns, Rice Mills, Poultry Farms and Villages Surveyed

List of Brick Kilns

S No. Brick Kiln’s NAME Village DISTRICT 1. MOTI RAM GIRDHARI LAL PATTI JATAN AMBALA 2. GULSHAN RAI BKO PANJOKHRA AMBALA 3. AMBALA BRICKS CO. PANJOKHRA AMBALA 4. GIAN CHAND&BROS BKO UGARA AMBALA 5. SAJJAN BRICKS BKO BABAHERI AMBALA 6. BRICKS LINKS BKO SAKRAON AMBALA 7. NEERU BRICKS CO. SOUNTA AMBALA 8. SUNDER SINGH BKO MEHTABGARH AMBALA 9. GIRDHARI LAL &SONS BKO SAMLHERI AMBALA 10. MANOHAR LAL BKO PUULALMAJRA AMBALA 11. CHUNNI LAL SEVA BKO SAMLHERI AMBALA 12. QUALITY BRICKS BKO TOBA AMBALA 13. ACCURATE BRICKS BKO MEHMOODPUR AMBALA 14. SHIV SHAKTI BKO SAMLHARI AMBALA 15. SHANKAR BKO SAHA AMBALA 16. HIND BKO MEHMOODPUR AMBALA 17. KRISHAN KUMAR BKO MALIKPUR AMBALA 18. SANDEEP AGGARWAL BKO MALIKPUR AMBALA 19. SUNAM BKO KHARUKHERA AMBALA 20. MANGLA BKO SAMLHARI AMBALA 21. GUPTA BKO SAMLHARI AMBALA 22. BALAJI BRICKS TRADERS MALIKPUR AMBALA 23. TIRTH RAM MOHINDER BKO SAHA AMBALA 24. SAINIK BRICKS TRADERS DUKHERI AMBALA 25. LUXMI BKO SAMBALKHA AMBALA 26. AGGARWAL BKO BARARA AMBALA 27. MADAN LAL GOYAL BKO TANDWAL AMBALA 28. SABHARWAL BKO DHEEN AMBALA 29. BUTTER BKO DHEEN AMBALA 30. NITIN BKO BARARA AMBALA 31. JANTA BKO SOHATA AMBALA 32. MOHINER SINGH BKO DULIANA AMBALA 33. GOYAL BKO KHERA AMBALA 34. NURDH BKO NURDH AMBALA 35. MARKANDA BKO MULLANA AMBALA 36. SHREE GANESH BKO MULLANA AMBALA

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37. S.V BRICKS TRADERS DULIANA AMBALA 38. SHREE RAM BKO GOKALGARH AMBALA 39. SHARMA BKO GOKALGARH AMBALA 40. SWASHTIK BRICKS CO. GOKALGARH AMBALA 41. SAINIK BKO MULLANA AMBALA 42. RAM NARAIN BKO PUNJLASA AMBALA 43. MILAP BKO PANJLASA AMBALA 44. MARKANDA BKO DERA AMBALA 45. SAI BKO KURALI AMBALA 46. SHIVALIK BRICK TRADERS LALPUR AMBALA 47. AGGARWAL BKO KORABHURA AMBALA 48. SHIV SHANKER BRICKS JEOLI AMBALA 49. SARASWATI BKO GADHOLI AMBALA 50. AGGARWAL BKO KURALI AMBALA 51. AARZOO BKO DERA AMBALA 52. MAHADEV BKO DERA AMBALA 53. KRISHAN BKO KURALI AMBALA 54. RAMAN BKO NAWAGAO AMBALA 55. JAI USHA MAA BKO BADHOLI AMBALA 56. SAINI BRICK KILN KURALI AMBALA 57. SARASWATI BKO LALPUR AMBALA 58. MAHALUXMI BKO DERA AMBALA 59. SHIV OM BRICK CO. DERA AMBALA 60. GUPTA BRICK KILN BAKHTUWA AMBALA 61. SURAJ PARKASH BKO MAGHARPURA AMBALA 62. KAILASH BKO BAPOLI AMBALA 63. I.D.MITTAL& SONS SHAHAZADPUR AMBALA 64. SAINI BKO BAPOLI AMBALA 65. JAGDAMBA BKO SONTLI AMBALA 66. SWAMI BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 67. RAMA BKO BILASPUR AMBALA 68. T.R.BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 69. AGGARWAL BKO BARGARH AMBALA 70. RAJESH & CO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 71. GARG BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 72. S.K.V.K. BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 73. MITTAL BKO BILASPUR AMBALA 74. JAI DURGA BKO PATVI AMBALA 75. P.R.BKO DHANANA AMBALA 76. SHIV SHANKAR BKO DHANANA AMBALA 77. NARAINGARH BKO DHANANA AMBALA 78. AMBIKA BKO DHANANA AMBALA 79. SAINI BKO BHAROG AMBALA 80. SHANKAR BKO SHAHAZADPUR AMBALA

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81. KISSAN BKO BAPOLI AMBALA 82. ANIL BKO SHAHAZADPUR AMBALA 83. SHIV SHAKTI BKO KHURD AMBALA 84. GURU NANAK BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 85. BEST BRICK INDS. KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 86. SHIV OM BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 87. AMAN BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 88. KAUSHALYA BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 89. ANKIT BKO UNIT 1 KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 90. KUMAR BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 91. PARBHAT BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 92. G.N.BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 93. ANKIT BKO UNIT 2 KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 94. SAHIL BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 95. GULATI BKO BAPOLI AMBALA 96. GANESH BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 97. VIJAY BKO DHANANA AMBALA 98. SHIV OM BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 99. SADA RAM SOM NATH BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 100. G.M.B. BKO SHAHAZADPUR AMBALA 101. GLOBAL BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 102. GANPATI BKO KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 103. ANIL BRICKS CENTRE SHAHAZADPUR AMBALA 104. BANSAL BKO RATTAN GARH YAMUNA NAGAR 105. ARVIND BKO DHORANG YAMUNA NAGAR 106. BHARAT BKO DHORANG YAMUNA NAGAR 107. BAJAJ BKO DHORANG YAMUNA NAGAR 108. BALWANT RAI SAPRA BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 109. ZAMIDARA BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 110. POOJA BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 111. SINGHAL BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 112. GOEL BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 113. JAWLA BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 114. AMBAY BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 115. SADA RAM SOM NATH BKO THANA CHAPPAR YAMUNA NAGAR 116. RANA BKO PANJETO YAMUNA NAGAR 117. RADHA SWAMI BKO PANJETO YAMUNA NAGAR 118. VISHNU SAROOP SHARMA BKO KAIL YAMUNA NAGAR 119. SUPER BKO MUNDA KEHRA YAMUNA NAGAR 120. GURCHARAN SINGH BKO BAMBOLI YAMUNA NAGAR 121. BHAGWANT RAI KAIL YAMUNA NAGAR 122. DURGA BKO SARAN YAMUNA NAGAR 123. AKTA BKO SARAN YAMUNA NAGAR 124. BHAGWATI BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 125. AMBAY BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR

