Exploitation is a major crisis in India. Exploitation can be of labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, etc. are considered to be illegal in India. It is mostly seen that the poor ones are often exploited by the rich people. Therefore, this article will try to delve into the aspects of kinds of exploitation found in India. It will try to solve the certain issues related to exploitation which are seen in the contemporary Indian society.

Child labor, slavery and human trafficking are mostly seen in India and hence, this article will provide the lacunas and loopholes found in the legal framework while tackling exploitation and it will also try to sort out those problems by providing adequate legal remedies to it.

Background
In the pre-constitutional era, India has always been a sufferer of exploitation and slavery. It has faced different hardships and challenges when it comes to abolition of exploitation. Hardships like untouchability, men and women discrimination were very common and especially, these people were considered to be the actual victims of exploitation. Untouchables suffered the most as they were being exploited by richer or upper classes.

Hence, to get rid of exploitation, National freedom movement was one such movement which has a lot of contribution in abolishing such cruel norms but after the enforcement of Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, it helped in wholly abolishing slavery and exploitation in India. The constitution of India talks about liberty, dignity and equality of an individual and therefore, inhumane practices like slavery, trafficking and exploitation are completely eliminated under articles 23 and 24 of Indian constitution.

Introduction
Exploitation simply means taking unfair advantage of someone. The right against exploitation has been recognized by the International Declaration of Human Rights in Article 4 to which India is a signatory.[1] The Indian Constitution provides the right against exploitation as a fundamental right through articles 23 and 24. Article 23 prohibits human trafficking, begar and other forms of forced labour and Article 24 prohibits employment of children in factories, mines and other hazardous employment.

Exploitation is a wrong against human dignity,[2] social justice[3] (provided in the preamble) and the Directive Principles of State Policy in Article 39 (e) and (f).

The scope of Article 23 is unlimited by virtue of 'other forms of forced labour[4]'. The provisions of the Constitution majorly focus on one aspect of exploitation viz. economic exploitation but in recent times various new forms of exploitation have emerged which need attention such as online exploitation which could be in the form of online sexual abuse in which a person can become a victim just by posting pictures online which would worsen with the deep fake technology.

The issues of delay in criminal justice system, undertrials and their mistreatment is not unknown but it continues till today hence the ways in which prisoners are exploited despite legislations in place to prevent it are of great concern.

It was held by the apex court in 1983 that prevailing to the socio-economic conditions, it is not possible to prohibit child labour altogether[5]. At the age of 14, a child is just an eight class pass out hence his chances of getting employment in the present time is reduced to miniscule. The amount of competition and eligibility criterion to get jobs has changed a lot since 1983. At that time our needs were minimal owing to the unstable economic conditions (because of global recession in 1980-1983) and debts from foreign countries. Majority of the countries Gross Domestic Product was depended on Agriculture. It is also true that for the poor getting any job was necessary for survival.

But today. India stands as the fifth largest economy with improved Gross Domestic Product and per capita income. As a result, cost of living has also gone high. Agriculture is not sufficient to sustain even for the farmers. The poorest one is able to cultivate only through loans. The youth even from villages wants paid jobs. Hence the protection with regard to hazardous employment only up to the age of 14 seems inadequate. In order to achieve the core objective of Article 24 viz. to protect children so that they get a safe and free environment to grow their full potential them getting educated is most crucial.

Prohibition Of Hazardous Employment Only Till 14

Hazardous in general means dangerous. It includes something which possesses a risk of injury, ailment, or disease. An important aspect of Article 24[6] is that it only prohibits employment of children in hazardous employment and not in all kinds of employment. The explanation behind this is that due to the poor conditions of the family, a child may require to do a job so that the family sustains.

There may be a situation where the child is an orphan and needs to work to live life for his own self. Hence restriction was only till 14 years of age. But this was done because at the time when we became independent majority of the population was living in villages doing primary activities like agriculture, dairy etc. In all, large population was poor. So, the priority was to first protect the children from the worst that could render their development.

Under the Directive Principles of State Policy in Article 45[7], the State had to put efforts to provide primary education to children between the age group of 6-14 within ten years since the Constitution was enacted. Later, in 2002 this was changed into a Fundamental Right under Article 21A[8]. This change was the need of time. It was understood that no matter how much a child may be in dire need of employment basic education was necessary in the absence of which he/she cannot take informed decisions.

Also, this was important because even if the person was involved in activities such as mining this education could help him perform better and more safely. This amendment led the Central and State governments to introduce other supplementary schemes such as the mid-day meal scheme, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (which included building separate toilets for girl students) etc.

