Fifth three yearly convention

The fifth three yearly convention of Karnataka Bonded Labourers and Landless Agricultural Workers’ Union was organized in Yadgir town of Yadgir district on May 22 and 23, 2011.  The two day convention consisted of various programmes like state elections of the Union, a seminar and a cultural evening on the first day and a rally and a public stage programme on the second day.  Honorable Central Labour Minister Dr. Mallikarjuna Kharge, graced the second day’s public programme with his presence.

Details:

May 22, 2011- More than 800 hundred delegates from different parts of Karnataka (17 taluks in 10 old districts and 5 new districts) took part in the elections.  A few observers were also invited for the same. Prior to the convention, village and taluk level elections had taken place in all the 17 taluks. The seventeen taluk presidents were to elect the four office bearers of state committee. Two presidents from Chennapatna and Kolar taluks were absent.   To make the election fair and transparent, few observers from various sections of the society ranging from political activists to professors from reputed educational institutions were also invited.   During this year’s election, voice vote was changed to secret ballot system. The following office bearers were elected. They are: 1. President- Chikka Siddiah (HD Kote taluk), 2. Vice President- Prakash, Bailahongal taluk, 3. Secretary- Seenappa, Hosakote taluk and 4. Treasurer- Huliyappa, Yadagiri Taluk.

Before the elections were to be held, all the 15 taluk presidents expressed their views on the works done so far in their taluks and also in the near future how they will carry out the union’s long time goal of eradicating bonded labour in Karnataka.  All the 15 presidents present were impressed upon the need to select the most capable among them as made out from their presentations and not to be swayed by any other extraneous criteria.  A simple yet delicious lunch followed the elections.

After the lunch a seminar was held for three hours on “The Situation of Bonded labour in North Karnataka”. The invited political activists cum dalit leaders from the new as well as old districts explained about the situation of bonded labour in their districts and the various experiences they encountered while identifying and reporting on bonded labourers.  The speakers were: Indumati, Bidar district, Baslingappa, Raichur district, Durgappa, Koppal district, Charappa, Bellary District, Mariappa, Gadag district, Hanumantha, Gowribidanur taluk, Chikballapur district, Gangahanumayya, Magadi taluk, Ramnagar district, Sarawati, Chinthamani taluk, Chikballapur District and Munirathnamma,  Chikballapur District.

Basavaraj from HD Kote taluk, Mysore facilitated the entire session in an energetic manner.  Gopal, one of the core group members of JEEVIKA gave the introductory speech and Kiran Kamal Prasad, the overall coordinator of JEEVIKA  presided over the function.

Because of the long deliberations in the morning and in the afternoon and also the long travels the previous day and night, the evening cultural programme was reduced to singing of a few songs.

The next day, i.e., May 23 was marked by a rally was taken out in the main streets of Yadgiri town by the delegates and nearly 1000 members of the Union and Self Help Groups and other sympathizers of the Union and JEEVIKA.  The rally culminated at the venue of open stage public programme on the playgrounds of Government Junior College.  The theme of the public programme was “The Role of Government in Eradicating Bonded Lobour System in Karnataka and the Country".   Honourable Central Labour Minister Dr. Mallikarjuna Kharge inaugurated the programme by the traditional dalit way, i.e. beating tamate, a type of drum signifying dalits’ resistance to the age old slavery system. Siddappa Lingeri, Yadgiri taluk coordinator, welcomed the gatherings.  The introductory speech was delivered by Kiran Kamal Prasad at the end of which he read out a memorandum detailing various steps that require be taking by the Central Labour Ministry to effectively tackle bonded labour and handing it over to the Minister. The measures suggested were as follows:

1. Continuously direct State Governments and Union Territories to take firm actions according to the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976. 
2. Earmark appropriate funds in the Central Budget for conducting ongoing surveys on bonded labour and for rehabilitating the released bonded labourers. 
3. Direct all State Governments and Union Territories to bring out state specific Action Plans on Bonded Labour on the lines of the “Karnataka Action Plan on Bonded Labour 2008”. 
4. Direct National Sample Survey Organisation of India to carry out periodic and continuous surveys and studies on bonded labour in all the States and Union Territories of India so as to provide reliable data on the incidence of bonded labour and on the areas or districts where bonded labour is still prevalent. 
5. Of the 65,000 and odd bonded labourers identified, released and rehabilitated by the Karnataka Government since 1976, hardly 1500 are from the northern districts consisting almost half of the state and which are more backward than the southern districts.  The workshop carried out yesterday and the deliberations during the programmes today show that bonded labour is very much prevalent in all the North Karnataka districts.  As the Central Labour Minsitry has directed time and again in the past, identification of bonded labour must be entrusted to reputed NGOs who are active on the issue of bonded labour.  Vimukti Trust, JEEVIKA and the Okkuta have been involving with bonded labour in almost all the districts of the state and they are doing very credible work as indicated above.  In this context, we are ready to join the hands of the government, if we are entrusted with the task of identification of bonded labour in the entire state with suitable support and protection. 
6. One of the chief mechanisms for the effective implementation of the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976 is the proper constitution of the district and sub-division level Vigilance Committees on Bonded Labour with up to five nominations from active leaders with bonded labour from dalit and adivasi communities.   The bonded labour leaders from the Okkuta and the activists from JEEVIKA could very well be nominated on those Vigilance Committees. 
7. There is no specific National Commission on Bonded labour so far.  The National Human Rights Commission is mandated by the Supreme Court in 1996 to monitor the implementation of the Act on Bonded Labour in the entire country.  We request the Central Labour Ministry to organize in collaboration with the National Human rights Commission national level annual conferences / workshops / seminars on bonded labour so as to continuously keep track on the various issues connected with bonded labour, keep updated with the latest facts and trends on bonded labour and take ongoing stock about the work done on bonded labour by the state governments. We are ready to collaborate in this venture as actively as possible.

In his speech, as a response to Kiran’s speech, the Honourable Central Minister promised to look into all the issues raised in the introductory speech and brought out in the memorandum.  He promised the gatherings that the positive role of the state will accompany and enable bonded labourers and bonded labour activists in their zeal of eradicating the bonded labour system. The MLA of Yadgiri constituency Dr. Malak Reddy felicitated the programme.  Dr. Jagrathi Deshamane from Agricultural College, Raichur too spoke about the prevalence of bonded labour in north Karnataka and highlighted the situation of devadasis which in many cases would also be bonded labour.  Other dignitories on the dais were Presidents of Yadgiri Town Panchayat, Yadgiri Taluk Panchayat and Yadgiri Agricultural Produce Marketing Cooperative Society and local bureaucrats. The newly elected state level president of the union, Chikka Siddaiah presided and Umesha, one of the JEEVIKA cultural coordinator facilitated the programme. Ramaswamy, another JEEVIKA cultural coordinator led a few other JEEVIKA cultural activists in singing a few awareness songs on bonded labour during the programme.  Hanumantha Reddy, one of the Yadgiri activists gave a vote of thanks at the end of the programme. The presence in large numbers of local people, the members of the Union and Self Help Groups in Yadgiri taluk, the delegates and activists from other taluks and districts made the program successful and memorable.