Thousands of Indian factories under scrutiny over ‘miserable’ conditions
National Human Rights Commission orders authorities to act
Chennai — A southern Indian state is inspecting more than 7,000 garment factories and spinning mills after the national human rights watchdog raised concerns over “miserable” working conditions. India’s National Human Rights Commission ordered authorities in Tamil Nadu to act after a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation about female garment workers airing their grievances on radio stations and demanding better conditions. Checks for basic facilities such as toilets and creches for the more than 500,000 mostly female workers in Tamil Nadu, the largest hub in India's $40bn-a-year textile and garment industry, began in March. “We have found violations and have served notices to more than 200 factories spinning mills so far,” said Kaveri Manoharan, head of the state’s directorate of industrial safety and health. “In most cases there were too few toilets and hygiene was an issue. Also, creches had not been set up even though hundreds of women were employed. We have given managements...
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