Public Union for Civil Liberties Vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3922 of 1985 brings out facts on bonded labour are the harsh reality of the same is elaborated. Bonded labour is rampant in brick kilns, stone quarries, crushing mines, beedi manufacturing, carpet weaving, construction industries, agriculture, in rural and urban unorganized and informal sector, power looms and cotton handlooms, fish processing etc. The Vigilance Committees are directed to give more attention to these areas and take prompt action in case violation is noticed. Large numbers of children are working as domestic help in the urban, town and rural areas with no chance to go to schools even though the education from standard I to VIII is compulsory under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Local Panchayats and local bodies should identify such children and ensure that they get proper education. Thus the following PIL was filed in 2012 in order to deal with the issue of bonded labour and child labour that follows the same. This PIL elaborated several facts of bonded labour and discrimination amongst children who are employed for the same.