CB BureauMultinational retailers such as GAP, Walmart, C&A,
H&M, Primark, Mothercare and Tesco have instructed their Indian suppliers
to stop sourcing raw material from textile mills that employ girls under the
so-called Sumangali system, a contractual arrangement that labour watchdogs allege
involves unfair practices and even amounts to bonded labour.
The development could have serious implications for
the domestic apparel industry, which earns 80 per cent of its business from
Europe and the United States. The country’s garment export industry is worth an
estimated $11 billion.
‘We are aware of a number of new sources that continue
to show the existence of child labour and forced labour in Indian garment
production. In some cases, labour schemes such as the Sumangali are involved,’
said Marcia Eugenio, director, office of child labour, forced labour and human
trafficking, in the US Labour Department’s Bureau of International Labour
Affairs.
Thousands of rural and tribal girls in Tamil Nadu seek
employment in the state’s textiles industry under Sumangali (Tamil word for ‘bride’).
The girls are recruited with the promise of a decent wage, comfortable
accommodation, and a considerable sum of money upon completion of their
three-year contract. This lump sum varies between Rs 36,000 and Rs 56,000 for the
three-year contract. Mill owners make the lump-sum payment to the parents at
the end of the term, purportedly to help with their marriage expenses.
The scheme, introduced in the state in the mid-1990s,
became a big draw for an industry that often faces labour shortage. Labour
watchdogs allege that the lump-sum payment and free accommodation feature of
the scheme is luring poor families and often results in girls being trapped for
the contract period. This allegation is backed by Social Awareness and
Voluntary Education (SAVE), an NGO in the knitwear hub of Tirupur, located some
400 km from state capital Chennai.
‘Girls are kept captive in hostels, not allowed to
make phone calls, and their salaries are withheld for three years. They are
paid poorly – Rs 40-60 a day, against the state’s minimum wage of Rs 184,’ SAVE
director A Aloysius said. ‘They are made to work for 12 hours. In some cases,
contracts have been illegally terminated and girls have left empty-handed,’ he
added.
The list of alleged unfair practices is long: wages
below the legally set minimum, excessive overwork (days of 12 hours are usual),
non-payment for overtime work, restricted freedom of movement, lack of privacy,
no possibility to lodge complaints or get redress, unhealthy and unsafe working
conditions, etc. If true, these violations are in accordance with the ‘worst
forms of child labour’ as laid down by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) for children up to 18 years old.
In a number of documented cases, girls have not
received the lump sum they were entitled to, despite having completed the
contractual three year period. It has been alleged that the girls’ freedom of
action is severely restricted with guards keeping a constant eye on them. They
are compulsorily accommodated in basic dormitories, often within the compound
of the factory. This also means workers hardly have a chance to get in touch
with trade unions or advocacy groups.
Refuting the charges, the industry body says the
scheme gives dignity of labour to the otherwise illiterate and poor women. The
Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) says the term ‘Sumangali’ has been done
away with, and that some 120 mills under it are offered an ‘apprentice scheme
with hostel facility’. Secretary general K Selvaraju countered thus: ‘It is
misleading to label the scheme as bonded labour. German-firm TUV Rheinland
audits our mills to certify women employment standards.’
SV Arumugam, chairman of Confederation of Indian
Textile Industry, said the system of onetime payment caters to parents’ demands
that the salary be kept with employers as savings. Armugam, who is also the
director of Shiva Textiles, a mill employing 400 women under the scheme, said, ‘You
cannot permit the employees to leave the dormitories at 1 am just because the
western world perceives this as violation of human rights. Also, we have
discontinued payment of lump sum and encourage parents to collect salaries
every month.’
In any case, exporters in Tirupur have severed links
with mills that operate the Sumangali scheme. A Tirupur Exporters Association
official said, ‘Although we know it is not slavery, 27 of our clients including
big buyers like Gap, Primark, Walmart, H&M, C&A, and Tesco have asked
us to discourage the Sumangali scheme in the supply chain. We have already asked
SIMA and the Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association to abolish the scheme and
encourage fair employment practices.’