Differing with an Australian rights group findings on slavery in India, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said the survey methodology of the NGO is "fallacious" and is an attempt to "tarnish" the country's image.
"We have strong disagreement with findings of Walk Free Foundation, which they have released with a catchy caption. At the outset, it is emphatically stated that we don't have any instance of slavery in its conventional sense," Dattatreya said in a statement.
"In our view, the NGO has totally failed to develop correct understanding of the Indian society and has arrived at misleading findings. Methodology of the survey itself is fallacious and the so called findings are based on presumptions and surmises."
Also Read
Last month, the 2016 Global Slavery Index released by the Walk Free Foundation said India has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of people globally trapped in modern slavery with 18.35 million victims of forced labour, ranging from prostitution and begging.
Explaining further, Dattatreya said: "It is not slavery in the sense, it is understood by modern world. We deplore that an international NGO has attempted to tarnish the image of our country."
India has been taking pragmatic and expeditious steps against a number of social evils since independence. The conventional forms of caste bondage in India are essentially a social system, the Minister added.
India has a proven track record in fighting against injustice, inequality, oppression and exploitation of any kind, he said.
Forced marriages, caste discrimination, child labour, among others, are not slavery in conventional sense but unacceptable social practices of a modern society, Dattatreya said.
"However, we are committed to eliminate all such social practices expeditiously. We have already taken a large number of determined steps in this direction," the Ministry added.
