NEW DELHI, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Thursday that it has issued notices to the federal and local state governments over reported high death rate of workers in accidents in factories across the country.
The move was taken after the rights panel took cognizance of a newspaper article that said three people died and 11 others were injured each day on an average between 2017 and 2022 due to accidents in the country's registered factories, as per the Ministry of Labor and Employment's Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labor Institutes data.
Quoting figures from the article, the NHRC said as many as 3,331 deaths were recorded between 2018 and 2020 but only 14 people were imprisoned for offences under the Factories Act.
"The commission feels that considering the gravity of the matter as highlighted in the newspaper article raises serious concerns about the human rights of the workers in various business enterprises including factories," the panel said in a statement.
The NHRC said human rights risk can be mitigated at the stage of structuring contracts or other agreements between employers and employees within the purview of law giving due importance to the concept of business and human rights.
"Accordingly, the commission has issued notices to all the chief secretaries/principal secretaries, Department of Labor of all the states to provide detailed reports with respect to the death/incapacity of workers/employees due to accidents in the factories," said the NHRC.
According to the rights panel, the response is expected within six weeks.