First the requirement of the hour was understood even though there were not much resources available with us at that time too, then through change in the Constitution, the purview of the Right to Education even extended to private schools and finally schemes were formulated to create an infrastructure to meet the objectives of this change.

In the Directive Principles of State policy Article 39 (f) emphasizes on the need to give the children opportunities and facilities so that they develop in a healthy manner for which they should be given freedom and dignity and be protected from exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.[9] Moreover, the Preamble talks about Equality of opportunity.

To give shape to these provisions it is required to make changes in the Constitution primarily in the Fundamental Rights because they are enforceable and the citizens can reach the High Courts and Supreme Courts directly if they are not granted.

The Supreme Court was of the view that the protection under Article 23 till 14 was adequate, in its judgement of 1983 owing to the socio-economic conditions of that time[10].

As far as the social conditions are concerned, they can be dealt with if an infrastructure and support system is developed in the country to support those in the age group of 14-18 so that they can focus more on education, health and mental well-being and later get better jobs then what they get with only primary education. For this change in law is required. In the general sense a child is one who is below the age of 18 (who is not a major) according to the Indian Majority Act, 1999[11]. Thus, to ensure equality of opportunity to every child without exclusion of those who are in the age group of 14-18 should also be included to be protected from hazardous employment.

India has made significant progress since 1980s. One way to measure this can be the Gross Domestic Product per capita which is the total final goods and service produced in a year divided by total population. The Gross Domestic Product per capita of India according to the World Bank in 1990 was 534.5[12] in 2000 was 755.5[13] and 2020 was 1,813.5[14]. In 2023, according to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, 415 million people came out of poverty within 15 years in India.

India almost halved its GMPI value for which it was applauded by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).[15] It simply indicates that the standard of living has improved a lot over the years and is expected to improve in upcoming years. When standard of living improves the cost of necessities increases. So, whether a person is villager or not he has to earn more. To earn more one has to face a lot of competition especially in a country like India which is the most populous country in the world.

If given an opportunity no one would prefer to become daily wage worker. Not giving protection to those who are above 14 would impliedly mean to encourage a large chunk of the youth to involve in hazardous jobs. We as Indians are aiming to be world's third largest economy by 2027. To achieve this goal, it is high time that such laws and policies are framed and brought into action which help and motivate the youth to indulge in activities if not education which prepare them to take roles not only in India but also globally which are the need of the hour.

Insufficient Legal Framework Found Among Indian Prisoners To Protect Them From Exploitation

There is a major issue regarding prisoners in India and that is majority of them being undertrials. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 77% of India's prisoners are undertrials and such thing is amounting to exploitation among prisoners.[16]

The exploitation and torture faced by prisoners like harsh treatment, infringement into privacy of prisoners by police constables, custodial rape, etc. have led judiciary to exercise judicial review under Article 13[17] and struck down the government provisions and acts which lead to violation of such inmates. Still the legal framework remains inadequate.

In India, prisoners are often faced with exploitation. Whether they are undertrials, convicts, women prisoners or men prisoners, they are always open to grave exploitation. Different provisions have been enacted for the same such as the Prisoners Act, 1900 which provides different laws to safeguard the prisoners from exploitation. But still there are some lacunas in the system for which the prisoners are still getting exploited from time to time. According to Article 21 of Indian Constitution which talks about right to life and personal liberty, it also includes prisoner's rights that is the article also provides safeguard to prisoners in jail. Even though the person is convicted but he or she isn't completely deprived from their rights. Some rights like right to move freely throughout the territory of India is restricted to them [19(1)(d)][18]. A prisoner should not be deprived from his personal liberty until and unless a due procedure is established by law.

The Apex Court also recognized and provided prisoners' rights under Article 21 that is about right to life and personal liberty.[19]

A person who is a detainee or an undertrial or is just under simple imprisonment should not be entitled to any forms of manual work or else it will lead to violation of Article 23. It mentions that only a person who is sentenced under rigorous imprisonment is entitled to forced labour and therefore, if the court has awarded a person with punishment and rigorous imprisonment, then that person is not entitled to get equitable amount of wages and thus, cannot be equated as begar (the term "begar" means forced labor in India) or other kinds of forced labor under Article 23(1)[20].

A person who is a detainee if he does labour at his own will is not exploitation because it was his request to do labour inside jail. Similarly, it's the duty of jail officials to ask the prisoner who is undergoing rigorous imprisonment whether they are open to hard labour or not.

