The Madras High Court has directed the State government to analyse the conclusions and recommendations given by District Monitoring Committees, which have suggested strong measures against the alleged practice of camp coolie system in the name of Sumangali system in textile mills across the State.
Some of the conclusions and recommendations of these committees are: Stringent action against mill managements that employ girls below the age of 18 years, minimum wages not less than Rs. 150 a day, apprentices not exceeding 20 per cent of workforce, absorption of scheme workers at the end of period, reduced apprenticeship of one year and ensuring freedom of movement of workers. It also said that the Sumangali scheme should be abolished in these mills. The First Bench comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan, on perusing the summary of the conclusions and recommendations of these committees said, “We direct the State government to analyse the conclusions and recommendations and consider as to what extent they would implement the recommendations, for which also we grant three months’ time.”
