Section 3(1)(h) to (j): Forced Labour and Degrading Occupations

Caste was never only a social hierarchy; it was a labour system. It fixed who ploughed, who served without wages, who carried away dead animals and dug graves, and who cleaned human excreta. Clauses (h), (i) and (j) of Section 3(1) attack that system directly: they punish making a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member do begar, forced or bonded labour, compelling a member to dispose of carcasses or dig graves, and making or employing a member to do manual scavenging. This note explains each clause, its relationship with Article 23, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 and the Manual Scavengers Act, 2013, and the Supreme Court's decisions on bonded labour and sewer deaths.

Figure 1: Section 3(1)(h), (i) and (j): forced and degrading labour

1. The Statutory Text

Each is punishable with imprisonment of not less than six months, up to five years, and fine. The accused must not be a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member, and the worker must be one. Clause (h) carries forward the original clause (vi) of 1989, which punished anyone who 'compels or entices' a member to do begar or similar forced or bonded labour. Clauses (i) and (j) were added by the 2015 Amendment Act.

2. Clause (h): Begar, Forced Labour and Bonded Labour

Figure 2: The spectrum of unfree and degrading labour

• Begar. Labour or service extracted without any remuneration, historically as a customary obligation owed by lower castes to landlords, village officials or the dominant caste.
• Forced labour. Any labour that a person is compelled to provide against his will, whether by physical force, legal compulsion or economic compulsion. In People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India (1982), the Supreme Court held that labour provided for less than the minimum wage, under the compulsion of poverty, is forced labour within Article 23.
• Bonded labour. Labour rendered to repay an advance or debt, often at nominal wages, without freedom to leave or to work elsewhere, and frequently passed on to children. The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 abolished the system, extinguished bonded debts, and made compelling bonded labour an offence punishable with imprisonment up to three years and fine.
• 'Makes ... to do'. The 2016 wording punishes the person who makes the member do the work, covering compulsion in any form. The earlier words 'compels or entices' were replaced; the better view is that inducement which ends in forced or bonded labour is still covered, because the member is made to work against his will, though no court has yet settled the point.
• Exception. Compulsory service for public purposes imposed by the Government, such as a lawful requirement of community service, is excluded. This mirrors Article 23(2), which permits compulsory service for public purposes provided the State does not discriminate on grounds of religion, race, caste or class.

• Rehabilitation. In Neeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1984), the Court held that release without rehabilitation defeats the purpose of the 1976 Act, and that released bonded labourers must be rehabilitated promptly, or they fall back into bondage.
• General penal law. BNS Section 146 punishes unlawful compulsory labour, and the trafficking offence in BNS Section 143 reaches forced labour through its definition of exploitation, which includes physical exploitation, slavery or practices similar to slavery, and servitude. Where the worker is a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member and the employer is not, clause (h) adds the Act's minimum sentence and special procedure.

3. Clause (i): Carcasses and Graves

• What it punishes. Compelling a member to dispose of or carry human or animal carcasses, or to dig graves.
• Why it was added. Removal of dead cattle, skinning, and cremation and burial work were imposed on particular Scheduled Caste communities as their 'caste duty'. Refusal to do this work has often provoked retaliation, including boycott and violence. The clause makes the compulsion itself an atrocity.
• 'Compels'. The clause requires compulsion, by force, threat, social pressure or boycott. A member who freely chooses such work as a trade is not a victim; a member forced into it because of caste is.
• Context. The flogging of Dalit men by self-styled cow protectors at Una, Gujarat, in July 2016, while they were skinning a dead cow, led to widespread protests in which many Dalits refused to remove carcasses, highlighting how this work is tied to caste.

4. Clause (j): Manual Scavenging

• Three forms. Making a member do manual scavenging; employing a member for it; or permitting the employment of a member for it. The third limb reaches officials of local bodies and principal employers who allow contractors to employ members.
• Who is typically liable. Private householders with insanitary latrines, contractors, and officials of municipalities, railways and other agencies, provided the accused is not a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member.
• Sewers and septic tanks. The 2013 Act separately prohibits hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective gear (Section 7). Whether a particular sewer-cleaning engagement is also 'manual scavenging' under clause (j) depends on whether it fits the 2013 definition; where it does not, the 2013 Act and the general law of negligence and culpable homicide apply.
• Overlap with the PCR Act. Section 7A of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 punishes compelling a person on the ground of untouchability to do scavenging or sweeping; it applies to any accused, including members of Scheduled Castes.

