Sugarcane workers' 8-yr struggle 'bears fruit', Gujarat govt doubles minimum wages

By Jayesh Gamit*
The Gujarat government has issued a notification hiking minimum wages for sugarcane harvesting workers from Rs 238 per tonne to Rs 476 per tonne. The notification came after a long eight-year struggle of workers led by their Union Majoor Adhikar Manch.

The hiked wages will benefit almost three lakh tribal workers – almost all of them seasonal migrants from districts of Tapi and Dang in Gujarat, Nandurbar and Dhule in Maharashtra, and Badwani in MP. It is expected that the hike will lead to additional wages of Rs. 357 crores per year.
The sugarcane harvesting sector is riddled with exploitation -- low wages, irregular and non-payment of wages, long working hours, lack of occupational safety and health, exploitative recruiting practices that amount to bondage, and poor working and living cconditions The Majur Adhikar Manch, a trade union of informal workers, has been working with the sugarcane harvesting workers in Gujarat since 2015.
When the union started working with the sugarcane harvesting workers in South Gujarat, workers were getting Rs 238 per tonne. Whereas, the findings of the ergonomic study (time-motion study) done by the Centre for Labour Research and Action in collaboration with IIT Bombay revealed that the workers should be getting 539 Rs per tonne as minimum wage.
Using this study coupled with another study – A Bitter Harvest (CLRA, 2017), the union launched a massive awareness campaign among the workers regarding the state of sugarcane harvesters and advocated for dignified living wages and improved conditions of the workers.

The campaign resulted in a mass workers’ movement in 2019 where sugarcane harvesters in the source area (Dang, Tapi and Dhule-Nandurbar) refused to go to work at the sugar factories unless the rate per tonne was increased by the sugar factories. As a result, the sugar factories increased the rate to Rs 275 per tonne.

In 2021, the government increased the minimum agricultural wage but the minimum wage for sugarcane harvesters did not see any increase and continued to remain stagnant for more than six years.

As the representative of the sugarcane harvesting workers, Majur Adhikar Manch submitted a memorandum containing a charter of demands to the labour commissioner at Gandhinagar as well as the Gujarat Sugar Cooperative Federation.

The union also filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat high court in the same year to demand a hike in the minimum wages of sugarcane harvesters.
As a result of these advocacy efforts, the Gujarat government issued a draft notification on 5th February 2022 where it hiked the minimum wage for sugarcane harvesting workers to 476 Rs per tonne. However, the fight still continued for the government to issue a final notification of the wage hike in the Gazette.

The union organised public campaigns in the source areas, gave memorandums to MLAs of all political parties in Gujarat and continuously voiced workers’ concerns in the tripartite meetings. Last harvesting season (2022), all the Mukadams from South Gujarat refused to sign any agreement with sugar factories till Rs 476 per tonne rate was promised by the sugar factories.
Finally, eight years after the last revision, the Gujarat government has raised the minimum daily wages of sugarcane workers by 100 per cent; from Rs 238 per tonne to Rs 476 per tonne which will benefit more than two lakh sugarcane workers in the state. This is a huge success achieved by the 8 years-long struggle led by the workers’ movement.
---
*Secretary, Dang unit of the Majoor Adhikar Manch

Comments

PREETI said…

In these times of labour being touted as cheapest commodity, to built a movement and a pressure to force Govt. to notify, ias a big victory. Long live this struggle for more labour rights in time to come. CONGRATS JAYESHBHAI AND TEAM

April 01, 2023

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.

School closures across states raise concerns amid Govt of India claims of improved access

By A Representative A recent report has raised concerns over the closure and merger of government schools in several Indian states, particularly in Bihar, where a significant number of institutions have reportedly been shut down or earmarked for closure.

Health activist group raises concerns over HPV vaccination drive, seeks temporary halt

By A Representative Swasthya Adhikar Manch, a public health advocacy group, has urged the Union government to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the ongoing Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, and called for its temporary suspension pending a comprehensive review. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the group flagged what it described as unresolved concerns surrounding the nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine, which began on February 28, 2026. The campaign targets 14-year-old girls and involves administering Gardasil, a quadrivalent vaccine intended to protect against certain strains of HPV linked to cervical cancer.

Search This Blog