The convention mandates regular, impartial and effective labour inspections to safeguard workers’ rights and workplace conditions.
Hyderabad: The Indian National Trade Union Congress’s (Intuc) Telangana unit has expressed its profound grief and outrage over the Sigachi blast that led to loss of workers' lives. The organisation said the incident exposed deep-rooted corruption in the Factories Department that disregarded worker safety and grossly violated the ILO Convention-81.
"The tragic industrial accident at the pharma factory of Sigachi Industries Pvt Ltd, Pashamylaram, which has resulted in the loss of innocent workers’ lives and exposed the deep-rooted corruption and criminal negligence within the Telangana Factories Department, is a direct consequence of willful disregard for worker safety and a gross violation of ILO Convention-81," said R.D. Chandra Shekar, general secretary, Telangana branch of INTUC.
The convention mandates regular, impartial and effective labour inspections to safeguard workers’ rights and workplace conditions.
"The failure to uphold this international obligation reflects a shocking collapse of governance and accountability within the state’s industrial regulatory system. Despite being a signatory to the International Labour Organisation’s Convention-81 on Labour Inspection, the Telangana Factories Department has consistently failed to enforce meaningful inspections. Instead, a disturbing pattern of manipulated, forged, or absent inspection reports has emerged, enabling hazardous units like Sigachi Industries to operate unchecked," the general secretary said.
"Worse still, inspectors and senior officials within the department are widely known to engage in corrupt practices, routinely accepting bribes and favours from unscrupulous factory owners in return for ignoring blatant violations of safety norms. This unholy nexus has endangered the lives of thousands of workers across Telangana’s industrial zones," he added.
The Intuc Telangana, under the leadership of Dr G. Sanjeeva Reddy, former MP and the president Intuc, has demanded a high-level inquiry into the functioning of the Factories Department, with a special focus on the personal assets and financial dealings of Factory Inspectors and senior officials and the inspection records, approvals and compliance reports related to Sigachi Industries Pvt Ltd and similar units. The Intuc has also demanded suspension and criminal prosecution of any official found complicit in negligence or corruption; revamping the inspection mechanism to ensure transparency, worker participation and strict adherence to ILO Convention-81.
The organisation said the tragedy must be a wake up call, as industrial safety is not optional but a constitutional and moral obligation.
