India

India - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

New Dehli

CLIMATE

India’s climate varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north.

LANGUAGES

Hindi the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), Hindustani (a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India).

English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication.

Note: There are 24 languages in India; each spoken by a million or more persons. There are numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible.

LEGAL SYSTEM

India’s legal system is based on English common law with limited judicial review of legislative acts. India accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations.

CURRENCY

Indian rupees (1 US Dollar = 48.82400 INR as of March 1, 2002)

INDIA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

INDIA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U. S. Embassy at New Delhi

Shantipath

Chanakyapuri

New Delhi, India 110021

Telephone: [91] (11) 688-9033 or 611-3033

Fax: [91] (11) 419-0017

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/in1/wwwhmain.html

U.S. Consulate General - Chennai (Madras)

Mount Road
Chennai India 600006
Telephone: [91] (44) 827-7835
Fax :(44)825-0240

U.S. Consulate General - Kolkata (Calcutta)

5/1, Ho Chi Minh Sarani
Kolkata India 700071
Telephone: [91] (33) 288-1200
Fax:[91] (33) 28-1600

U.S. Consulate General - Mumbai (Bombay)

Lincoln House
78 Bhulabhai
Desai Road
Mumbai India 400026
Telephone: [91] (22) 363-3611
Fax:(22) 363-0350

Embassy of India at Washington D.C.

2107 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 939-7000

Fax: (202) 265-4351

http://www.indianembassy.org/

INDIA - HOLIDAYS

Republic Day (January 26)
Holi
Mahabir Jayanti
Independence Day (August 15)
Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday (October 2)
Dusherra
Diwali
Govardhan Puja
Guru Nanak’s Birthday (November 19)
Idu’l Fitr

INDIA - MINIMUM AGE

The Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor but does not enforce this prohibition effectively and forced child labor is a problem. Article 24 of the Constitution and the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act are the principal protections against the exploitation of children in the workplace. Provisions for the protection of children in the workplace also are made in the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act, the Factories Act, the Mines Act, the Motor Transport Workers Act, the Plantations Labor Act, and the Minimum Wages Act.

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, India – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

INDIA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

Minimum wages vary according to the state and to the sector of industry. Such wages provide only a minimal standard of living for a worker and are inadequate to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most workers employed in units subject to the Factories Act receive more than the minimum wage, including mandated bonuses and other benefits. The state governments set a separate minimum wage for agricultural workers but do not enforce it effectively. Some industries, such as the apparel and footwear industries, do not have a prescribed minimum wage in any of the states in which such industries operate.

Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, India – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.

INDIA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

INDIA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

a. The Right of Association

The Constitution provides for the right of association and the Government generally respected this right in practice. Workers may establish and join unions of their own choosing without prior authorization. More than 400 million persons make up the country's active work force. Some 30 million of these workers are employed in the formal sector. The rest overwhelmingly are agricultural workers and, to a lesser extent, urban nonindustrial laborers. While some trade unions represent agricultural workers and informal sector workers, most of the country's estimated 13 to 15 million union members are part of the 30 million member formal sector. Of these 13 to 15 million unionized workers, some 80 percent are members of unions affiliated with one of the 5 major trade union centrals. All major trade union centrals are affiliated to a greater or lesser extent with particular political parties. Central unions have stressed their independence and in some cases are attempting to sever previously tight party control. On April 25, several trade unions organized a one-day strike in Maharashtra to protest the state government's attempts to bring about labor law reforms, which they felt would adversely affect them.

Trade unions often exercise the right to strike, but public sector unions are required to give at least 14 days' notice prior to striking. Some states have laws requiring workers in certain nonpublic sector industries to give notice of a planned strike.

The Essential Services Maintenance Act allows the Government to ban strikes and requires conciliation or arbitration in specified "essential" industries. Legal mechanisms exist for challenging the assertion that a given dispute falls within the scope of this act. However, the essential services never have been defined in law. The act thus is subject to varying interpretations from state to state. The Maharashtra government passed a law in 1999 banning strikes in essential services, including transport services, milk supply services, the electricity department, and hospitals. The Industrial Disputes Act prohibits retribution by employers against employees involved in legal strike actions. This prohibition is observed in practice.

The Kerala High Court declared that all general strikes (bandhs) were illegal and all organizers of protests would be liable for losses caused by shutdowns. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict drawing attention to the difference between a complete closedown of all activities (bandh) and a general strike (hartal). While it is likely that the ruling was introduced in relation to political strikes, unions stated that it remained a potential threat to their activities. Other court rulings also have declared strikes illegal and have made striking workers pay damages because consumers and the public suffered during strikes.

According to Ministry of Labor statistics, as of May there had been 23 strikes and lockouts throughout the country, involving 21,572 workers. In all, 241,187 person-days were lost due to strikes and 50,154 "person-days" were lost due to lockouts during this period. For example, in April workers in a majority of industrial units located in Mumbai and neighboring regions of Maharashtra went on a 1-day strike to protest the Government's economic liberalization policies. During the year, 7,000 workers at the government-owned Bharat Aluminium Company went on a 67-day strike to protest the sale of the company to a private entrepreneur. The strike ultimately was called off following an agreement reached between the private entrepreneur and the workers after the Supreme Court intervened. The Industrial Disputes Act prohibits retaliation against strikers, provided that the strike is legal.

