BERHAMPUR: For two young boys brought from Bihar to work in gupchup-making units in Ganjam’s Hinjilicut, being rescued from exploitation did not mean an immediate return of their childhood. Although they were freed in October 2025, their first instalment of rehabilitation assistance of Rs 30,000 each was released on October 23, 2026, nearly a year after their rescue. The boys, aged 12 and 14, are to get Rs 2 lakh each.
The boys were allegedly made to work from 5 am to 10 pm without wages. They were reportedly beaten if they failed to meet sales targets and prevented from attending school or communicating with their families. Their parents were allegedly promised monthly wages and given advances of Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively.
On the eve of Children’s Day, their case highlights a larger concern in Odisha, where poverty and advance payments to parents can push children into conditions of bondage, while inadequate identification of such cases may deprive them of protection under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.
Bonded child labour is not always recognised as distinct from ordinary child labour. If officials treat such cases only under general child labour provisions, children may miss the release and rehabilitation benefits available under the bonded labour legislation.
A case in Ganjam’s Chikiti block illustrates this gap. A boy was allegedly forced to graze buffaloes for nearly two years without wages and kept almost like a prisoner. He was rescued on September 1, 2026, and was declared a freed bonded labourer on September 10, making him eligible for rehabilitation assistance. However, after the child welfare committee handed him over to his parents, the employer allegedly took him away again. His parents reportedly alleged that the employer threatened them and demanded repayment of the money he claimed to have advanced to them. The boy was rescued a second time only after a police case was registered.
Jajpur has demonstrated rehabilitation assistance can be delivered under the revised Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer Scheme-2026. In September, it became the first district in Odisha to disburse assistance under the scheme. Eight children rescued during 2024-25 received financial assistance of Rs 40,000 each. Incidentally, two children were rescued from bonded labour in Jajpur on Friday.
