Hyderabad: Shivamma of Errapenta village in Nagarkurnool was only 17 when her toddler developed severe pneumonia, but with no money for treatment, the family had nowhere to turn. A man then offered them a ₹10,000 advance and promised jobs in Hyderabad with food and accommodation. Driven by desperation, Shivamma and her husband accepted the offer.Days later, the couple and around 50 others from the Chenchu community found themselves on a three-day train journey to a desert town in Rajasthan. They were held in bonded labour for three years.“They threatened to kill us if we spoke to anyone about it. I did not have a phone and no way to contact home. One time, when two workers were found to have escaped, our entire group was moved overnight to a remote area. We had lost all hope until the police finally found us near the Tamil Nadu border. Days after our rescue, I learnt that my mother-in-law had passed away,” she said, recounting the horror.Shivamma’s story was one of hundreds shared at the State Conference on Bonded Labour at NALSAR University of Law on Thursday. Organised by the Telangana State Legal Services Authority (TSLSA), International Justice Mission (IJM) and NALSAR to mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, the conference drew over 380 survivors. Speakers said the focus had shifted from last year’s theme, “Idi Mana Katha” (This is our story), which centred on survivors’ experiences, to this year’s ‘Charya Vaipu’ (towards action), which emphasised concrete steps to eradicate bonded labour.Ch Panchakshari, member secretary of the TSLSA, said bonded labour persisted despite five decades of the law. “Human trafficking and bonded labour are not merely legal issues but issues of human dignity, social justice and constitutional values,” he said, calling for coordinated action by the police, revenue, labour, and women and child welfare departments. He said 673 bonded labourers had been rescued in Telangana between 2021 and 2025, including 500 from Nizamabad. He also cited a recent case from Devarakonda, where a mobile legal awareness van team found children in poor health, including one with an untreated hip fracture. Officials rescued the children and returned them home. He said 22 people rescued in the operation have since received compensation.Panchakshari and NALSAR vice-chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao jointly flagged off ‘Swechaa Ratham’, an awareness van that will travel across all 33 districts, screening short films and spreading information on bonded labour at the village level. The conference also saw the launch of a bonded labour awareness song, a booklet marking 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, and a poster publicising the bonded labour helpline.Speaking to TOI, vice-chancellor (VC) Srikrishna Deva Rao said the real challenge today lies less in the law itself and more in ensuring timely reporting and rehabilitation. “The way forward begins with reporting, followed by rescue, release and rehabilitation. District Vigilance Committees must become more active and effective. Rescue without sustainable livelihoods will push survivors back into exploitation,” he said.The VC said bonded labour had not disappeared but had only grown harder to spot. “Instead of the traditional system where families were tied to landlords through debt, workers are now trapped by contractors in sectors such as construction, brick kilns, quarries and other informal industries through advances, withheld wages and restrictions on leaving work,” he said.D Venkataiah, who was rescued eight years ago from a canal construction site near Vemulawada, said what workers were promised rarely matched what they received. “Around 45 of us were promised eight-hour shifts at ₹250 a day. Instead, we were made to work from 7.30 am to 7.30 pm for just ₹3,000 a month and were given pathetic food. Our rescue was the end of our misery,” he told TOI.Merlin Freeda, national programme director at IJM, said, “Even today, vulnerable workers continue to be exploited in rock quarries, brick kilns, rice mills and several other workplaces. Today marks the beginning of a movement to transform awareness into action.”Shivamma said that life after her rescue had completely transformed. She eventually became her village’s leader and later a mandal-level secretary. “I now go door to door, urging families not to marry off their children at a young age but to educate them instead. I explain what I went through because I did not know the world,” she said.Another survivor, P Lingamma, who was once a bonded labourer but is now the sarpanch of Gandlapenta village in the Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh, said she now helps identify and support people in her community who are trapped in bonded labour.