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126. AMBIKA BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 127. HARPREET BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 128. RAMA BKO KURALI YAMUNA NAGAR 129. SHIVA BKO HAVALI YAMUNA NAGAR 130. DURGA BKO SADIK PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 131. AMBIKA BKO AJIJ PUR KALAN YAMUNA NAGAR 132. HARYANA BKO SADIK PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 133. SANJAY BKO SADIKPUR SDH YAMUNA NAGAR 134. FRIENDS BKO JUBAL (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 135. BHRARI BKO BHRARI (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 136. NAHARIA BKO JUBAL (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 137. LAKSHMI BKO JUBAL (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 138. TATA BKO KANJNU (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 139. HARYANA BKO KANJNU(RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 140. BHARTIA BKO KANJNU (RADAUR) YAMUNA NAGAR 141. ASHOKA BKO CHHOTA BANS YAMUNA NAGAR 142. RAJINDER KUMAR BKO CHHOTA BANS YAMUNA NAGAR 143. JAGDAMBA BKO MARWA KALAN YAMUNA NAGAR 144. GARG BROTHER’S BKO KURALI YAMUNA NAGAR 145. NATIONAL BKO MARWA KALAN YAMUNA NAGAR 146. CHHABRA BKO BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 147. SOM PARKASH CHURAHI YAMUNA NAGAR 148. SUBASH CHAND RAMESH BKO BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 149. BILASPUR BKO BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 150. STANDARD BKO BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 151. MAHAVIR BKO PEERU WALA YAMUNA NAGAR 152. VIKAS BKO MAHMUD PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 153. RAJINDER MOHAN RAJESH BKO GADHOLI (YNR) YAMUNA NAGAR 154. SURINDER NATH LAMBA BKO JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 155. KUNDAN LAL MALIK BKO JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 156. PRAN NATH LAMBA BKO PARWALO (JAG) YAMUNA NAGAR 157. NATIONAL BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 158. SUPREME BKO GARHI GORRAN YAMUNA NAGAR 159. ASIATIC BKO PARWALON YAMUNA NAGAR 160. K.C.GARG BKO DARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 161. KISSAN BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 162. A-ONE BKO DARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 163. NOV BHARAT BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 164. APOLLO BKO DAMLA YAMUNA NAGAR 165. KAY LITE BKO CHANATI (JAG) YAMUNA NAGAR 166. J.J. BKO DARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 167. ASHISH BKO DARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 168. TIRLOCHAN SINGH BKO BHAGWAN GARH YAMUNA NAGAR 169. JAI JAGDAMBA BKO DARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 170. LAXMI DASS MADAN LAL BKO BURIA (JAG) YAMUNA NAGAR

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171. BEST BKO CHENITY YAMUNA NAGAR 172. RANJEET BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 173. KHERU BKO MUNDA KEHRA YAMUNA NAGAR 174. KAMBOJ BKO PIRTHI PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 175. PRITAM LAL AGGARWAL BKO CHENATY YAMUNA NAGAR 176. AGGARWAL BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 177. OK BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 178. RANJIT BKO KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 179. KEHRU BKO MUNDA KHERA YAMUNA NAGAR 180. PRITAM LAL AGGARWAL BKO CHENITY(JAG) YAMUNA NAGAR 181. OM PARKASH BKO TAJLI YAMUNA NAGAR 182. AGGARWAL BKO GARHI BANJARA YAMUNA NAGAR 183. RADHA SWAMI BKO MAMIDI YAMUNA NAGAR 184. GAJINDER SINGH BKO JORION YAMUNA NAGAR 185. VIKAS BRICKS SUPPERS ADHONE KURUKSHETRA 186. ASHOK KUMAR NIRMAL KUMAR AMIN KURUKSHETRA 187. D.N.BHATTA COMPANY GOVIND MAJRA KURUKSHETRA 188. KIRTI BHATTA COMPANY JALKHERI PIPLI KURUKSHETRA 189. KRISHNA BRICKS IND. KIRMACH AMIN KURUKSHETRA 190. VINOD KUMAR BKO AMIN KURUKSHETRA 191. GARG GRAM UDYOG SIMITI MERCHRI PIPLI KURUKSHETRA 192. GARG BKO RAM PURA PIPLI KURUKSHETRA 193. SATHNU GRAM UDOG SIMITI SAMASPUR KURUKSHETRA 194. SHIV SHAKTI BRICKS BANI KURUKSHETRA 195. KIRTI BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 196. SHIVA GRAM UDOG MANDAL MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 197. SHRI RAM BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 198. LUXMI BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 199. LAKSHMAN DASS BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 200. SHRI RAM BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 201. MOHAN SINGH ROSH LAL BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 202. HARAYANA BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 203. EKTA BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 204. SATISH BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 205. BHUPINDER BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 206. RAMA BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 207. CHAUDHARY BKO BADUR PUR KURUKSHETRA 208. HARBHAJAN SINGH MAST BARSHAMI KURUKSHETRA 209. TATA BKO BHUDNA LADWA KURUKSHETRA 210. STANDRED BKO BUDHA LADWA KURUKSHETRA 211. SACHIN BKO MURAD NAGAR KURUKSHETRA 212. DASHMESH BKO MURAD NAGAR KURUKSHETRA 213. RAMA BKO MURAD NAGAR KURUKSHETRA 214. BAKSHI BKO MURAD NAGAR KURUKSHETRA 215. SURINDER BKO MURAD NAGAR KURUKSHETRA

