Cuttack, April 10: The controversy over bartan (a form of bonded labour) system in the state has taken a new turn with the high court admitting a PIL on it less than two months after the state government abolished the age old practice following directions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The high court has issued notices returnable within two weeks to the state government.The NHRC had, in its camp sitting in Orissa on January 18, 2011, asked the state government to stop bartan system and take action against those who failed to stop the “illegal practice or abetted it”.
Subsequently, the state government had on February 17, 2011, issued a notification abolishing the practice of extracting work from the barbers and cleaners by upper caste families in the state under the customary bartan system for which they were paid a pittance of 15kg of paddy for the whole year.
The NHRC had described this practice as “bonded debt” and “bonded labour” as defined under Sections 2 (d), (e) and (g) of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.
The state government, through its panchayati raj department, had directed all district collectors to instruct the field functionaries to ensure that such an evil practice is discouraged at all costs by taking stringent actions against the culprits under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. But the PIL had sought judicial intervention alleging “no steps had been taken to inquire and release the bonded labourers under bartan system in different parts of the state”. Baghambar Pattnaik (62), advisor of the Orissa Goti Mukti Andolan, had filed the PIL.
Acting on it, the high court has sought clarification from the state government. “After hearing in person and after going through the averments made and documents produced in the writ petition, we feel that it is a fit case for issuance of notice to the chief secretary, principal secretary of panchayati raj department and principal secretary revenue and disaster management department,” the two-judge bench of Chief Justice V.Gopal Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra observed in its order.
