Sumangali scheme ills highlighted

Around 2.7 lakh workers are employed in spinning mills and apparel units under the scheme in Tamil Nadu.

"One of the critical aspects is the staggering number of girls in the age group of 15-18, who come under the category of children, and over 19 years old girls employed in various production processes in mills. Also, up to 70 per cent of workers are migrants hailing from districts like Madurai, Theni, Cumbum, Karur, Trunvelveli, Virudhunagar, Thanjavur and other areas," said C. Nambi, executive director of CSED.

The scheme is exploitative in nature considering the long hours of work, low wages, and non-adherence to labour laws and lack of welfare measures for the workers.

"These mills enrol young girls under the scheme by claiming it is a boon to help marry a girl child, but is one of the worst forms of bonded labour. They are made to work 16 hours a day and are also subjected to sexual harassment in most cases," he said. In a recent study in two blocks at Avinashi and Tirupur revealed that 32,545 young girls were found employed under the 'Sumangali scheme'. Most of the workers belong to most backward and economically oppressed communities.

There are about 1,912 spinning mills and 7,990 apparel units across the state. The western region, including Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts, account for 1,309 spinning mills and quite a number of apparel units have 'Sumangali scheme'.

As part of the awareness drive, 'Muhavari', a drama troupe, performed a skit on the ills of bonded labour at PSG College of Arts and Science and in Sulur neighbourhood here on Tuesday. The campaign, which began in Chennai in August, has so far covered 20 districts.