102

216. SHIV SHAKTI BKO BANI KURUKSHETRA 217. KIRTI BKO BUHAWA KURUKSHETRA 218. GARG BKO CHANARTHAL KURUKSHETRA 219. MADHAN LAL GOYAL BKO DEEG SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 220. BRIJ BKO DEEG SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 221. SUSHIL KUMAR BKO DHOLA MAJRA S KURUKSHETRA 222. MAHABIR BKO AMECHA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 223. LUXMI BKO AMECHA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 224. SHARMA BKO BAKHLI PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 225. GUPTA BKO DEWANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 226. GARG BKO GARARDSI KURUKSHETRA 227. GANPAT RAI & CO. THANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 228. GOEL & CO. THANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 229. SHIV SHANKAR BKO THANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 230. RANA BKO JHANSA KURUKSHETRA 231. SANDHU BKO GOG PUR JHANSA KURUKSHETRA 232. ESS ESS CONSTROCTION CO. AJRANA KALAN KURUKSHETRA 233. JAGDAMBA BKO DEWANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 234. BALAJI BKO KAKRALA KURUKSHETRA 235. RAMA BKO THANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 236. GANESH BKO THANA PEHOWA KURUKSHETRA 237. AGGARWAL BKO ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 238. S.R.BKO ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 239. RANA BKO BHUSTHALA J KURUKSHETRA 240. LUXMI BKO AJRANA KALAN KURUKSHETRA 241. AMIN BKO AMIN KURUKSHETRA 242. SHRI CHAITANY BKO KIRMACH AMIN KURUKSHETRA 243. ANJU BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 244. SAPANA BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 245. KURUKSHETRA BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 246. ESS ESS BKO BADLA ROAD MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 247. RAJINDRA BKO MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 248. CHAUDHARY BKO LILODH REWARI 249. PRITHVI RAJ BKO GUMINA REWARI 250. RAO BKO JADRA REWARI 251. MOHINDER SINGH BKO JADRA REWARI 252. R.K. ENTERPRISES BKO KHARKHARI REWARI 253. RAHUL ENTERPRISES BKO BHANDOR REWARI 254. RAJ SINGH BKO BHUDPUR REWARI 255. NIHAL SINGH BKO BUDANA REWARI 256. OM PARKASH BKO BUDANA REWARI 257. DHAN RAJ S/O SISH RAM BKO MUNDALIYA REWARI 258. BARLI BKO BARLI KHURD REWARI 259. YADAV BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 260. PRAJAPATI ENTERPRISES BKO JADRA REWARI

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261. BHARAT ENTERPRISES BKO JADRA REWARI 262. KRISHANA BKO SUNDROJ REWARI 263. RAM SINGH KANMAJRA REWARI 264. CHAMAN ENTERPRISES BKO BHURTHAL THAT. REWARI 265. DAGAR BKO BUDANA REWARI 266. AJAY BKO BHUDPUR REWARI 267. NARENDER BKO BALYAR KHURD REWARI 268. SHIVA BKO NEHRU GARH REWARI 269. MAHLAWAT BKO HARCHANDPUR REWARI 270. KOSALIA BKO KAN MAJRA REWARI 271. VIPIN ENTERPRISES BKO RAM PURA REWARI 272. JAGBIR SINGH BKO RATTANTHAL REWARI 273. HADA BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 274. LAMBA BKO BUDANA REWARI 275. BHUD PUR BKO BHUD PUR REWARI 276. RAJESH KUMAR BKO BUDANA REWARI 277. BRAHM BKO NACHANA REWARI 278. DHARAM BKO RASIWAS REWARI 279. SHRI BKO HUSSIANPUR REWARI 280. KHATU SHYAM BKO B. BHARANGI REWARI 281. GAHLAWAT BKO RASIWAS REWARI 282. MATADIN BKO RASIWAS REWARI 283. DAGAR BKO LILODH REWARI 284. RAVI KUMAR BKO JADRA REWARI 285. JAGBIR SINGH & BROTHER BKO KHARKHARI REWARI 286. LUXMI BKO LUKHI REWARI 287. LARD KRISHANA BKO HUSSIANPUR REWARI 288. BALA JI BKO MANDIYA REWARI 289. RARIA BKO KAN MAJRA REWARI 290. CH. BISHAN SINGH GOPAL BKO KHORI REWARI 291. AJIT SINGH BKO GOKAL GARH REWARI 292. SAGAR BKO JHARODA REWARI 293. ASHOK BKO SANJARPUR REWARI 294. SHREE CHAMAN BKO GOKAL GARH REWARI 295. MAGA RAM GURAWARA REWARI 296. BHARATHARI BKO RASIWAS REWARI 297. RAO BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 298. DURGA BKO LADHWAS REWARI 299. RAM KUMAR GANGOLI REWARI 300. SHREE SHYAM BKO LADHUWAS REWARI 301. HADA ENTERPRISES BKO KAN MAJRA REWARI 302. JHARODA BKO JHARODA REWARI 303. HIGHWAY BKO J.S.PUR KEHRA REWARI 304. SAHLANGIYA BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 305. DHILON BKO BANI PUR REWARI

