Tamil Nadu tops man-days loss chart due to strikes

Tamil Nadu has recorded maximum number of man-days loss last year due to strikes at 3,92,842, followed by Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
As many as 19 strikes were reported in Tamil Nadu in 2014 due to which 3,92,842 man-days were lost, as per the data complied by the Labour Bureau as part of reply to Rajya Sabha by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.
However, the complete information regarding the strikes in all states was not available.
As many as 5 strikes were reported in Andhra Pradesh and there was loss of 3,25,868 man-days, the minister said.
Similarly, 8 strikes were reported in West Bengal which caused loss of 3,01,584 man-days.

In 2013, Kerala suffered maximum loss due to 34 strikes as it lost 4,13,184 man-days followed Punjab with 6 strikes and loss of 3,40,005 man-days and Madhya Pradesh with 9 strikes and loss of 2,78,611 man-days.

In a separate reply to the House, the minister said that according to the information received from states, the total number of bonded labour released and rehabilitated up to March 31, 2014 is 2,79,360.
The bonded labour system has been abolished by law throughout the country with effect from October 25, 1975 under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Ordinance which was replaced by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976.

As per the Act, the identification, release and rehabilitation of freed bonded labour is the direct responsibility of the state/union territories.
The minister said that there is report in the public domain, titled 'The Global Slavery Index 2014' released by a Perth (Australia)- based non-profit organisation namely, "Walk Free Foundation".
According to this report there are about 14.28 million people under the 'modern slavery' in India. However, the government has not made any assessment of the creditability of this report, the minister said in his reply to the House.