Bandhua Mukti Morcha or Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) is a non-governmental organisation in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 working to end bonded labour. Based in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, it was founded in 1981 by Swami Agnivesh

Swami Agnivesh

Agnivesh is an Indian social worker, self-proclaimed Arya Samaj scholar, and a Hindu social activist. He is best known for his work against bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he founded in 1981...

 who continues as its chairman.

Bonded labour was legally abolished in India in 1976 but it remains prevalent, with weak enforcement of the law by state governments. Estimates of the problem vary. Official figures include a 1993 estimate of 251,000 bonded labourers while BMM says there are 65 million bonded child labourers, and a larger number of adults. A 2003 project by Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

 has reported a major problem with bonded child labour in the silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 industry

Achievements

BMM's efforts are credited with the passing of legislation to abolish child labour in India (the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986. This followed a 1984 Supreme Court

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...

 decision in a case brought by BMM. Other cases on bonded labour brought to the Supreme Court by BMM have also extended the interpretation of the Constitution in areas of human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

.

See also

• Iqbal Masih
  Iqbal Masih
  Iqbal Masih , was a young Pakistan Islamic boy who was forced into bonded labour in a carpet factory at the age of four, became an international figurehead for the Bonded Labour Liberation Front at the age of 10 after he escape from servitude, and was assassinated at the age of 13.-Early life and...
  
   (1983–1995), spokesman for BMM from 1993–1995.
• Bachpan Bachao Andolan
  Bachpan Bachao Andolan
  Bachpan Bachao Andolan is a non-governmental organization in India working to "eradicate child labour". The group was founded by Kailash Satyarthi in 1980.-External links:* * * *...
  
  (South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude)