A top cotton producing state in India is to map its entire supply chain as part of a collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to eradicate child labour and slavery from its fields and factories. The southern state of Telangana will begin a three-year project with the UN labour agency to map its cotton growing farms and spinning mills to ensure its main industry is ethical. India, the world’s second largest cotton producer after China, is the only country named by the US Department of Labour in 2016 for having child and forced labour in both cottonseed production as well as cotton growing. Six of the 10 cotton growing districts of Telangana will initially be mapped for labour violations under the project. The study will also look at gender discrimination in salaries for agriculture workers and whether they have collective bargaining rights. The state will also train officials from various government departments, including labour and education, to identify and stop any form of forced labour in cotton fields.

Posted by

Thomson Reuters Foundation