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306. HARI BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 307. BALBIR SINGH BKO KHIZURI REWARI 308. SHIV BKO N.S PUR GARHI REWARI 309. AMAR NATH BKO BANI PUR REWARI 310. CH.VIKAS BKO TANKRI REWARI 311. DHARAM SINGH BKO BAWWA REWARI 312. KISHAN ENTERPRISES BKO JATUWAS REWARI 313. SHIV BKO LILODH REWARI 314. M.B.BKO N.S PUR GARHI REWARI 315. DHAN LUXMI BKO NIHAR REWARI 316. SIVASH BKO RASIWAS REWARI 317. KOSALIYA BKO BARLI KHURD REWARI 318. HARI OM BKO BAWWA REWARI 319. HARI OM BKO BAWWA REWARI 320. RAM LAL BKO BHALA REWARI 321. SURYA BKO NIHAR REWARI 322. RAO BKO SUNDRANA REWARI 323. JAI LAL BKO RASIWAS REWARI 324. OM BKO NAHRU GARH REWARI 325. NAMBERDAR BKO RASIWAS REWARI 326. GARIMA BKO ASSPUR BHUDPUR REWARI 327. J.S. BKO NIHAR REWARI 328. DHARAM ENTERPRISES BKO SULKHA REWARI 329. SATGURU BKO BHAR.BHARANGI REWARI 330. GURU JI BKO NAHRU GARH REWARI 331. YADAV BKO TINT REWARI 332. HARBAJ BKO RASIWAS REWARI 333. JALDAR BKO DHAMLAWAS REWARI 334. GINDHORI BKO SUNDROJ REWARI 335. D.S. BKO JADRA REWARI 336. SHREE SHYAM BKO SUNDROJ REWARI 337. KUNDU BKO RAM SINGH PURA REWARI 338. SHEO LAL BKO JATRAWAS REWARI 339. SANTI BKO RASIWAS REWARI 340. PARDHAN BKO HARCHAND PUR REWARI 341. PHOOL WATI BKO RAM SINGH PURA REWARI 342. BALA JI BKO MAKHARIA REWARI 343. RAM BKO NAICHANA REWARI 344. GANDASH BKO RASIWAS REWARI 345. SHRI CHAND BKO DHARCHANA SAH REWARI 346. RAJESH BKO LILODH REWARI 347. R.B. BKO LUKHI REWARI 348. A.S. BKO GANGOLI REWARI 349. BHARAT BKO K. DHARCHANA REWARI 350. R.K. TILES BKO THOTHWAL REWARI

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351. VED BKO BHA. BHARANGI REWARI 352. DHARAM BKO SULKHA REWARI 353. CHAUHAN BKO J.S PUR KEHRA REWARI 354. R.K.ENTERPRISES BKO SUNDROJ REWARI 355. CHAUDHARY BKO SABAN REWARI 356. KARUNA BKO KHARAGWAS REWARI 357. CHHANKOR BKO K. DHARCHANA REWARI 358. GOVERDHAN BKO ASRA KA MAJRA REWARI 359. MAHALAWAT BKO N.S PUR GARHI REWARI 360. VIKAS BKO BH.BHARANGI REWARI 361. SHIV BKO KANWALI REWARI 362. UDAI RAM BKO RASIWAS REWARI 363. SHRI BKO NAICHANA REWARI 364. FRIENDS BKO NAHAR REWARI 365. PARVEEN BKO LILODH REWARI 366. CHAUDHARY BKO RASIWAS REWARI 367. B.S. BKO LULA AHIR REWARI 368. JAI AMBAY BKO SAHANJHAPUR REWARI 369. CH.JOON BKO BA.BHARANGI REWARI 370. SEHLANGIA BKO LADHUWAS AHIR REWARI 371. OM BKO BAWWA REWARI 372. SHRI DURGA BKO N.S PUR GARHI REWARI 373. KHOLA BKO BERLI KALAN REWARI 374. DABUR BKO BHANDORE REWARI 375. SHIV SHANKAR TILES BKO DHANI SUNDROJ REWARI 376. SULTANIA BKO JADRA REWARI 377. B.D. BKO BADH SUNDROJ REWARI 378 AJIT SINGH BKO NAHAR REWARI 379. PAMMU BKO ASS.(BHUDPUR) REWARI 380. SHREE BALA JI ENTP. BKO ASS.(BHUDPUR) REWARI List of Villages Sr.no. Village District Sr.no Village District

1. Jalbera Ambala 22. Chudiala Ambala 2. Bhunni Ambala 23. Kesri Ambala 3. Baknour Ambala 24. Landa Ambala 4. Bullana Ambala 25. Sabga Ambala 5. Chhapra Ambala 26. Mahmoodpur Ambala 6. Dampur Ambala 27. Kalpi Ambala 7. Ismaolpur Ambala 28. Nohni Ambala 8. Jandheri Ambala 29. Saha Ambala 9. Badola Ambala 30. Talheri Gujran Ambala 10. Bhanokheri Ambala 31. Adhoie Ambala 11. Ghel Ambala 32. Barara Ambala 12. Garnala Ambala 33. Nahra Ambala

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13. Khatouli Ambala 34. Rajolie Ambala 14. Singhawala Ambala 35. Subri Ambala 15. Boh Ambala 36. Thamber Ambala 16. Babyal Ambala 37. Ugala Ambala 17. Bhilpura Ambala 38. Dheen Ambala 18. Chandpura Ambala 39. Holi Ambala 19. Panjokhra Ambala 40. Manka Manki Ambala 20 Sarsheri Ambala 41. Nabipur Ambala 21. Bihta Ambala 42. Dera Ambala 43. Gadhouli Ambala 89. Bhangeri Yamuna Nagar 44. Bhukhri Ambala 90. Harnouli Yamuna Nagar 45. Andheri Ambala 91. Katarwali Yamuna Nagar 46 Laha Ambala 92. Bherthal Yamuna Nagar 47 Jangu Majra Ambala 93. Pawni Kalan Yamuna Nagar 48 Wasalpur Ambala 94. Ambwala Yamuna Nagar 49 Baroli Ambala 95. Batheri Yamuna Nagar 50 Lakhnoura Ambala 96. Mugalwali Yamuna Nagar 51 Shajadpur Ambala 97. Sankhera Yamuna Nagar 52 Patrehari Ambala 98. Judda Jattan Yamuna Nagar 53. Korwan Kalan Ambala 99. Bhamnouli Yamuna Nagar 54. Panjato Ambala 100 Milk Khas Yamuna Nagar 55. Karasan Ambala 101. Nagli Batis Yamuna Nagar 56. Racheri Ambala 102. Sarawan Yamuna Nagar 57. Dhanana Ambala 103. Sadikpur Yamuna Nagar 58. Fatehgarh Ambala 104. Laharpur Yamuna Nagar 59. Jatwar Ambala 105. Banabahudar Yamuna Nagar 60. Chhaju Majra Ambala 106. Salepur Yamuna Nagar 61. Hargarh Yamuna Nagar 107. Rasulpur Yamuna Nagar 62. Phusgarh Yamuna Nagar 108. Thaska Yamuna Nagar 63. Mandebar Yamuna Nagar 109. Saran Yamuna Nagar 64. Naharpur Yamuna Nagar 110. Syalwa Yamuna Nagar 65. Khajuri Yamuna Nagar 111. Golni Yamuna Nagar 66. Kamalpur Yamuna Nagar 112 Bhambholi Yamuna Nagar 67. Kathwala Yamuna Nagar 113. Gadhoula Yamuna Nagar 68. Rulakheri Yamuna Nagar 114. Kanhari Khurd Yamuna Nagar 69. Shadipur Yamuna Nagar 115. Bhogpur Yamuna Nagar 70. Patasgarh Yamuna Nagar 116. Kheri D.Singh Yamuna Nagar 71. Dyalgarh Yamuna Nagar 117. Kanjnu Yamuna Nagar 72. Tigri Yamuna Nagar 118. Jubbal Yamuna Nagar 73. Chhouli Yamuna Nagar 119. Bakana Yamuna Nagar 74. Chuharpur Yamuna Nagar 120. Alahar Yamuna Nagar 75. Malikpur Kh. Yamuna Nagar 121. Palewala Yamuna Nagar 76. Kharwan Yamuna Nagar 122. Gumthla Yamuna Nagar 77. Khizrabad Yamuna Nagar 123. Ghillor Yamuna Nagar 78. Kalesar Yamuna Nagar 124. Antawa Yamuna Nagar

