Karnataka has only 1,764 bonded labourers with 21 districts reporting that the crime did not exist anymore, according to the latest action plan the government has drawn up to tackle bonded labour. The bonded labour survey conducted by the state government shows, as of April 2018, Chikkaballapur having the highest number of these labourers at 923, followed by Tumakuru with 505.
Bengaluru Urban district is shown to have just 18 bonded labourers, who are said to be migrants from Odisha and Chhattisgarh. There are no bonded labourers in Kolar, Mandya, Bagalkot, Davangere, Bidar, Yadgir among other districts, apparently.
This is in stark contrast to an independent prevalence study conducted by the International Justice Mission, a nonprofit, in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagara districts. The study found that from an estimated 16.70 lakh labourers in the three districts, 5.58 lakh, or 33.4%, could be bonded labourers. Many were found in bondage in brick kilns, fish farms, plantations, rock quarries, rice mills and tobacco among other industries.