When abuses, such as intimidation or suppression of legitimate trade union activities, are perpetrated against nationally organized or other large-scale unions or unionized workers, the authorities generally respond by prosecuting and punishing those persons responsible. Unaffiliated unions are not able, in all instances, to secure for themselves the protections and rights provided by law.

In June 2000, the Government announced its intention to modify the Trade Union Act. The Government convened the Indian Labor Conference, which brought together government and trade union representatives to discuss modification of the Trade Union Act, but the conference took no substantive action on the act and it remained unchanged at year's end.

Unions are free to affiliate with international trade union organizations. The Indian National Trade Union Congress and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha are affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and the All India Trade Union Congress is affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The right to bargain collectively has existed for decades. The Trade Union Act prohibits discrimination against union members and organizers, and employers are penalized if they discriminate against employees engaged in union activities.

Collective bargaining is the normal means of setting wages and settling disputes in unionized plants in the organized industrial sector. Trade unions vigorously defend worker interests in this process. Although a system of specialized labor courts adjudicates labor disputes, there are long delays and a backlog of unresolved cases. When the parties are unable to agree on equitable wages, the Government may establish boards of union, management, and government representatives to determine them.

In practice legal protections of worker rights are effective only for the 30 million workers in the organized industrial sector, out of a total work force of more than 400 million persons. Outside the modern industrial sector, laws are difficult to enforce. Union membership is rare in the informal sector, and collective bargaining does not exist.

There are seven Export Processing Zones (EPZ's). Entry into the EPZ's ordinarily is limited to employees. Such entry restrictions apply to union organizers. All companies bus their workers directly to and from the factory. While workers in the EPZ's have the right to organize and to bargain collectively, union activity is rare. In addition unions have not pursued vigorously efforts to organize private-sector employees in the years since EPZ's were established. Women constitute the majority of the work force in the EPZ's. The ICFTU reports that overtime is compulsory in the EPZ's, that workers often are employed on temporary contracts with fictitious contractors rather than directly by the company, and that workers fear that complaints about substandard working conditions would result in their being fired. In June 2000, the Government announced its intention to establish special economic zones patterned on the Chinese model, and on November 1, 2000, four out of seven existing EPZ's were converted without significant opposition. These zones are not exempt from labor legislation.

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Both the Constitution and specific statutes prohibit forced or compulsory labor, and bonded labor, as a form of compulsory labor, also is prohibited by statute; however, such practices are widespread. The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act prohibits all bonded labor, by adults and children. Offenders may be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison, but prosecutions are rare. Enforcement of this statute, which is the responsibility of state and local governments, varies from state to state and generally has not been effective, due to inadequate resources and to societal acceptance of bonded or forced labor. Labor inspectors at the state and local level have overwhelming case loads, and in many cases, do not receive adequate support or protection to challenge employers, who often have direct access to government officials. On the occasions when inspectors refer violations for prosecution, long court backlogs and inadequate funding for legal counsel frequently result in acquittals. NGO's estimate that there are 5 to 40 million bonded laborers in the country, including a large number of children (see Section 6.d.). According to HRW, the majority of bonded laborers are Dalits (see Section 5), and bondage is passed from one generation to the next.

A Supreme Court decision defined forced labor as work at less than the minimum wage, which usually is set by the state governments. Under this definition, which differs from that of the ILO, forced labor is widespread, especially in rural areas.

Bonded labor, the result of a private contractual relationship whereby a worker incurs or inherits debts to a contractor and then must work off the debt plus interest, is illegal but widespread. The Government estimates that between enactment of the Bonded (Abolition) Act in 1976 and March, 280,411 bonded workers were released from their obligations. Other sources maintain that those released constituted only one-twentieth of the total number of bonded laborers. State governments provide a sum of money to workers freed from bondage for their rehabilitation. The NHRC has formed a high-level Central Action Group, which routinely reviews compliance with the Bonded Labor System Act. The NHRC also has appointed a special rapporteur to work in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu and report on compliance. In addition, the NHRC instituted a system for receiving regular reports on bonded labor from the states. The NHRC also assessed the bonded labor problem, identifying state districts in which it especially is acute. It identified and evaluated NGO's working in these areas and conducted training in bonded labor law enforcement for district officials in the acutely affected areas. Some press reports indicate that Tamil Nadu alone has an estimated 25,800 bonded laborers, in response to which the state government began implementing and continues to work on rehabilitation plans. In 1999 alone, it allocated $1.25 million (54.4 million Rs) for these plans. According to the Union Ministry of Labor Statistics, from 1976 to March 31, 2000, the Tamil Nadu government identified and released 63,894 bonded laborers. Government officials worked to release other bonded laborers in many of the country's states. In August the Tamil Nadu based Society for Community Organization secured the release of 20 children aged between 9 and 18 years from bondage from three different locations in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The children had been sold to private slave traders. In West Bengal, organized traffic in illegal Bangladeshi immigrants is a source of bonded labor (see Section 6.f.).