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79. Araiawala Yamuna Nagar 125. Thanesar Kurukshetra 80. Rampur Kh. Yamuna Nagar 126. Jyotisar Kurukshetra 81. Fatehgarh Yamuna Nagar 127. Mirjapur Kurukshetra 82. Devdhar Yamuna Nagar 128. Lukhi Kurukshetra 83. Begampur Yamuna Nagar 129. Amin Kurukshetra 84. Taharpur Kal. Yamuna Nagar 130. Kirmach Kurukshetra 85. Kisanpura Yamuna Nagar 131. Fatupur Kurukshetra 86. Baloli Yamuna Nagar 132. Urmi Kurukshetra 87. Balachour Yamuna Nagar 133. Mathana Kurukshetra 88. Chhachhrouli Yamuna Nagar 134. Hathira Kurukshetra 135. Barha Kurukshetra 153 Sandhali Kurukshetra 136. Bakali Kurukshetra 154 Babain Kurukshetra 137. Gudha Kurukshetra 155 Bhagwanpur Kurukshetra 138. Budha Kurukshetra 156 Mangli Jattan Kurukshetra 139. Sonti Kurukshetra 157 Tatka Tatki Kurukshetra 140. Bapeli Kurukshetra 158 Sunarian Kurukshetra 141. Niwarsi Kurukshetra 159. Barghat Kurukshetra 142. Ban Kurukshetra 160. Sangheer Kurukshetra 143. Jandhera Kurukshetra 161. Ismailabad Kurukshetra 144. Gajlana Kurukshetra 162. Rohta Kurukshetra 145. Barsami Kurukshetra 163. Jhansa Kurukshetra 146. Gumthla Kurukshetra 164. Thol Kurukshetra 147. Bakhli Kurukshetra 165. Shanti Nagar Kurukshetra 148. Diwana Kurukshetra 166. Yari Kurukshetra 149. Thana Kurukshetra 167. Nalvi Kurukshetra 150. Bher Saidan Kurukshetra 168. Mohanpur Kurukshetra 151. Chanalheri Kurukshetra 169. Nagla Kurukshetra 152. Sandhala Kurukshetra 170. Charuni Jattan Kurukshetra

LIST OF RICE MILLS

SR.N RICE MILL NAME VILLAGE DISTRICT O. 1 KRISHANA RICE MILL SONTLI AMBALA 2 SHIV SHANKAR RICE MILL KURALI AMBALA 3 SHIVA RICE MILL KULLARPUR AMBALA 4 AGGARWAL RICE MILL CHAJALMAJRA AMBALA 5 BHOLE BANDHARI RICEMILL RAIPUR VEERA AMBALA 6 GANESHI RICE MILL DEHER AMBALA 7 JAI BHOLE RICE MILL RAIPUR VEERA AMBALA 8 NARAYAN RICE MILL RAIPUR VEERA AMBALA 9 SAINI RICE MILL AMBLI AMBALA 10 JAI BHOLA RICE MILL NARAINGARH AMBALA

108

11 DIVYA NAND RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 12 HARI OM RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 13 JAI DURGA RICE MILL SIRASGARH AMBALA 14 SURINDER RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 15 ASHOK RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 16 OM RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 17 MAHARISHI RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 18 SHIV SHAKTI RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 19 JAI DURGEY RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 20 GAOURAV RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 21 RAMA RICE MILL BARARA AMBALA 22 SHAH SHAIB RICE MILL BUDIAN AMBALA 23 PAL BROTHERS RICEMILL BARARA AMBALA 24 ATTAR SINGH RICE MILL BARARA AMBALA 25 BHAGWAT RICE MILL UGALA AMBALA 26 DURGA RICE MILL KAMBASI AMBALA 27 MANJIT SINGH RICE MILL BARARA AMBALA 28 BAJRANG RICE MILL BARARA AMBALA 29 GURU JI RICE MILL BARARA AMBALA 30 RICHI RICH RICE MILL ADHOI AMBALA 31 G.R.T. RICE MILL HOLI AMBALA 32 BALA JI RICE MILL DHANAURA AMBALA 33 GAGAN RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 34 SRISTI RICE MILL SONDA AMBALA 35 AMBAY RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 36 TAKHUR RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 37 RAMAN RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 38 VEG AGRO RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 39 VERDHMAN RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 40 JYOTI RICE MILL SULLER AMBALA

41 GAGAN RICE MILL MIRZAPUR AMBALA 42 HARI OM RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 43 ARSEAT RICE MILL SONDA AMBALA 44 THAKUR RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 45 HARI OM RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 46 AMBAY RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 47 VED PARKASH RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 48 RAMAN RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 49 AGGARWAL RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 50 MODERN RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 51 MAHALUXMI RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 52 CHUDARY RICE MILL KURBANPUR AMBALA 53 NEW HARYANA RICEMILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA

