Sexual harassment rampant in ginning mills
Ahmedabad,
Apr
1:
Kadi
town
in
Mehsana
district
which
locates
the
largest
number
of
ginning
units
(125)
in
Gujarat
has
reported
a
large
number
of
labour
law
violations
as
well
as
sexual
exploitation
cases
of
female
migrant
labours.
Talking
to
UNI,
Secretary
of
the
Gujarat
Ginning
and
Mill
Mazdoor
Union
of
Kadi
Ms
Veena
Parmar
claimed
that
the
millers
at
Kadi
are
also
paying
low
wage,
providng
unsafe
working
condition,
unhygienic
living
conditions,
taking
work
from
child
labour
and
also
violating
human
rights
with
accident
rates
recorded
very
high
in
Saurashtra
ginning
mills
during
last
two
years.
''Workers
are
paid
Rs
60-70
for
a
12-hour
shift
in
the
mill.
The
average
minimum
wage
on
the
other
hand
in
the
state
is
Rs
94
for
an
eight
hour
shift.
Thus,
the
workers
are
paid
almost
one
third
of
the
stipulated
minimum
wages,''
she
said.
The
unloading
work
is
done
at
piece
rate
which
is
as
low
as
paise
45
paise
per
quintal.
This
rate
varies
from
factory
to
factory.
The
loaders
have
to
be
on
duty
24
hours
a
day,
she
said.
Workers
have
to
operate
under
extremely
unsafe
conditions.
Inhaling
of
cotton
fibres
leads
to
the
serious
disease
of
Byssinosis.
Therefore,
the
use
of
respirators
is
recommended.
''However,
no
factory
has
provided
any
mask
to
workers.
The
duration
of
working
shift
in
all
the
mills
is
12
hours.
This
is
a
recipe
for
fatal
accidents
keeping
in
mind
the
profile
of
the
workforce,''
Ms
Parmar
said.
Talking
about
the
livng
condition
of
workers,
she
said,
''The
migrant
workers
live
within
the
premises
of
the
factory.
The
local
workers
commute
from
the
villages
around.
The
living
conditions
are
highly
unhygienic.
There
are
almost
15-20
workers
cramped
in
small
rooms
of
100
sq
ft.
There
are
no
toilet
facilities
in
most
of
the
ginning
factories.
All
the
workers
share
a
single
water
tap
that
is
in
the
open
with
no
privacy
for
female
workers.
The
extremely
crowded
living
quarters,
lack
of
hygiene,
and
inhaling
of
cotton
dust
leads
to
a
very
high
morbidity
rate.''
Ms Parmar also narrated that female workforce in ginning mills are also target of sexual exploitation as ''Our union has come across two cases of sexual exploitation of female workers by the employers and the agents of ginning mills.'' ''In one case, Pramila Vadi, a tribal girl from Dungarpur district in Rajasthan was working in Neminath cotton ginning mill in Muli taluka of Surendranagar district was repeatedly molested by her factory manager. He made an attempt to rape her one night, following which Pramila had to run away from the factory. She had to sell her nose ring to be able to reach back home safely,'' she said.
UNI