Coimbatore: To safeguard women's rights and to ensure fair wages, and to protect women from harassment of any form at workplaces, particularly women working in the textile industry, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women conducted a stakeholder meeting at Coimbatore, today.
Coimbatore: To safeguard women's rights and to ensure fair wages, and to protect women from harassment of any form at workplaces, particularly women working in the textile industry, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women conducted a stakeholder meeting at Coimbatore, today.
Women working in textile and spinning mills, NGOs, owners of textile industries , textile associations and Government officials participated in the meeting.
To understand the issues faced by women in the textile and garment industries in the district, Kannagi Packianathan, Chairperson, State Women's Commission chaired an interactive session with women workers from various mills and textile industries. Speaking at the event, Kannaki Packianthan opined that "Women face a number of issues in workplaces that range from harassment issues to non-payment of PF benefits and compensation issues. In October 2018, a public hearing was organised by the State Women's Commission to understand the issues and based on the complaints received from the working women.
There is a need for drafting policy guidelines to ensure workplace safety, security and diginity of women and girls in the spinning mills and textile industries of Tamil Nadu. Since last October, the Women's Commission has been conducting meetings with industries, sensitising them on these issues, talking to women workers, NGOs and been working toward drafting this policy. Interactions with women workers and industry owners and associations have been organised in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Karur. Based on the discussions and feedback from all stake holders, a draft policy will be prepared to ensure women's safety at workplaces," she added.
According to NGOs working in this field, women do not come forward to discuss their problems at workplaces for the fear of getting reprimanded. Karuppuswamy, Director READ, an organisation working for women's security in workplaces stated, "More than 80 percent of the workforce in the textile industry comprise of women. They face plenty of issues including harassment, salary issues, work hours discrepancy and lack of compensation for accidents. But the problem is that women do not open up about the issues. They are not even aware that they are being exploited. The State Women's Commission has thus been taking various measures to address the issues and draft a policy guideline which will be a positive step in this direction," he opined.
Women working in textile and spinning mills, NGOs, owners of textile industries , textile associations and Government officials participated in the meeting.
To understand the issues faced by women in the textile and garment industries in the district, Kannagi Packianathan, Chairperson, State Women's Commission chaired an interactive session with women workers from various mills and textile industries. Speaking at the event, Kannaki Packianthan opined that "Women face a number of issues in workplaces that range from harassment issues to non-payment of PF benefits and compensation issues. In October 2018, a public hearing was organised by the State Women's Commission to understand the issues and based on the complaints received from the working women.
There is a need for drafting policy guidelines to ensure workplace safety, security and diginity of women and girls in the spinning mills and textile industries of Tamil Nadu. Since last October, the Women's Commission has been conducting meetings with industries, sensitising them on these issues, talking to women workers, NGOs and been working toward drafting this policy. Interactions with women workers and industry owners and associations have been organised in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Karur. Based on the discussions and feedback from all stake holders, a draft policy will be prepared to ensure women's safety at workplaces," she added.
According to NGOs working in this field, women do not come forward to discuss their problems at workplaces for the fear of getting reprimanded. Karuppuswamy, Director READ, an organisation working for women's security in workplaces stated, "More than 80 percent of the workforce in the textile industry comprise of women. They face plenty of issues including harassment, salary issues, work hours discrepancy and lack of compensation for accidents. But the problem is that women do not open up about the issues. They are not even aware that they are being exploited. The State Women's Commission has thus been taking various measures to address the issues and draft a policy guideline which will be a positive step in this direction," he opined.