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Women tied to bonded labour in Tamil Nadu: Survey
by Rishi Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:28 pm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Women-tied-to-bonded-labour-in-Tamil-Nadu-Survey/articleshow/33866723.cms
READ MORE Women tied to bonded labour|Sumangali scheme|Indian NGO SAVE|India’s spinning mills|Ethical Trading Initiative
Women tied to bonded labour in Tamil Nadu: Survey
Initiatives taken by SAVE in Eastman Exports have focused reports on hygiene and health, but worker’s rights issue are yet to be addressed.
NEW DELHI: A survey carried out in January last year by the Indian NGO SAVE reveals that young, unmarried women working in the garment manufacturing units of Tamil Nadu are tied to their employers in a system of bonded labour. Tamil Nadu is the largest cotton yarn producing state in India, home to about 1,574 of India's spinning mills.
There are an estimated 2,24,000 women workers in these units. Around half of them work under schemes like Sumangali (an estimated 80% of women working under such schemes are under 18 and between 15-20% of these women are less than 14 years of age).
"Sumangali" in Tamil refers to a happily married woman. In Sumangali employment schemes, young, unmarried, predominantly dalit women (60%) are employed in garment manufacturing units to enable their families to pay their dowries. In reality, schemes such as this translate to bonded labour. Wages are paid only when workers complete a 3-5 year contract period.
In the research report, 'Small Steps, Big Challenges' published last month, the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) and the Federation Dutch Labour Movement (FNV) investigated the steps taken to ban bonded labour among first and second-tier suppliers. This investigation also looked at 26 buyers from Netherlands and other countries. Only eight of the 26 companies responded to the research. Six — Hema, Impala Loft, Migros, O'Neil, Tommy Hilfiger and Van den Broek — admitted to problems of bonded labour existing or having existed in their supply chain.
Three out of four suppliers from Tamil Nadu (Eastman Exports Global Clothing, KPR Mill and SSM India) featured in previous ICN reports. Under duress, they recently approached Indian NGOs (SAVE, READ and CARE-T) to monitor the conditions at their production units and to train employees and managers.
In KPR Mill, all six units of production are being monitored and visited regularly. The improvements are visible as wages are transferred to the employees' bank accounts, workers receive ID cards and women are not confined and are allowed to visit their homes frequently. Other initiatives taken by SAVE in Eastman Exports have focused reports on hygiene and health, but worker's rights issue are yet to be addressed.
In addition to this, there is Ethical Trading Initiative, a forum run by the Tamil Nadu Multi-Stakeholder (ETI-TNMS) Group. It is the only multi-stakeholder initiative that specifically aims to address worker's rights issues in relation to the Sumangali scheme. But there is a need for more such group initiatives taken to totally root out instances of bonded labour in the state.
READ MORE Women tied to bonded labour|Sumangali scheme|Indian NGO SAVE|India’s spinning mills|Ethical Trading Initiative
Women tied to bonded labour in Tamil Nadu: Survey
Initiatives taken by SAVE in Eastman Exports have focused reports on hygiene and health, but worker’s rights issue are yet to be addressed.
NEW DELHI: A survey carried out in January last year by the Indian NGO SAVE reveals that young, unmarried women working in the garment manufacturing units of Tamil Nadu are tied to their employers in a system of bonded labour. Tamil Nadu is the largest cotton yarn producing state in India, home to about 1,574 of India's spinning mills.
There are an estimated 2,24,000 women workers in these units. Around half of them work under schemes like Sumangali (an estimated 80% of women working under such schemes are under 18 and between 15-20% of these women are less than 14 years of age).
"Sumangali" in Tamil refers to a happily married woman. In Sumangali employment schemes, young, unmarried, predominantly dalit women (60%) are employed in garment manufacturing units to enable their families to pay their dowries. In reality, schemes such as this translate to bonded labour. Wages are paid only when workers complete a 3-5 year contract period.
In the research report, 'Small Steps, Big Challenges' published last month, the India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) and the Federation Dutch Labour Movement (FNV) investigated the steps taken to ban bonded labour among first and second-tier suppliers. This investigation also looked at 26 buyers from Netherlands and other countries. Only eight of the 26 companies responded to the research. Six — Hema, Impala Loft, Migros, O'Neil, Tommy Hilfiger and Van den Broek — admitted to problems of bonded labour existing or having existed in their supply chain.
Three out of four suppliers from Tamil Nadu (Eastman Exports Global Clothing, KPR Mill and SSM India) featured in previous ICN reports. Under duress, they recently approached Indian NGOs (SAVE, READ and CARE-T) to monitor the conditions at their production units and to train employees and managers.
In KPR Mill, all six units of production are being monitored and visited regularly. The improvements are visible as wages are transferred to the employees' bank accounts, workers receive ID cards and women are not confined and are allowed to visit their homes frequently. Other initiatives taken by SAVE in Eastman Exports have focused reports on hygiene and health, but worker's rights issue are yet to be addressed.
In addition to this, there is Ethical Trading Initiative, a forum run by the Tamil Nadu Multi-Stakeholder (ETI-TNMS) Group. It is the only multi-stakeholder initiative that specifically aims to address worker's rights issues in relation to the Sumangali scheme. But there is a need for more such group initiatives taken to totally root out instances of bonded labour in the state.
Rishi- Posts : 5129
Join date : 2011-09-02
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