Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - India (Ratification: 1954)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Forced labour. 1. Culturally sanctioned practice of manual scavengers. In its previous comments, the Committee observed that women from lower castes and tribes are often engaged, as a result of their social origin and under coercion, in manual scavenging. It noted that such women were generally only paid with food and those who try to leave manual scavenging often face retaliation, including harassment, threats of violence, expulsion from the village and denial to access community property. The Committee observed that under such circumstances, manual scavengers might not be able to leave their work at their own request, which could lead to situations amounting to forced labour. Moreover, the Committee noted from the report of the Special Rapporteur of April 2014 on violence against women, its causes and consequences, that while legislation had been adopted to eradicate bonded labour and manual scavenging, reports and interlocutors indicate that there was a consistent failure in the implementation of such laws and a tendency to minimize the significance of the problem. The Committee encouraged the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that manual scavengers could freely leave their work at their own request in practice, being fully protected from any direct or indirect form of coercion that could amount to forced labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the provisions under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (No. 25) of 2013 (MS Act of 2013), as well as the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Ordinance (No. 1) of 2014. (SCST Act of 2014). The Committee notes that under the MS Act of 2013, engaging or employing a manual scavenger is prohibited (section 5); any contract, agreement or instrument engaging or employing a person for manual scavenging shall be terminated (section 6); and penalties for violation of section 5 shall include imprisonment for a year or a fine of up to 50,000 Indian rupees, or both, and for a subsequent contravention the penalties shall be doubled (section 8). Moreover, section 3 of the SCST Act of 2014 also contains similar prohibition on manual scavenging. The Government also states that a national survey of manual scavengers has been undertaken in 170 identified districts of 18 States to identify those who are still working as manual scavengers and those who have voluntarily given up manual scavenging. Measures are being taken to rescue such workers and provide rehabilitation benefits through the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the findings of the survey on manual scavengers, including the number of persons who are still working as manual scavengers. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of manual scavengers who have been rehabilitated through the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. The Committee further requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation of the MS Act of 2013 and the SCST Act of 2014.

2. Forced labour in the garment sector. The Committee notes from the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Garment Labour Union (GLU), received on 9 September and 22 October 2015 respectively, that the Sumangali scheme (marriage assistance scheme for girls and young women), which has been prevalent for over two decades, applies to fixed term labour arrangements for young women, mainly between the ages of 15–25 years, employed in spinning mills in Tamil Nadu. Under this scheme, a significant portion of the wage is withheld until workers complete their tenure of the contract which ranges from three to five years. There are 1,600 mills in Tamil Nadu with a work force of 400,000 of which 60 per cent of girls and young women, mainly dalit (scheduled castes) and tribal girls from remote and rural areas, are vulnerable to the practices of the Sumangali scheme. The Committee also notes from the ITUC’s and GLU’s observations that the Sumangali scheme is a form of bonded labour practice as it relates to practices such as denial of minimum wages; withholding wages; misusing provisions of the Apprenticeship Act of 1961 by not regularizing the apprentices as regular workers whereby they are denied the benefits in place for regular workers; exploitative working conditions (abusive, excessive working hours and confinement within the factory premises); extremely poor living conditions (in the factory hostels resembling labour camps, with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement and from keeping any contact with family and outside world); and deceptive and discriminatory recruitment practices.

In this regard, the Committee notes the following response from the Government received on 29 June 2016, that: (i) a committee, comprised of the District Collector, Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories, Deputy Commissioner of Labour, and a representative from the Legal Services Authority, was created as per an order of the High Court, to address the issues related to employment under the Sumangali scheme; (ii) a committee has been constituted to revise and fix the minimum wages for workers, other than apprentices; (iii) the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) has been entrusted to monitor any overtime or night shifts by young workers; (iv) women hostels and places of accommodation are monitored by the District Collectors as per the Hostel and Home for Women and Children (Regulation) Act of 2014; (v) women cells are created in all textile mills to prevent verbal and sexual abuse of women workers and are monitored by DISH; (vi) the working conditions and safety of the workers are monitored by DISH and necessary actions, including legal actions, are being initiated wherever necessary; and (vii) the status of the women workforce in the textile mills are closely monitored by the District Collector, District Adi Dravidar (Dalit) and Tribal Welfare Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, Labour Officer, Assistant Director of Industrial Safety and Health, and Revenue Divisional Officer. The Committee further notes the Government’s information that the scheme of making payments at the end of the contract period is no longer in practice in the textile mills of Tamil Nadu. The Government, referring to the statement of the Secretary-General of Southern India Mill’s Association (SIMA), indicates that all textile industries are vigilant about the employment system of women and efforts are being made to ensure that there is no exploitation of women in textile mills under the guise of bonded labour. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the repeated complaints and litigations raised by various unions and NGOs which led to strict and repeated instructions and enforcement by the authorities, have resulted in the abolition of Sumangali and similar schemes, and that at present, women and girls are not employed under any such schemes. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take measures to ensure that women and young girls are protected from practices amounting to forced labour in textile mills in Tamil Nadu.