109

54 SHREE GANESH RCE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 55 SARASWATI RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 56 KAILASH RICE MILL CHODMASTPUR AMBALA 57 MAHINDER RICE MILL CHODMASTPUR AMBALA 58 GANESHI RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 59 SOOD RICE MILL CHODMASTPUR AMBALA 60 G.S. RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 61 MAHESH RICE MILL NASIRPUR AMBALA 62 J.V. RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 63 ATMA RAM RICE MILL RUPO MAJRA AMBALA 64 BALJIT RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 65 AMBAY RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 66 SHRI KRISHNA RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 67 GOYAL RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 68 BHARAT RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 69 SARASWATI RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 70 GOPAL RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 71 BHAGWATI RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 72 SHIV RICE MILL SARANG PUR AMBALA 73 MITTAL RICE MILL AMBALA CITY AMBALA 74 MAHAVEER RICE MILL BALLANA AMBALA 75 MITTAL RICE MILL SONDA AMBALA 76 GOYAL RICE MILL DHARUKDA AMBALA 77 JAI AMBAY RICE MILL BADA GAON AMBALA 78 KRISHNA RICE MILL BADA GAON AMBALA 79 SANDEEP RICE MILL BAKTHUA AMBALA 80 RAMA RICE MILL LAHA AMBALA

81 SHIV SHAKTI RICE MILL KURALI AMBALA 82 MOHINDER RICE MILL DULIANA AMBALA 83 BALA JI DIVYA RICE MILL DHANAURA AMBALA 84 BHRIGU RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 85 SHANKARACHARY RICEMILL MULLANA AMBALA 86 NAGPAL RICE MILL MULLANA AMBALA 87 SHIV SHAKTI RICE MILL SAMLEHRI AMBALA 88 CHHOTANI RICE MILL SAHA AMBALA 89 AGGARWAL RICE MILL PILKHANI AMBALA 90 SHIV SHANKAR RICE MILL SHERGARH AMBALA 91 DURGA RICE MILL FATEHPUR AMBALA 92 SHREE KRISHNA RICE MILL PILKHANI AMBALA 93 JAGDAMBA RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 94 HARYANA RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 95 ZAMIDARA AGRO RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 96 JINDAL AGRO RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR

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97 HIMALYA RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 98 AGGARWAL RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 99 BALA JI RICE & GEN.MILLS BHOGPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 100 SHIVALIK RICE MILLS RASUL PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 101 HAVELI RICE MILL RASULPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 102 MAHA SHAKTI RICE MILL SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 103 GHAMBIR RICE MILL JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 104 SHIV SHANKAR RICE MILL JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 105 SARASWATI RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 106 JAI GANESH RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 107 FAQUIR CHAND RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 108 AGGARWAL RICE MILL RADAUR YAMUNA NAGAR 109 J.K. RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 110 SINGLA RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 111 BHAGWATI RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 112 JAI RAM RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 113 OM TRADING CO. CHHACHHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 114 JAGDAMBA RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 115 MAHADEV RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 116 OM RICE MILL JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 117 LUXMI RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 118 DES RAJ RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 119 VANILA RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 120 JAHARVEER GOGA RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 121 BAJWA RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 122 SHIV SHAKTI RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 123 GANPATI ENTERPRISES MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 124 JAI BALA SUNDRI RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 125 LUXMI RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 126 MARKANDEY RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 127 VIRAAT FOODS RICE MILL RADOUR YAMUNA NAGAR 128 BANSAL RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 129 MAHAVIR RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 130 JAGDAMBA RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 131 GUPTA RICE MILL JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 132 ANKIT RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 133 GOEL ENTERPRISES MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 134 ZIMIDARA RICE MILL CHHACHHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 135 RAMA KRISHNA RICE MILL CHHACHHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 136 VARUN RICE MILL CHHACHHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 137 SHIV GORAKH NATH RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 138 MATA BALA SUNDRI RICE MILL SADHOURA YAMUNA NAGAR 139 AMAR NATH RICE MILL SADHOURA YAMUNA NAGAR 140 SHIV OM TRADING CO. JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 141 KRISHANA RICE MILL KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR

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142 TERI AUT RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 143 YAMUNA RICE MILL GUMTHLA RAO YAMUNA NAGAR 144 SHAKUMBHRI INTER. MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 145 AMAR RICE MILL JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 146 OM RICE MILL BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 147 SADA RAM RICE MILL MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 148 PARAS RICE MILL BILAS PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 149 SHIV SHAKTI RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 150 SHIV SHANKAR RICE MILL KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 151 GORI SHANKAR RICE MILL BILAS PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 152 KRISHANA RICE MILLS SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 153 MAHABIR RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 154 M.R.AGRO RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 155 A.R.AGRO INDUSTRY SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 156 A.R.FOOD SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 157 SHREE OM RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 158 NIRMAL AGRO INDUSTRIES SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 159 VIRENDER KUMAR & CO. SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 160 S.K RICE .MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 161 SHIVA GANESH INDUSTRIES SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 162 MANGAL RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 163 S.V.N RICE TRADERS SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 164 WADHWA RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 165 SHREE GANESH RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 166 DURGA RICE & GEN MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 167 JAI SHIV SHANKAR RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 168 ASHOKA RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 169 KHURANA RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 170 JAI AMBEY RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 171 DAYA RAM RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 172 PAPNEJA RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 173 BALA JI RICE MILL SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 174 KANHAIYA RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 175 KAUSHAL RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 176 MANGLA RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 177 BHARAT RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 178 PAPNEJA TRADER ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 179 RAKESH RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 180 KHOSLA RICE MILL ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 181 A.K FOODS ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 182 LACHMAN DASS RICE MILL LADWA KURUKSHETRA 183 MAHADEVRICE MILL LADWA KURUKSHETRA 184 RAJNEE RICE MILL LADWA KURUKSHETRA 185 BANSAL RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 186 KISSAN RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA

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187 OM RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 188 JAI NARAYAN RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 189 GANESH RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 190 SAI RAM RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 191 CHOUDHRY RICE MILL BABAIN KURUKSHETRA