Figure 3: The legal net around manual scavenging

• Balram Singh v. Union of India (2023). The Court raised the compensation for sewer deaths to thirty lakh rupees, and fixed compensation for permanent disability at twenty lakh rupees, with directions for the complete eradication of manual scavenging.
• January 2025. Continuing the Balram Singh proceedings, a bench of Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar, JJ. declared its intent to stop manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning in the top metropolitan cities, and directed the civic chiefs of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad to file affidavits stating how and when the practice was stopped.

5. Forced Degrading Labour as a Theme

• Degradation through work. Clauses (h) to (j) punish making members do work that the caste system reserved for them because it was considered polluting or servile.
• Related clauses. Clause (k) punishes dedicating a woman as a devadasi or any similar practice; clause (za)(E) punishes obstructing a member from practising any profession, trade or occupation open to the public. Together they both forbid forcing members into caste occupations and forbid keeping them out of others.
• Relief. Victims are entitled to relief under Annexure I of the 1995 Rules and, for bonded labourers, to rehabilitation under the central scheme for released bonded labourers.

6. Article 23 and Atrocity Offences

• Horizontal right. Article 23 binds private persons as well as the State (PUDR, 1982).
• Parliament's exclusive power. Under Article 35(a)(ii), only Parliament can prescribe punishment for contravention of Article 23; clause (h) of the SC/ST Act, the Bonded Labour Act and BNS Section 146 are such laws.
• Mirror image. Clause (h) repeats the Article 23(2) exception for compulsory public service, while Article 23(2) itself forbids caste discrimination in imposing such service.
• Wider protection. Article 23 protects everyone; the SC/ST Act adds a sharper remedy where the victim is a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member and the offender is not.

7. Quick Revision and Memory Aids

• 'Begar, bonded, bodies, bowls'. (h) begar and bonded labour; (i) carcasses and graves; (j) scavenging.
• 'Makes, compels, makes or employs or permits'. The action words of (h), (i) and (j).
• 'Public service is the only exception'. Clause (h) and Article 23(2).
• '(i) and (j) are 2016'. Clause (h) goes back to 1989 clause (vi).
• 'Below minimum wage is forced labour'. PUDR (1982).
• 'Release is not enough, rehabilitate'. Bandhua Mukti Morcha and Neeraja Chaudhary (1984).
• '10 lakh, 30 lakh, six metros'. Safai Karamchari Andolan (2014), Balram Singh (2023), January 2025 order.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Is paying a Dalit worker below the minimum wage 'forced labour'?

It can be. PUDR v. Union of India (1982) held that labour extracted for less than the minimum wage under economic compulsion is forced labour within Article 23. If the employer is not a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member, clause (h) may be attracted.

Is compelling a Dalit to remove a dead animal an atrocity?

Yes. Clause (i), added in 2016, punishes compelling a member to dispose of or carry human or animal carcasses, or to dig graves.

Can a municipal official be prosecuted under clause (j)?

Yes, if he is not a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe member and he makes, employs or permits the employment of a member for manual scavenging. The 2013 Act may also apply.

What compensation is payable for a sewer death?

Thirty lakh rupees, following Balram Singh v. Union of India (2023), which revised the ten lakh rupees fixed in Safai Karamchari Andolan (2014).

Does clause (h) punish lawful community service imposed by the Government?

No. Compulsory service for public purposes imposed by the Government is excluded, mirroring Article 23(2).

9. Related Topics and Provisions

• Topic 3: Development of Law against Untouchability. Bonded labour and manual scavenging laws.
• Topic 7: Constitutional Framework. Article 23 and Bandhua Mukti Morcha.
• Section 2(1)(bf); Section 3(1)(h), (i), (j), (k), (za)(E). The provisions discussed
• Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976; Manual Scavengers Act, 2013; PCR Act, s.7A; BNS ss.143, 146. Related laws.