The government can only deduct expenses from food and clothes if they have provided it to prisoners from the minimum wages but the government can't deduct expenses from reasonable wages. It totally depends on government to cut fair amount of wages from the prisoners if they have provided them with daily essentials. Thus, maintaining fairness and justice to the prisoners.

"According to Justice Wadhwa (opposed to majority view), if the labor is forced and goes against a person's will then whether that person is provided with wages or not, it will still amount to forced labor."[21]That means any forms of labor which goes against a person's will is violative of Article 23(1) of Indian Constitution.

"The prisoners in jail must be provided with the rights enshrined under part-III that is fundamental rights under Indian constitution and therefore, the prisoners who are going through rigorous imprisonment will be provided with wages for the work done."[22] So, in this case, the court looked after the condition of prisoners and hence, mentioned about providing wages to the prisoners for the work they do inside the jail campus.

Any wages which is given to prisoners and is less than the wages prescribed under minimum wages act, 1948 is violation of Article 23.

It's not only about wages but also other factors which are responsible for exploitation in jail. The term "Right against exploitation", which covers the articles of 23 and 24, even though it's a separate article under Indian constitution but somehow its interrelated and comes under the purview of Article 21 that is right to life and personal liberty.

A prisoner is provided with the rights under articles 14, 19 and 21 of Indian constitution but how it is applicable and where is the lacuna. It is mentioned below.

How these articles are applicable to prisoners?

According to article 14, a prisoner is also a human being and it safeguards the prisoners and also states that everyone should be treated equally.[23]

According to article 19, a prisoner has freedom of speech and expression [19(1)(a)] and has right to be a member of an association [19(1)(c)]. These two rights are provided irrespective of whether the person is an undertrial or a convict.[24]

Under Article 21, a prisoner is provided with right to free legal aid and right to appeal, right to speedy trial, right to fair trial, right to bail, right against custodial violence, right against handcuffing, right against public hanging and right against delayed execution.[25]

But however, the status of prisoners inside jail is still under-developed and inhumane in some cases.

In one of the cases, Amicus Qriae filed a petition in Calcutta High court mentioning that around 196 women are pregnant who are prisoners in jail. The Calcutta High court, therefore, restricted the entry of male employees and staffs inside the jail accommodation of women prisoners. Also, in the past five years, it has been seen that there are around 1999 children born in prison against 1732 women with children. This shows that even though a woman prisoner is a person and is entitled to have right to life under Article 21 but somehow, the jail administrators and officials take unfair advantage of those women prisoners by sexually assaulting them and torturing them. Thus, this leads to exploitation under Article 23(1) against women.

It has also been seen that the male prisoners are abused physically and are also treated like animal which violates their Articles 14 and 21 of Indian Constitution. "The prison administrators can't treat a prisoner like an animal. They are also human beings and are not entitled to receive derogative action from jail authorities. It is against the law."[26]

Even though the police and jail administrators work for the state but the work must be reasonable and lawful. They are the statutory authority and have full rights to authorize statutory duty but the duty should be just, fair and reasonable which falls under the ambit of Article 14.

Raping a woman prisoner, abusing a male prisoner, treating prisoners like animal are not reasonable in nature but arbitrary and exploitative in nature. This violates Articles 14, 21 and 23(1) of Indian Constitution.

The most problems are faced by the undertrials inside the prison administration in India. One of the problems they face is that the act of jail authority isn't yet criminalized that means the jail authority has complete immunity. If they conduct any work out of negligence which can lead to death of any undertrial. Its acceptable since it's believed that they were discharging statutory functions which are for the state. The undertrials are also not provided with speedy trial which often leads to overcrowding and most of the times, they are not provided with free legal aid which ultimately leads to violation of their right.

Some other challenges which are faced by the Indian prisoners in jail are they are always open to corruption, many prisoners face custodial violence which leads to their custodial death, lack of sanitation facilities, etc.

In one such case, "The petitioner was the mother of the deceased who was accused for theft. The deceased was in the police custody but after few days, his mother found his dead body on the railway track. The petitioner's case was filed under Article 32 of Indian constitution on the suit for violation of Article 21 under Indian constitution. The Supreme court held that even though the police are provided with sovereign immunity but they have no rights to violate a person's Article 21 under Indian Constitution. Right to life and personal liberty also includes right against custodial death and violence."[27]

There are also a number of cases where drug trafficking has been seen among prisoners in jail. Sometimes, the jail authorities are also included with these prisoners for this illegal purpose and sometimes, they aren't. Drug trafficking has been mostly found in the Tihar Jail of New Delhi. This type of trafficking leads to exploitation and therefore, showcases the lack of competency in the administrative system.

