AHMEDABAD: Police detained around 70 workers in Gujarat’s Surat on October 15 as they headed to the district Collector’s office to demand weekly holidays and higher wages in embroidery units.
The crackdown comes amid growing concerns over working conditions in Gujarat’s textile hub, where workers have alleged long shifts, denial of statutory weekly holidays and dismissal for seeking leave.
The Pandesara police detained more than six worker leaders, including two prominent labour union representatives, even before the proposed satyagraha could begin.
As workers gathered near the Collector’s office to press their demands, police moved in, citing a lack of official permission. While some workers managed to escape, others were chased and detained.
More than 10 police buses and vans were deployed to transport the detained workers, underlining the scale of the police action. Surat City Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Parmar said 60 to 70 workers were detained about 100 metres from the Collector’s office.
“Permission was not granted for the workers’ protest. The necessary conditions stipulated by the police for holding the event had not been met. Consequently, 60 to 70 workers were detained before they could reach the Collector’s office. Adequate security arrangements have been deployed at the Collector’s office,” Parmar said.
The action has brought the spotlight back on labour conditions in Surat’s textile sector, which depends heavily on migrant workers from states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Workers have alleged that several embroidery units deny them weekly holidays, impose 12-hour shifts and threaten or dismiss employees who seek leave.
The protest also comes days after Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh visited Surat on October 9 and played down concerns over workers returning to their native villages in search of employment.
“If a worker feels that better employment opportunities are available in their village, that choice cannot be termed an exodus,” Singh said, arguing that workers moving back to their home states should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of a crisis in Surat’s textile industry.
He also pointed to employment opportunities in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh under the Narendra Modi government, suggesting that workers could choose to work closer to home if they found better prospects there.
However, the ongoing labour concerns have brought the focus back to the conditions under which workers are employed in Surat. While the minister framed migration as a matter of employment choice, workers’ complaints centre on wages, working hours, weekly holidays and the ability to seek leave without fear of losing their jobs.
Responding to concerns over labour relations, Union Textiles Minister Singh said mill owners and workers should not be viewed as adversaries. Instead, he advocated a relationship based on mutual trust and described an adversarial approach as a Communist way of looking at industrial relations.
“Mill owners and workers are two sides of the same coin. The ideal relationship is one in which the mill owner treats the worker as family, and the worker considers the mill owner part of the family,” he said.
The minister added that he would examine the specific complaints after further discussions.
His remarks, however, have yet to address the immediate demands raised by workers seeking a weekly holiday and higher wages. The detention of protesters before their planned satyagraha could begin has further sharpened the focus on the dispute between labourers and employers in Surat’s embroidery industry.
For Gujarat’s textile sector, the issue extends beyond a single protest. The demands raise questions about the enforcement of labour protections, the treatment of migrant workers and the balance between industrial production and workers’ rights.
Whether the concerns raised by workers lead to concrete action will depend on how the complaints are examined and whether employers and authorities respond to the demands on working conditions and wages.