LIST OF POULTRY FARM S.no POULTRY FARM NAME VILLAGE DISTRICT 1 GOLDEN POULTRY FARM CHHAJAL MAJRA AMBALA 2 NARAINGARH POULTRY FARM DHANANA AMBALA 3 R.K. POULTRY FARM SONTLI AMBALA 4 NATIONAL POULTRYFARM PANJLASA AMBALA 5 VANSH POULTRY FARM BILASPUR AMBALA 6 SNOZRAST POULTRYFARM KAKKAR MAJRA AMBALA 7 SAINI POULTRY FARM DERA AMBALA 8 BALA JI POULTRY FARM DEHER AMBALA 9 S.K. POULTRY FARM JALBEHRA AMBALA 10 HARKIRAT POULTRY FARM SONDA AMBALA 11 SETHI POULTRY FARM PATTI JATTAN AMBALA 12 SHAKTI POULTRY FARM PANJOKHRA AMBALA 13 SIRAJ POULTRY FARM DULIANA AMBALA 14 DANG POULTRY FARM MEHTABGARH AMBALA 15 PARTAP POULTRY FARM SIRASGARH AMBALA 16 SURINDER POULTRYFARM MEHMOODPUR AMBALA 17 TERSEM POULTRY FARM PILKHANI AMBALA 18 RAKESH POULTRY FARM MAGARPUR AMBALA 19 PAWAN POULTRY FARM PILKHANI AMBALA 20 HARJIT POULTRY FARM PILKHANI AMBALA 21 JAI GANESH POULTRY FARM BILASPUR AMBALA 22 SHARDHA POULTRY FARM RATOUR AMBALA 23 NATIONAL POULTRY FARM JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 24 SONI POULTRY FARM JAGADHRI. YAMUNA NAGAR 25 GILLP OULTRY FARM BHAGWAN GARH YAMUNA NAGAR 26 DAMAN BREEDING FARM SUGH YAMUNA NAGAR 27 BRIJ MOHAN POULTRY FARM BURIA YAMUNA NAGAR 28 SHAMSHER POULTRY FARM BHUKHARI YAMUNA NAGAR 29 YOGESH POULTRY FARM BHUKHARI YAMUNA NAGAR 30 SUBASH POULTRY FARM BHUKHARI YAMUNA NAGAR 31 NAGESH POULTRY FARM BHUKHARI YAMUNA NAGAR 32 BABU RAM POULTRY FARM KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 33 FAUJI POULTRY FARM KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 34 PHOOL POULTRY FARM KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 35 SHAM LAL POULTRY FARM KHARWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 36 KAPIL POULTRY FARM AMADULPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 37 DHANDA POULTRY FARM BHAGWAN GARH YAMUNA NAGAR

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38 AMARJIT POULTRY FARM PARVALON YAMUNA NAGAR 39 MADAN POULTRY FARM SABA PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 40 DHARAM POULTRY FARM SABA PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 41 SANJAY POULTRY FARM SABA PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 42 MAKSOOD POULTRY FARM KAIT YAMUNA NAGAR 43 BHATIA POULTRY FARM JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 44 MANJEET POULTRY FARM CHHACHHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 45 MANZOOR POULTRY FARM MILK MAJRA YAMUNA NAGAR 46 RAM SARUP POULTRY FARM BAL CHHAPAR YAMUNA NAGAR 47 KULDEEP POULTRY FARM DHALOR YAMUNA NAGAR 48 BALWINDER POULTRY FARM MILK SUKHI YAMUNA NAGAR 49 SATWANT POULTRY FARM PONTI YAMUNA NAGAR 50 SULTAN POULTRY FARM PONTI YAMUNA NAGAR 51 IQBAL POULTRY FARM PONTI YAMUNA NAGAR 52 ARINDER POULTRY FARM MUSSIMBAL YAMUNA NAGAR 53 BALJEET POULTRY FARM MUSSIMBAL YAMUNA NAGAR 54 JAVED POULTRY FARM RATAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 55 RAMESHWAR POULTRY FARM SANKHERA YAMUNA NAGAR 56 AVTAR POULTRY FARM BHERTHAL YAMUNA NAGAR 57 MANJEET POULTRY FARM RAM KEHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 58 HAPPY POULTRY FARM DHARAM KOT YAMUNA NAGAR 59 JRD POULTRY FARM KOTDA YAMUNA NAGAR 60 CHHILER POULTRY FARM SANDHAY YAMUNA NAGAR 61 MAYUR POULTRY FARM SATIL PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 62 RAJNISH POULTRY FARM NAUSHERA YAMUNA NAGAR 63 NIRMAL POULTRY FARM NAUSHERA YAMUNA NAGAR 64 MAYA RAM POULTRY FARM SARAWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 65 SATNAM POULTRY FARM SARAWAN YAMUNA NAGAR 66 CHAUHAN POULTRY FARM SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 67 KALRA POULTRY FARM SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 68 ADLAKHA POULTRY FARM SADHAURA YAMUNA NAGAR 69 PIPLANI POULTRY FARM BAKALA YAMUNA NAGAR 70 MUMTAZ POULTRY FARM RANJEET PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 71 SHAMSHER POULTRY FARM RAM PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 72 TEETU POULTRY FARM MACCHRAULI YAMUNA NAGAR 73 PAWAN POULTRY FARM MUSTAFABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 74 PARAMJEET POULTRY FARM MAGAR PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 75 BILLA POULTRY FARM MAGAR PUR YAMUNA NAGAR 76 RANA POULTRY FARM THANA CHHAPPAR YAMUNA NAGAR 77 DINESH POULTRY FARM THANA CHHAPPAR YAMUNA NAGAR 78 AVTAR POULTRY FARM KEHRI D . SINGH YAMUNA NAGAR 79 VIKRAM POULTRY FARM KEHRI D. SINGH YAMUNA NAGAR 80 GURCHARAN POULTRY FARM TALAKAUR YAMUNA NAGAR 81 FAUJI POULTRY FARM TALAKAUR YAMUNA NAGAR 82 CHARAN SINGH POULTRY FARM PANJORA YAMUNA NAGAR

