by Nirmala Carvalho

A farmhand in the Indian state of Bihar asked for a loan offering a day’s work for each kilo, but his debt kept on rising and he does not how to settle it.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – A villager in Bihar has been repaying a loan of 40 kg of rice for the past 27 years in bonded labour and does not know how to settle the debt.

In 1980, Jawahar Manjhi, a 45-year-old farm labourer, took the rice from a lender for a family wedding. In exchange he would work in the lender's field. The man, who lives in the village of Paipura Barki with his wife and four sons, agreed to work one day for each kg of rice to settle his debt. But since then, he has taken more loans of rice and now has no idea how much he has repaid.

He was told he would be freed from his bond if he paid 5,000 rupees—an amount far beyond his reach. the landowner was contacted but was not available.

Manjhi said there were “many more like me” in the area, but Bihar's labour minister said the government was not aware of any bonded labour in the state.

Local authorities said it was a rare case and that the landlord would be prosecuted.

The district's magistrate, BB Rajendra, said he was looking into the case and, if true, action would be taken.

Bonded labour was outlawed in India in 1976, yet in the vast rural areas of India, hundreds of impoverished and illiterate of men, women and children are enslaved by the system.

There have been few prosecutions and no convictions so far against those who use it. 

• india
• bonded
• labour
• jawahar
• manjhi
• rice