Bhubaneswar: Asserting that the state government would ensure strict legal action against middlemen and agents involved in trafficking vulnerable people for bonded labour, Odisha’s Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan Thursday released the revised Central Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Bonded Labour in Odia language. Harichandan unveiled the SOP at a function marking 50 years of the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976 in the country. More than 200 released bonded labourers from across Odisha assembled here under the umbrella of Shramavahini, a registered survivor-led collective with over 4,000 survivors as members. Addressing the gathering, the minister said the state government would ensure stringent legal action against traffickers and middlemen involved in recruiting vulnerable persons into bonded labour. Shramavahini secretary Ranjita Rana, herself a released bonded labour survivor, urged the state government to institutionalise February 9 as an annual Bonded Labour Abolition Day across all districts to strengthen public awareness and prevention efforts.