Different committees have been settled up for the prison reforms. In the committee of 1919-20, it recommended different measures to improvise prison administration. In the year 1987, Krishna Iyer committee was appointed to provide better conditions to the women who are prisoners in jail. Later, Mulla committee was appointed which recommended improvised prison accommodations, the creation of Indian prisons and correctional services, decline of undertrials through continuous trials, and media and general public visiting jails in order to maintain transparency.

A prison is a place where a person is provided with punishment for the crime they have done. It is a place where a person is corrected for their wrongs. But if the prison authority will itself commit any wrong then this amounts to arbitrariness which is violative of Article 14 under Indian Constitution. Therefore, even though the laws and statutory provisions like Prisoners Act are in force but there is still problem in assisting it. Thus, the legal framework still remains inadequate to safeguard the prisoners who face exploitation in prison administration.

Inadequate Current Laws To Tackle Human Trafficking

The term "Human trafficking" means to sell or buy a human for a specific purpose. That purpose can be slavery including sex slavery, forced labor or any forms of exploitation. There is a history on human trafficking. The first human trafficking started somewhere around 1400s, it was when the European slaves were sent to continents of Africa and Asia to fulfill the purpose of slavery. Later, it was seen that Britain and other countries also joined in the practice of slavery. According to the words of United Nations, it defines human trafficking as a process of recruitment through threatening or coercion to a person in order to fulfill or satisfy their particular need.[28]

Human trafficking can be done for various aspects and some of them are for sexual exploitation, begging, forced marriage, child soldiers and domestic servitude, etc.

"Whoever knows or has reason to believe that a person is getting trafficked and engages that person to sexual exploitation will be entitled to rigorous imprisonment from more than 3 years to an extension of 5 years or with fine or with both of them."[29] Even though the law itself prohibits sexual exploitation but still its seen through human trafficking and still many people violate this law in majority.

human trafficking takes place through different causes such as poverty, unemployment, oppression, corruption, exploitation, false promises, etc. But mostly, the reason remains poverty. As the person feels difficult to fulfill their basic needs. Therefore, their rights are exploited by the rich people through the practice of slavery through trafficking. One of the most current scenarios can be prostitution where mostly the person belongs to a poor background and therefore, becoming a prostitute will help them earn an efficient amount of money to fulfill their basic needs. They don't know that their rights are getting violated and they are getting open to sexual exploitation which is leading to sex slavery and human trafficking.

Thus, this violates their article 23(1) of Indian constitution. Even though prostitution is legalized in India but child prostitution and prostitution in hotel are still restricted in India. Even though, these activities are prohibited by the court of law but still this illegal act has been seen into practice. In the states of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, child prostitution is still in existence. Child prostitution amounts to human trafficking and it can also be a form of hazardous exploitation thus, also leading to violation of their right under Article 24.

Traffic includes trading a man or a woman like goods and include inhumane traffic in women and children for inhumane or any other purpose.[30]

The government has a lot of pressure to deal with the problem of human trafficking. It's because of the present laws which are inadequate and are unable to deal with this problem in perfect manner. There are three problems associated with it. (1) Clear difference in trafficking. (2) Lack of data quality on trafficking practices. (3) Lack of communication with rescue victims.

According to a survey, forced labor which is also known as involuntary servitude is the most known trafficking all around the world.[31] Then comes debt bondage and sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is considered to be the most brutal crime as it involves women and children for sex slavery for personal fulfillment or commercial purpose. It violates Articles 14 and 21 of Indian constitution.

A bill was passed to provide for rescue of the confidentiality of victims. It was not for those who voluntarily joined as for their profession.[32] A protocol was also passed in 2000 by the UNGA (United Nations Government Assembly) to restrain human trading and it was successful as it was signed by majority of the states.[33]

Different laws are there which provides safeguard to people against human trafficking. Under IPC, there are around 25 provisions which look after trafficking. If any minor girl (under 18 years) is induced to have sexual intercourse with another person, it shall be considered as a punishable offence.[34] A person will be punished if he compels any other person into labor which is involuntary and violates his personal will.[35]

There is an act called Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956 which is an important legislation to remove sexual exploitation among women and girls. The Child Labor Act, 1886 provided safeguard to children and to provide punishment to those people who promoted employment in minor children. Other acts like Juvenile justice act (2000), Andhra Pradesh Devdasi (Prohibiting dedication) Act (1989) and Goa children's act (2003) are some of the statutory provisions which are enacted in order to counter trafficking.

