Rajasthan Handloom Workers Continue their Strike, Demand Better Working Conditions

Anguished after lax implementation of labour laws in Rajasthan's Jaipur, hundreds of National Handloom Corporation employees continued stalling the functions of outlets run by privately owned enterprise for the 73rd day. Furious employees allege that the administration has subjected them to work under inhuman conditions for 365 days of the year with no holidays. 

The National Handloom Corporation, which runs many outlets in Rajasthan and its neighbouring states, has been consistently accused of violating the labour laws. The workers are paid Rs 5,000-6,000 per month. Talking to NewsClick, Jaipur CITU General Secretary Bhanvar Singh said that the corporation employs 3,500 workers and it has never complied with the labour laws of the state. 

Similarly, the handloom corporation has been deducting the share of provident fund from their accounts but it has not opened their accounts to facilitate the benefit of social security measures. The striking workers said that their resolve to fight will continue till the current working hours are reduced from 12-13 hours to eight hours.

He added that the corporation owns three outlets located in Johri Bazar, Vaishali Nagar and Vidhyadhar Nagar in Jaipur with an employee base of 215 persons. After months of repression, 145 workers decided to go on strike and press for the fulfillment of their demands. 

Singh said that the administration's reluctance to fulfil promises made after the last strike has also angered workers. The administration had promised for weekly holidays, registration to EPFO and ESIC and monthly pay slip. He further alleged that the management of the corporation conspired to break the unity of workers after CITU formed its union in 2015. 

"The administration tried breaking the unity of the workers. It even registered a case against one of our members for failing to prevent theft in its outlets. Interestingly, police had freed the woman who stole the item whereas the employee was still behind bars. He was only freed after we protested at Manik Chowk station. It explicitly shows that the management and police are hand in gloves in the conspiracy. The formation of union has made things tougher by which management exploited workers," he said.

The handloom workers strike comes in wake of consistent attacks on labour laws by the state government led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia. The BJP-led government made the closure of bigger factories easier by increasing the cap from 100 workers to 300 workers. It also made the forming of the worker’s union more difficult. The workers can now only form the union when their numbers exceed 30 per cent of all the workers. Earlier, the limit was fixed at 15 per cent workers.