It’s a known fact that unless and until women are given their rightful place, no society or country can progress. The Tirupur People Forum (TPF), a Non-Government Organisation in Tamil Nadu studied the state of affairs of the women workers in textile industries during 2001 to 2008. Young unmarried women below the poverty line had under gone worst form of exploitation in their working environment and the social activists accuse that this continues unabated. The provisions of Indian Factories Act, The Industrial Disputes Act, Minimum Wages Act and other acts empowering women and children were flouted by various textile industrial owners under the scheme launched by them called “Sumangali Scheme” (Marriage scheme for unmarried girls).
This exploitation barring rights and privileges to women employees in textile industry amounts to unfair trade practice and a punishable offence. INTRODUCTION:
Sumangali Scheme under the purview of the Indian Labour Law: Labours laws in India always stood for the welfare of the labour since they are the backbone for every development in the industry. The Sumangali Scheme cannot fulfil the basic norms of industrial welfare acts. The Indian Factories Act, 1948: This act provides special privileges for working women and children. The labour welfare inspector or inspector of factories have to play a major role in inspecting the factories. The inspector and other officer appointed on sec 8 are deemed to be a public servant with in the meaning of Indian penal code, 1860[sec.8 (9)]. The chief inspectors have to examine the textile premises for the Health, Safety and welfare [sec (11-20)] of the women worker in the textile industry. He is expected to make provisions for maintenance of health, cleanliness, prevention of overcrowding and amenities like lighting, ventilation, drinking water etc. Under (sec 55), working women should be given at-least half an hour rest for every 5 hours in the working schedule.
In addition, under Sec 59, extra wages have to be given for overtime (more then an hour in any day or more then 48 hours in any week).
Under the Industrial disputes Act, 1947, the women workers are entitled for individual and collective action to get redressal of their grievances and also eligible to form a trade union under the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 prohibits a contractor to employ a female worker between 6.00AM and 9.00 PM with the exception of midwives and nurses in hospital and dispensaries. The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 provides safeguards against harassment of women workers at their work places. Complaints of harassment are to be inquired into by a complaint committee consisting of a woman chairperson and two other members, which will also be a woman. But unfortunately, in no place the companies or the controlling government agencies performed such activities as per the allegations made by social activists of Tiruppur and Coimbatore. Conclusion: From the above, it is found that the exploitation of the women in Coimbatore, Erode, and Tiruppur districts go unabated and the government agencies show a deaf year to this serious problem or take a lenient view.
A case was filed by one Ms.Shanthi against M/S. A.G.Spinning Mills, Coimbatore before the Tamilnadu States Commission for Women and a public hearing was made. The Hindu, reported on 7th August 2009, as follows: The six-member jury took up her case and instructed the mill owners to pay up within a week the amount due. For the relatives of young girls who died while working in the mills, compensation was worked out and notices issued to the owners. Focussing primarily on granting compensation and paying salary and contract amounts to women who were allegedly defrauded by the spinning mills under the Sumangali Thittam, the public hearing may have just solved the compensation issues of about 40 people. But, this is only the tip of the iceberg. According to information received by the Campaign for the Rights of the Unorganised Workers, there are over 37,000 girls and women working in 913 cotton mills in Tamil Nadu. “This shows the existence of the draconian Sumangali scheme that exploits the young women against the law of the land and the textile industry of India should condemn and abjure it.