There are laws for human trafficking but still its less effective as compared to the trafficking that is taking place in India. According to the NCRB Survey (2021), 84.7% cases were of human trafficking.[36] Different provisions like POSCO Act, 2012 and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act and the Bonded Labor System are passed by the competent authority in order to prevent human trafficking. But still, there has been some cases where the punishment for traffickers are not that strict. Therefore, the present Indian laws are still not enough to prevent human trafficking.

Conclusion
Though the Constitution prohibits human trafficking, specific laws have been enacted to deal with it. It is a heinous crime against human dignity and can lead to grave consequences more often it leads to transport of an individual to another country where he has no rights and no one could believe his identity because he has no proof of it. In such situations one country needs to have strong laws, redressal mechanism and good diplomatic relations with other countries. Achieving all this is rare and difficult.

For India, more specifically because we have had past struggles with our neighboring countries. It gets really difficult to protect the citizens when they are out of their country. We cannot keep a check on other countries on how they treat our citizens even if rescued, they can be misunderstood and some countries even though they have strict laws against such infiltrations. Thus, along with strong provisions in domestic law, efficient infrastructure should be developed to deal with cases of human trafficking.

Prisoners include both convicts and under-trials. Fundamental rights such as Right to personal liberty has been extended to convicts too. If one is an under trial, he is pre-assumed to be innocent because he is still only an accused owing to natural principles of justice. There are equal chances of him being innocent and except in cases of heinous crimes he has a right to be on bail. Sadly, the legal system in India has failed to provide these rights to them which leads to their exploitation.

The rights of undertrials are being exploited since they are put in jail when they could've been earning for their families. They are forced not to earn or earn only in jails when they could have done a job of their own choice maybe not completely of their choice but something better to help their families.

The Right against Exploitation safeguards individual dignity, economic equality and promotes freedom of children. No other fundamental Right expressly talks about dignity and right to choose of children. In an economy like of India where majority population is young such a right must be extended to all children below eighteen. The potential of India should be looked at again without any prejudices and keeping in mind the progress it has made so far.

We must not refrain from changes thinking that the country is not ready because when the Constitution was enacted it prohibited many practices like untouchability which were so common and embedded in the society. Moreover, it is not as if India is not at all in a position to adapt if children up to 18 are prohibited from working in hazardous jobs.

End Notes:

1. India Const. art 4
2. Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, 3 SCC 161: 1984 SCC (L&S) 389
3. People's Union for Democratic Rights and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. 3 SCC 235: 1982 SCC (L&S) 275
4. Ibid
5. Labourers Working on Salal Hydro Project v. State of Jammu Kashmir and Ors. 2 SCC 181: 1983 SCC (L&S) 289
6. India Const. art 24
7. India Const. art 45
8. India Const. art 21A
9. India Const. art 39 cl. f
10. Labourers Working on Salal Hydro Project v. State of Jammu Kashmir and Ors. 2 SCC 181: 1983 SCC (L&S) 289
11. The Majority Act, 1875, §3, No.9, Acts of Parliament, 1875 (India)
12. World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org (last visited Apr. 8, 2024)
13. World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org (last visited Apr. 8, 2024)
14. World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org (last visited Apr. 8, 2024)
15. https://www.niti.gov.in (last visited Apr 8, 2024)
16. NCRB data survey, 2022
17. India Const. art 13
18. India Const. art 19(1)(d)
19. Maneka Gandhi Vs UOI, AIR 1978 SC 597
20. India Const. art 23(1)
21. State of Gujarat Vs Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat, 7 SCC 392: AIR 1998 SC 3164
22. D. Bhuvan Mohan Pattnaik & Ors Vs State of Andhra Pradesh, 1974 AIR 2092
23. India Const. art 14
24. India Const. art 19
25. India Const. art 21
26. Sunil Batra Vs Delhi Administration, 4 SCC 409
27. Smt. Nilabati Behera Vs State of Orissa, 1993 AIR 1960
28. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS36_en.pdf (last visited 6th April, 2024)
29. Indian Penal Code, 1860, § 370
30. Lal Bahadur Vs Legal Remembrancer, AIR 1953 CALCUTTA 522
31. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/ (last visited Apr. 8, 2024)
32. The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018
33. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
34. Indian Penal Code, 1860 § 366A
35. Indian Penal Code, 1860 § 374
36. https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/CII-2021/CII_2021Volume%201.pdf (last visited Apr. 8, 2024)