Garment units under watch after NHRC rap over ‘miserable’ working conditions

India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ordered authorities in Tamil Nadu to act after a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation about female garment workers airing their grievances on radio stations and demanding better conditions.

Checks for basic facilities such as toilets and creches for the more than 5,00,000 mostly female workers in Tamil Nadu, the largest hub in India’s $40 billion-a-year textile and garment industry, began in March.

“We have found violations and have served notices to more than 200 factories spinning mills so far,” said Kaveri Manoharan, head of the state’s Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health.

“In most cases, there were too few toilets and hygiene was an issue. Also, creches had not been set up even though hundreds of women were employed. We have given managements one month to fix the problem, document it and get back to us.”

Manoharan said there should be one toilet for every 20 employees and a creche where there are 30 women employed.

Three radio stations set up a year ago for garment workers and broadcast through mobile phones have been flooded with complaints since they went on air a year ago.

Callers discuss harassment, long working hours, poor wages and other challenges.

In February, the NHRC directed the Tamil Nadu government to respond to the complaints, stating that workers were working in “miserable conditions.”

It said denial of basic facilities by factory owners was “a serious violation of human rights.”

The Commission highlighted the complaint of a worker who was unable to access a toilet in her factory and had to use a corner of the mill where waste cotton was dumped.

“Toilets, drinking water, first aid and special provisions for female workers are the most crucial and primary requirements at the workplaces,” the NHRC said in its statement

KEY FEATURES 
90 per cent of total cotton knit wear exports from India is contributed by Tirupur

6 lakh plus workers approximately are dependent on various industries in this western district

51 per cent is the workforce participation rate of the district, which is one of the highest in the state and more than the state average of 46 per cent

In terms of per capita income though, it ranked 2nd amongst all the districts at Rs 83,776 when compared with the state average of Rs 59,967

Total Industrial Units 28,938 

Registered facilities 28,938

Medium & Large units 416  and 10  respectively

Knitting 8,000 

Dyeing and Bleaching 1,000 

Fabric Printing 2,820 

Garment Making 11,268 

Embroidery 2,000 

Other Ancillary Units 2,600 

Compacting and Calendaring 1,250

To promote the industrial development in the region, Nethaji Apparel Park was opened in 2005 on the national highway near Avinashi. The park, spread over 170 acres, is the first of a kind apparel industrial area in the country to promote textile industries (specific to apparel)

NIFT-TEA College of Knitwear Fashion, a fashion institute, established through the efforts of local entrepreneurs (Tiruppur Exporters’ Association – TEA) in collaboration with the Government and financial institutions