Winning back their freedom..

Jyoti, a domestic helper and Jevan, a richshaw puller live in Phillaur in Punjab with their five children. One summer about four years ago, Jyoti's mother took two of her sons to her village and engaged them as agricultural labour without Jyoti's knowledge. The reason - the family owed some money to the landlords.

Vishal earned rupees fifteen hundred a month, while Deepak a mere eight hundred and an additional of fifty kilograms of wheat. It needs to be mentioned here that the minimum wage prescribed by law in Punjab aggregates to a sum of Rs 3000 a month for an eight-hour daily shift. Whereas both Vishal and Deepak worked morning till eve, and even after the landlords retired to bed.

In four years time, the boys grew up and even repaid their parents' debt. The parents wanted their children back. Their relentless efforts could not bring their sons back from the unwilling and ruthless landlord. The couple then approached ActionAid India's partner NGO- Volunteer for Social Justice (VSJ) that works for the release of rehabilitation of bonded labourers in Punjab.

The NGO filed cases against the landlord at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). After two months an appeal was made to the High Court of Punjab and Harayana to issue orders for the release of the two children.

The local police along with the VSJ team conducted a raid and rescued the boys though after major struggle.

Today, after one and a half month of release, Vishal and Deepak have been enrolled in their previous schools and have begun studying tuitions at VSJ.