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83 JARNAIL POULTRY FARM PANJORA YAMUNA NAGAR 84 NARENDER POULTRY FARM JAGADHOLI YAMUNA NAGAR 85 RANA POULTRY FARM JAGADHOLI YAMUNA NAGAR 86 RAVINDER POULTRY FARM AMBWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 87 JEET RAM POLUTRY FARM BERI KALAN REWARI 88 HANUMANT POLUTRY FA JATUSANA REWARI 89 LOKESH POULTRY FARM KHAJURI YAMUNA NAGAR 90 RAMBIR POULTRY FARM KHAJURI YAMUNA NAGAR 91 BHANWAR POLUTRY FARM SALWA YAMUNA NAGAR 92 ANOOP POLUTRY FARM SALWA YAMUNA NAGAR 93 RANA POLUTRY FARM GOLNI YAMUNA NAGAR 94 KAMBOJ POULTRY FARM MANDHAR YAMUNA NAGAR 95 DALBIR POULTRY FARM BAPOLI YAMUNA NAGAR 96 MEHTA POULTRY FARM BAKANA YAMUNA NAGAR 97 DHARAM VIR POULTRY FARM RAJEHDI YAMUNA NAGAR 98 SURESH PAL POULTRY FARM RAJEHDI YAMUNA NAGAR 99 SUNIL POULTRY FARM HARTAN YAMUNA NAGAR 100 AMAR SINGH POULTRY FARM JUBBAL YAMUNA NAGAR 101 BHAGMAL POULTRY FARM KUNJAL YAMUNA NAGAR 102 PAWAN POULTRY FARM KUNJAL YAMUNA NAGAR 103 RATHI POULTRY FARM KUNJAL YAMUNA NAGAR1 104 SUDESH POLUTRY FARM BANSEWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 105 PIRTHI POLUTRY FARM BANSEWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 106 JAGPAL POLUTRY FARM AZIZPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 107 RANA POLUTRY FARM MARWA YAMUNA NAGAR 108 BINDRA POLUTRY FARM BILASPUR YAMUNA NAGAR 109 JAGMEET POLUTRY FARM CHANGNOLI YAMUNA NAGAR 110 BITTU POLUTRY FARM BHAGWANPUR YAMUNA NAGAR

111 MAHI PAL POLUTRY FARM AAKERA REWARI 112 NARENDER POLUTRY FARM LUHANA REWARI 113 RANJIT POLUTRY FARM FERUWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 114 AMARJIT POULTRY FARM FERUWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 115 DHAWAN POULTRY FARM JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 116 MANGOO POULTRY FARM JAGADHRI YAMUNA NAGAR 117 RANJIT POLUTRY FARM FERUWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 118 AMARJIT POLUTRY FARM FERUWALA YAMUNA NAGAR 119 AMIT POLUTRY FARM THANA CHHAPAR YAMUNA NAGAR 120 RAKESH POULTRY FARM BURIA YAMUNA NAGAR 121 MUKUND POULTRY FARM HARTAN YAMUNA NAGAR 122 BHALLA POLUTRY FARM KHIZRABAD YAMUNA NAGAR 123 ASHOK POULTRY FARM MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 124 DHINGRA POULTRY FARM PIPLI KURUKSHETRA 125 D.H. POULTRY FARM BIR MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 126 GIRDHARI POULTRY FARM MATHANA KURUKSHETRA

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127 BOSS POULTRY FARM SIRSAMA KURUKSHETRA 128 NAMTEJ POULTRY FARM BIR MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 129 PREM POULTRY FARM MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 130 PARVEEN POULTRY FARM MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 131 PREM POULTRY FARM SIRSAMA KURUKSHETRA 132 GIAN POULTRY FARM MATHANA KURUKSHETRA 133 BULBUL POULTRY FARM SIRSAMA KURUKSHETRA 134 NASIB POULTRY FARM MANDI KURUKSHETRA 135 JINDER POULTRY FARM MEERAN.THASKAR KURUKSHETRA 136 PAPPU POULTRY FARM ISMAILABAD KURUKSHETRA 137 SURJA POULTRY FARM BABAIN KURUKSHETRA 138 MALKIT POULTRY FARM RAMPURA KURUKSHETRA 139 MUKHTYAR POLUTRY FARM BAIDWAS REWARI 140 SWARMBAR POLUTRY FARM NANGLI PARASPUR REWARI 141 VIJAY POLUTRY FARM JHABUA REWARI 142 KARTAR POLUTRY FARM JHABUA REWARI 143 RAM SINGH POLUTRY FARM KARALI REWARI 144 VIKASH POLUTRY FARM PHITHERPUR REWARI 145 SUNIL POLUTRY FARM DHAWANA REWARI 146 TULSI RAM POLUTRY FARM BHALKHEE REWARI 147 MOHINDER SINGH POLUTRY PITHRAWAS REWARI FARM 148 VICKY POLUTRY FARM MASANI REWARI 149 RAJ KARAN POLUTRY FARM KAPRIWAS REWARI 150 OM PARKASH POLUTRY FARM BHALKHEE REWARI 151 OM PAL POULTRY FARM DILLU MAJRA KURUKSHETRA 152 RAM PAL POULTRY FARM HAMIDPUR KURUKSHETRA 153 RANDHIR POULTRY FARM R.SARAN MAJRA KURUKSHETRA 154 GURDEV POULTRY FARM BAKALI KURUKSHETRA 155 HARDEEP POULTRY FARM BAKALI KURUKSHETRA 156 ISHWAR POULTRY FARM DUDHI KURUKSHETRA 157 JAGDISH POULTRY FARM NYANGLA KURUKSHETRA 158 HASIJA POULTRY FARM MOHRI KURUKSHETRA 159 SANT SING POULTRY FARM YARA KURUKSHETRA 160 ZIMIDARA POULTRY FARM DERA KALSANI KURUKSHETRA 161 ARVINDER POULTRY FARM KISHANGARH KURUKSHETRA 162 ASHOK POULTRY FARM SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 163 SURESH POULTRY FARM RAMPURA KURUKSHETRA 164 SAINI POULTRY FARM HAMIDPUR KURUKSHETRA 165 PAWAN POULTRY FARM RAWA KURUKSHETRA 166 OM PAL POULTRY FARM RAMPURA KURUKSHETRA 167 MAHESH POULTRY FARM SHAHABAD KURUKSHETRA 168 DHARAM PAL POULTRY FARM MADANPUR KURUKSHETRA 169 GURDEEP POULTRY FARM ROOP NAGAR KURUKSHETRA 170 BAHUDAR POLUTRY FARM KAPRIWAS REWARI

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