Thirty-four bonded labourers from Odisha, including children, were rescued from a brick kiln in Sankalapur village of Ilkal taluk in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district on Tuesday, February 10. A joint team comprising the district administration, Labour Department, police, and members of the NGO Spandana Association carried out the operation after receiving information that the workers were being confined at the site, located about 50 km from the district headquarters. The group had been at the kiln since November 2025.
According to Spandana, the 34 rescued persons belonged to nine families. A middleman from Odisha recruited them after offering advances of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per family. “They were first told they would be working in Vijayawada and were taken there by bus by the trafficker. From there, they were brought by train to Bagalkot. Only two weeks after beginning work did they learn from local labourers that they were in Karnataka,” said Susheela, director of Spandana.
Once at the kiln, the families worked for more than 16 hours a day, starting around 5 am and continuing until 9 or 10 pm, with minimal breaks. Recruiters had promised them Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000, but the families received only around Rs 8,000 in total. Each family earned about Rs 800 per week, which they used to purchase provisions. The kiln permitted only one member from each family to visit the market once a week. “While being exploited, the bonded labourers never received the wages promised to them,” Susheela said.
The workers lived in small brick huts or under makeshift sheets without access to water or sanitation. They cooked with firewood. The kiln owner monitored them whenever they stepped out, including to relieve themselves. “The kiln owner and his two sons physically and verbally abused the labourers. They also threatened to kill the workers when they questioned the conditions,” Susheela said. Children between the ages of 13 and 16 also worked at the kiln and were unable to attend school, she added.
Susheela said Spandana learned about the case through its network and approached the district administration after verifying the details. However, she said her team faced resistance while filing the complaint. “It was very difficult even to file an FIR. I called the SP for protection of the victims and our team members, after which he informed the concerned officers to take action,” she said. She alleged that some individuals with political links came to the police station and tried to pressure the team not to proceed.
Despite the FIR, no arrests have been made so far. When asked whether the middleman or the owner had been arrested, Susheela said, “Not even the owner, I think. Because the punishment is two years’ imprisonment, so they may not be arrested. In many cases we have seen this.”
During the rescue, the kiln owner allegedly fled the premises and took the workers’ Aadhaar cards with him. Susheela said Spandana plans to push for trafficking charges to be added to the FIR to strengthen the case. At present, the police have registered an FIR under Sections 16, 17, and 18 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, along with provisions related to child labour.
The district administration issued release certificates to all 34 workers and arranged immediate compensation of Rs 30,000 per person. Officials lodged them in a government hostel and later escorted them back to their native villages in Odisha through a three-member team comprising officers from the Labour, Revenue, and Police departments.
With this rescue, officials have freed 99 people from bonded labour in Bagalkot district since December 2025, across three brick kilns and one sugarcane farm.
Susheela linked the recurrence of such cases in Bagalkot to the demand for labour in brick kilns and sugarcane harvesting. She also flagged gaps in the implementation of the law. “The implementation of the Bonded Labour Act is the responsibility of the Revenue Department. However, when bonded labour cases arise in some districts, the responsibility is shifted to the Labour Department, which is not as per the Act. There is a lack of coordination between departments,” she said.
She added that “four or five departments like Revenue, RDPR, Police, Labour Department, Women and Child Development, and Health Department must act immediately,” and said, “If the entire responsibility is shifted only to the Labour Department, monitoring and rescues become very difficult.”
Under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, a bonded labourer is someone compelled to work because of specific coercive conditions. The most common is debt bondage, where a person is forced to provide labour due to an existing debt or obligation. This may involve working without wages, for extremely low wages, or to repay an advance or loan taken either by the individual or a family member. Bonded labour also includes situations where a person is made to work through coercion and is not free to leave the employment.
Although the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act outlawed bonded labour in 1976 and rescue operations continue to be reported regularly, convictions remain rare.