Coorg's bitter brew: Bonded labour in India's biggest coffee estates

Kodagu or Coorg in Karnataka is a coffee haven – the largest coffee producing district in the country, the land of the globally sought-after Monsoon Malabar beans, and found in every cup of coffee in homes and cafes across India.

But when seen through the eyes of coffee workers – those who pick, dry and clean the beans – Kodagu is a less romantic place. Mostly local Dalits and Adivasis, workers labour and live on estates owned largely by the Kodava community. As the estates were carved out of forests, landlords put the local tribes to work in their coffee farms, at low or no wages.

In the past two years, hundreds of these workers have begun to erupt in protest, rejecting a life of bonded labour, and demanding their rightful claim to fair wages, land, and most of all, freedom.

Some of them, like Harish, in Balele village, have had to face horrifying consequences for simply quitting their job. On August 30, 2017, Harish’s former employer Paaruvangada Kishan allegedly hunted him down, beat him, and set three dogs on him. Harish says his employer was demanding Rs 27,000 as interest for a Rs 4,000 loan – unwritten as is the practise in Kodagu – taken 18 months earlier, even though weekly instalments were deducted from his wages for over a year.

Villagers found Harish dumped on the side of the road, bleeding and half conscious. He needed four surgeries and treatment for animal bite wounds.

With the help of his extended family and local Dalit activists, Harish received treatment for dog bite wounds – torn flesh in his hands, legs and head. He filed a police complaint, and the police have charged the employer and an accomplice for culpable homicide.

The district administration declared that under the pretext of an ever-increasing loan, the employer kept Harish under bonded labour. The state government used the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act declaring him debt-free, gave him Rs 20,000 as compensation, and promised him Rs 1 lakh towards his rehabilitation. Harish is the first worker to receive this amount in Karnataka, since the 2016 rules raised the rehabilitation amount payable by the government.

Unfortunately, Harish is a broken man today. “When I sleep at night, I wake up screaming sometimes,” he says, his eyes widening in fear. “I keep imagining that dogs are chasing me.”

An open secret

Plantation owners call these stray incidents. But in truth, bonded labour in the coffee district is hidden in layers of denial, custom, silence and fear. It so deeply ingrained into the way of life that it becomes visible only when a labourer tries to break out of it.

Workers live in cramped line houses inside estates, where they work for years. The legal minimum wage is about Rs 270 for an 8-hour work day today, but they are paid under Rs 150 for 12-14 hours of work. Employers say the deduction is towards an unwritten loan, but this debt never ends.

Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits forced labour. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, defines bonded labour as a system where a person is forced to work due to a debt or caste obligation. They are overworked, underpaid, or denied the right to work elsewhere.

Sreevidya PI, District Commissioner of Madikeri, agrees, “In many cases, there is no physical confinement, but I’ve seen people take loans and are forced to work for years for the landlord.” This is the basis today for state governments to rescue and rehabilitate bonded labourers.