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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Panel hears Tirupur workers' woes

Panel hears Tirupur workers' woes

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published Published on Dec 15, 2010   modified Modified on Dec 15, 2010

FOLLOWING a Frontline Cover Story (“Driven to despair”, October 8) that highlighted the factors contributing to the high incidence of suicide among migrant workers and their family members in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, the Central government set up a team to look into the issue. The team's visit to the knitwear capital of India on November 30 has raised the hopes of workers, trade union functionaries and labour rights activists.

Headed by Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner M.P.M. Sivakumar, the team made some recommendations after obtaining feedback from workers, manufacturers, exporters, trade union leaders and the officials concerned. The members of the team also interacted with workers at the field level.

The panel has submitted its report to the Union Labour Ministry. Implementation of a dedicated welfare scheme with an adequate corpus to cover the workers' shelter and social needs is among its key recommendations. Ensuring cooperative credit facilities for the workers to protect them from the menace of kanduvatti (usury) and strengthening of labour inspection to enable the workers to avail themselves of statutory benefits such as the Employees State Insurance Scheme and provident fund have also been recommended.

In view of the high rents in the town, the team stressed the need to implement a massive housing scheme for migrant workers, who form almost 80 per cent of the over-four-lakh-strong workforce employed in 6,200 garment units in the Tirupur cluster and several hundreds of ancillary and home-based units. The scheme, which could be implemented on the lines of the housing project for the beedi workers of Solapur in Maharashtra, would enable the workers to bring their families to the town.

Taking the health requirements of these workers into account, the Central team suggested that steps to implement the multi-specialty hospital project by the Employees State Insurance Corporation be expedited. This would go a long way in preventing workers from committing suicide owing to depression and other serious health problems. Setting up a hospital with a psychiatry wing would help address the behavioural and cultural problems of the workers, the panel members said.

Highlighting the need for effective monitoring of the implementation of labour laws, the team suggested that the practice of employing people for long working hours should be curbed. According to the Factories Act, 1948, the total number of working hours, including overtime, should not exceed 60 hours in a week, and the total overtime in a quarter should not exceed 50 hours. Adherence to legal stipulations with regard to working hours and wages would reduce the problems caused by extreme physical exhaustion and stress, the team pointed out.

Manufacturers and exporters highlighted the problems they encountered because of the rise in yarn price and related issues.

Functionaries of different central trade unions, including the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), highlighted the plight of the workers. Officials representing the district administration explained the steps being taken to bring down the number of suicides.

According to G. Sampath, secretary of the CITU, issues such as long working hours ranging from 12 to 16 hours in the garment units, non-payment of due wages for overtime work, lack of adequate housing facilities, and usury came into focus during the interaction with the team members. The panel was apprised of the fact that in certain knitwear units, workers were unable to avail themselves of their weekly off. Some factories even functioned on Independence Day, Republic Day and May Day, he said.

Although some officials claimed that only a small percentage of the victims were garment workers, a scrutiny of data would prove otherwise, he said. According to the police, of the 489 persons who committed suicide up to October 31 this year, 259 were below 30 years and 97 were in the 31-40 age group. Around 90 per cent of the victims in these two categories were knitwear workers, he added.

“We do not expect any miracles to happen bringing about a sudden change in the living and working conditions of the garment workers and their kin. But we have reason to believe that things have started moving in a positive direction, though belatedly. Our only wish is that the Central team's visit should not be reduced to yet another knee-jerk reaction,” a trade union veteran in the garment sector said.


Frontline, Volume 27, Issue 26, 18-31 December, 2010, http://www.frontline.in/stories/20101231272602500.htm


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