Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, enacted in February 1976, marked a milestone in abolishing bonded labour in India. The Act continues to remain central to India’s legal framework against forced labour.

Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976:

Dimension	Key Details
Enactment	Enacted in February 1976
Constitutional Safeguards	Articles 21, 23 and 24 provide protection against bonded labour and forced labour
Legal Provision	BLSA, 1976 abolishes bonded labour system
Penal Provision	Section 143 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 penalizes trafficking and forced labour
Abolition Clause	Declares all forms of bonded labour illegal
Bonded Debt	Cancels all existing bonded debts and mandates immediate release of bonded labourers
Protection Provision	Provides protection from eviction of freed bonded labourers from occupied lands
Enforcement Mechanism	District Magistrates and Vigilance Committees identify, release and rehabilitate bonded labourers
Rehabilitation Measures	Provides financial assistance, land, housing and livelihood support through Central and State programmes
Rescue Operations	Periodic surveys and rescue drives have identified and released lakhs of bonded labourers
Enforcement Data	Approximately 300,000 bonded labourers freed or rehabilitated since 1978
Persistence Factors	Linked to poverty, informal sector exploitation, caste hierarchies and low conviction rates