SLS UJAS — Universal Just and Action Society is a Rajasthan-based non-governmental organisation founded in memory of Late Shri Shankar Lal Sharma, a tireless advocate for human rights and social justice. UJAS carries forward his legacy through grassroots action, legal advocacy, and community mobilisation.
Since our founding, we have worked relentlessly to dismantle the deeply entrenched system of bonded labour — particularly in Rajasthan's brick kilns — where entire families are trapped in cycles of debt bondage, deprived of wages, movement, and dignity. We also lead transformative campaigns for child labour prevention, women's rights, livelihood generation, and climate justice.
Our work touches the lives of thousands across remote villages and industrial settlements, building the capacity of communities to know their rights and claim them. We believe that lasting change begins when the most marginalised people become their own most powerful advocates.
"UJAS means enlightenment. We believe every person deserves to live with dignity, freedom, and justice."
— SLS UJAS Mission Statement
We address the root causes of exploitation and inequality through advocacy, education, economic empowerment, and community mobilisation.
We identify, document, and legally intervene to rescue families trapped in debt bondage and forced labour in Rajasthan's brick kilns. Each liberation is followed by rehabilitation support, legal redress, and community reintegration.
Learn MoreThrough sustained campaigns, jan sunwais, and legal literacy programmes, we empower women to assert their rights over property, safety, and political participation. We stand beside survivors of domestic violence and gender discrimination.
Learn MoreOur dedicated Women's Crafts Centre trains artisans in traditional Rajasthani crafts, connecting them to markets and helping them build sustainable, independent livelihoods. Over 200 women entrepreneurs have launched their journeys through this programme.
Learn MoreMarginalised communities bear the greatest burden of climate change while contributing the least to it. We advocate for climate-vulnerable communities' rights, support adaptation strategies, and integrate environmental justice into our social rights framework.
Learn MoreOur campaigns combine legal intervention, public awareness and community solidarity to create systemic change for those who need it most.
Active Thousands of children across Rajasthan work alongside their parents in brick kilns, denied their right to education and a safe childhood. Our campaign deploys community monitors, facilitates school enrolment, and pressures district authorities to enforce the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act at every kiln site we identify.
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Active Brick kiln workers are systematically entrapped through advance payments that grow into unpayable debt. Our legal team files writs, represents workers before the District Magistrate, and mobilises labour inspectors to enforce minimum wage laws. We have secured the release of hundreds of families and the recovery of unpaid wages withheld for years.
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Active Land inheritance and property rights remain deeply contested for women in rural Rajasthan. Combined with high incidences of domestic violence in migrant labour communities, women face overlapping vulnerabilities. Our campaign trains women's collectives, conducts public hearings, and facilitates FIR registration and legal support for survivors across multiple districts.
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Sunita arrived at the brick kiln outside Jodhpur when she was nineteen years old, following her husband who had accepted an advance of ₹15,000 from the kiln owner to pay for her father-in-law's medical treatment. That single loan — reasonable by any measure — became the chain that bound her entire family for the next seven years. Each season the owner recalculated the "debt," adding interest, fines for broken bricks, and charges for the mud hut they slept in. The family moulded over forty thousand bricks each month and received almost nothing. When Sunita tried to leave to visit her ailing mother, she was told she would be reported to the police for "theft of advance." She stayed. Her children — three of them — worked alongside her.
In 2018, an SLS UJAS field worker visited the kiln site and spoke quietly with a group of women during their lunch break. Sunita was among them. Within weeks, our legal team had filed a writ petition, documented the debt bondage, and secured the intervention of the District Magistrate. The kiln owner was held accountable, the fabricated debt was cancelled, and Sunita's family — along with eleven others — was formally released. UJAS supported her through the rehabilitation process: her children were enrolled in school, the family received their dues under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, and Sunita was connected to our Women's Crafts Centre in Jodhpur. For the first time in years, she slept without fear.
Today, Sunita designs and sells traditional Rajasthani block-print textiles through the crafts centre's market linkage programme. She earns a steady income, owns her tools, and has savings in a bank account bearing her own name — a first in her family. She has become a community leader, accompanying UJAS workers to brick kiln sites to speak with women in the same position she once was. "I tell them what I tell myself every morning," she says. "No debt is worth your dignity. No owner is stronger than the law. And you are never alone — we are here." Sunita's courage is not just her own story. It is the story of what justice, when it truly arrives, makes possible.
Every contribution directly funds rescue operations, legal advocacy, rehabilitation support, and livelihood programmes. When you donate to SLS UJAS, you stand with Rajasthan's most vulnerable communities in their fight for dignity and freedom.
Donate NowAll donations are eligible for 80G tax exemption. A receipt will be issued on request.
