“‘Open prison’: The forced labour driving India’s $5 trillion economy dream”

India has more than 300 million unorganised sector workers. Many suffer from withheld wages, endless toil and coercion – telltale signs, according to the ILO, of forced labour…

Four years after migrating from Barabanki, a district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Ravi earns $175 per month – $25 less than India’s monthly per capita income. And the paycheques are often delayed, arriving only between the 10th and 12th of each month…

Middlemen, who are either locals or longterm migrants posing as locals, supply labour to factories in Maharashtra, India’s industrial heartland…

Asked why he continues to work at the steel factory, Ravi responds with resignation in his voice: “What else can I do?”…

…Climate change, he says, has “ruined farming”, the family’s traditional occupation….

…Ravi is required to work all seven days a week, totalling 30 days a month…

… These practices particularly affect more vulnerable groups like migrants, women and low-skilled workers, who often have limited access to legal recourse. Al Jazeera contacted the Maharashtra Labour Commissioner on May 20 seeking a response to concerns around forced labour in industries where workers like Ravi are employed, but has not received a reply….

The textile sector is among the worst offenders…