Supreme Court orders time-bound financial aid, rehabilitation for rescued bonded labourers

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued a slew of directions while hearing two petitions, including one filed by a bonded labour survivor, highlighting delays in financial assistance and institutional shortcomings in the identification and rehabilitation of those rescued. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu Observing that the state’s constitutional obligation towards bonded labourers does not end with their release, the Supreme Court on Monday (November 2, 2026) asked the Centre to lay down a uniform procedure requiring financial assistance to be disbursed within seven days of release. The court also asked the Centre to consider revising the existing rehabilitation scheme within three months to increase financial assistance and provide “subsistence support” when disbursements are delayed.A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued a slew of directions while hearing two petitions, including one filed by a bonded labour survivor, highlighting delays in financial assistance and institutional shortcomings in the identification and rehabilitation of those rescued. The Bench said eradication of bonded labour was a “continuing obligation”, requiring authorities to ensure that those freed were meaningfully rehabilitated.“The constitutional prohibition against bonded labour and the statutory measures enacted to enforce it cannot remain mere assurances on paper. The release of a bonded labourer cannot be treated as the completion of the State’s obligation when the conditions necessary for a life of dignity remain unfulfilled. Identification, release and rehabilitation must therefore be understood as interconnected stages of a continuing constitutional responsibility,” the Bench said.Revised SOPTaking note of the Union government’s submission that a revised standard operating procedure (SOP) for dealing with cases of bonded labour had been formulated on May 14, the Bench directed all States and Union Territories to implement it within six months. The Centre was also asked to issue supplementary guidelines, in consultation with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), within three months.The Bench said the stipulated procedure should provide for complaints of bonded labour to be verified ordinarily within 24 hours, followed by prompt rescue wherever required. Once a person is identified a bonded labourer, the competent authority must conduct the necessary inquiry and ordinarily issue a release certificate within 24 hours.The court also addressed the difficulties faced by bonded labourers rescued outside their States of origin, where lack of coordination between authorities can delay their release and access to rehabilitation benefits. It also flagged the language barriers faced by those rescued and underlined that the process must remain accessible to the very persons it is intended to benefit.“The process must also be accessible to the persons for whose benefit it has been established. Rescued labourers may be unfamiliar with the language spoken in the State where they are identified or with the procedures undertaken by the authorities. Their statements must therefore be recorded with appropriate safeguards, and information concerning their release, entitlements, and rehabilitation must be communicated in a language they understand”, the Bench directed.Nodal officerTo strengthen inter-State coordination, State governments were directed to designate a nodal officer and establish a coordination mechanism within six months. They were further asked to ensure that vigilance committees, as mandated under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, were constituted at the district and sub-divisional levels.The court also called for regular training and sensitisation of police officers and other authorities entrusted with enforcing the rehabilitation scheme. It added that any “unjustified failure” to discharge statutory duties or meet the prescribed timelines should invite scrutiny by the appropriate supervisory authority and necessary action in accordance with law.Acknowledging that those released from bonded labour were often left without an independent source of livelihood and remain vulnerable to further exploitation, the Bench directed district magistrates to facilitate access to employment and livelihood opportunities under existing government welfare schemes.The top court kept the petitions pending to monitor implementation of its directions and listed them for further consideration after seven months. It directed the Centre to file a compliance affidavit within four months, while States and Union Territories were given six months to comply with the directions and a further two weeks to place their respective compliance affidavits on record. Published - November 02, 2026 10:26 pm IST