ABOLITION OF BONDED MBOUR Article 23(1) of the Constitution prohibits 'begar' and other similar forms of forced labour and adds that any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 traces its origin to this provision of the Constitution, its Statements of Objects and Reasons acknowledging that "there still exists in different parts of the country a system of usury under which the debtor or his descendents or dependents have to work with no wages in order to extinguish the debt." The Statement adds "The system implies the infringement of the basic human rights and the destruction of the dignity of human labour." 9.1 Regrettably, the system persists, and implementation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 has been less than whole-hearted. The problem of bonded labour has, therefore, been receiving the attention of the Supreme Court of India since 1982, in the form of Public Interest Litigation petitions. The Court has, in several of its judgements and orders, pronounced upon the inviolability of the Fundamental Rights of those exploited under the system of bonded labour and it has suggested several remedial measures to deal with this odious system. The various States have also been associated by the Supreme Court in this task. 9.2 By its order of 11 November 1997, the Supreme Court requested the Commission to be involved in the supervision of work relating to the abolition of Bonded Labour. The Court made available to the Commission a sum of Rs. 10 lakhs as a;! Initial amount to defray the expenses that may be involved in undertaking this task. A Central Action Group was immediately constituted by the Commission under the leadership of its Chairperson, with the Secretary, Ministry of Labour as its Member Convenor (Annexure V).The Commission has been interacting regularly with the Ministry of Labour in respect of this matter. Further, this issue is reviewed and monitored by the Commission every fortnight, in its Special Agenda for Cases and Projects under the Supreme Court's mandate. 9.3 9.4 lo strengthen its capacity to deal with this issue, the Commission has appointed a Special Rapporteur to work for it in the four Southern States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Commission is also contemplating appointing Special Rapporteurs for other States where the problem is acute. A leading advocate of the Supreme Court, Shri Muralidhar, is providing his services pro bono to the Commission in this matter. The Commission has initiated action in the following matters in order to tackle the problem in a sustained way: 9.5 Preparation of a proforma for periodical reporting by the State Governments.