The working conditions of domestic servants and children in the workplace often amount to bonded labor. Children sent from their homes to work because their parents cannot afford to feed them, or in order to pay off a debt incurred by a parent or relative, have no choice in the matter. There are no universally accepted figures for the number of bonded child laborers. However, in the carpet industry alone, human rights organizations estimate that there may be as many as 300,000 children working, many of them under conditions that amount to bonded labor. Officials claim that they are unable to stop this practice because the children are working with their parents' consent. In addition there is a reasonable basis to believe that products were produced using forced or indentured child labor in the following industries: Brassware; hand-knotted wool carpets; explosive fireworks; footwear; hand-blown glass bangles; hand-made locks; hand-dipped matches; hand-broken quarried stones; hand-spun silk thread and hand-loomed silk cloth; hand-made bricks; and beedis (hand-rolled cigarettes). A number of these industries expose children to particularly hazardous work conditions (see Section 6.d.). In its first attempt to address the issue of domestic child labor, during 2000 the Government issued a notification prohibiting government employees from hiring children as domestic help. Those employers who failed to abide by the law are subject to penalties provided by the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act (such as fines and imprisonment), and also to disciplinary action at the workplace.

Bonded child labor in silk twining factories in and around the town of Magadi is a problem. The labor has commissioner estimated that there are 3,000 bonded child laborers in the Magadi silk twining factories. In response UNICEF has started a non formal education program for the estimated 3,000 bonded child laborers working in the industry. By late 2000, approximately 260 children had been enrolled. In addition UNICEF began a micro-credit program for the parents of these children to create income-generating opportunities as an alternative to child labor.

In Punjab persons routinely are sold in an organized trade in weekend bazaars for the purposes of forced domestic labor and forced sexual service.

In December 1999, the domestic media reported that child laborers were being sold in an organized ring at the annual Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar. According to these reports, children from impoverished families in surrounding districts are brought to the fair and sold. One reporter talked to a buyer, a shopkeeper, who paid $21 (900 Rs) for a 12-year-old child. Persons sometimes are sold into virtual slavery (see Sections 5 and 6.f.).

NGO's such as the Bonded Labor Liberation Front worked to release bonded laborers throughout the year.

Female bondage, forced prostitution, and trafficking in women and children for the purpose of prostitution are widespread problems (see Section 6.f.). According to press reports, prison officials have used prisoners as domestic servants and sold female prisoners to brothels (see Section 1.c.). Devadasis, prepubescent girls given to a Hindu deity or temple as "servants of God," are taken from their families and required to provide sexual services to priests and high caste Hindus. Reportedly, many eventually are sold to urban brothels (see Sections 5 and 6.f.).

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

The Government continued its plan to eliminate child labor from hazardous industries and eventually from all industries, but it did not repeat the previous government's pledge to accomplish the former by 2000 and the second by 2010. This program, for which approximately $56.69 million (2.64 billion Rs) has been budgeted since 1992, includes the enhanced enforcement of child labor laws, income supplements for families, subsidized school lunches in areas which child labor is concentrated, and a public awareness campaign. The Government continued efforts initiated in 1987 to enhance enforcement of the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and other laws prohibiting and regulating child labor.

Work by children under 14 years of age is barred completely in "hazardous industries," which includes among other things, passenger, goods, and mail transport by railway. In 1999 the Government added 6 occupations and 33 processes to the list of occupations and processes in which children are barred from working by the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. The additions brought the totals to 13 occupations and 51 processes in which children are prohibited from working under the act. Child labor is prohibited in certain hazardous industries where there are specific age limits for specific jobs; however, there is no overall minimum age for child labor.

In addition to industries that utilize forced or indentured child labor (see Section 6.c.), there is evidence that child labor is used in the following industries: Hand-knotted carpets; gemstone polishing; leather goods; and sporting goods.

The enforcement of child labor laws is the responsibility of the state governments. Enforcement is inadequate, especially in the informal sector in which most children who work are employed. The continuing prevalence of child labor is attributed to social acceptance of the practice, to the failure of the state and federal governments to make primary school education compulsory, and ineffective state and federal government enforcement of existing laws. In occupations and processes in which child labor is permitted, work by children is permissible only for 6 hours between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., with 1 day's rest weekly.

The Government established the National Child Labor Project (NCLP) to release children from hazardous work places and provide them with transitional schooling leading to mainstreaming in regular schools and other forms of assistance. In addition government programs assist working children in rural development, women and children's development, health, and adult job creation programs. As of December 2000, the NCLP had 96 projects in 13 states. From April 2000 to December 31, 205,800 children participated in the NCLP. During their participation in the NCLP, the children's families are given a small stipend--usually $2.15 to $4.30 (100 to 200 Rs) per month.

Nevertheless government efforts to eliminate child labor have affected only a small fraction of children in the workplace. A Supreme Court decision increased penalties for employers of children in hazardous industries to $430 (20,000 Rs) per child employed and established a welfare fund for formerly employed children. The Government is required to find employment for an adult member of the child's family or pay $108 (5,000 Rs) to the family instead. According to the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS), authorities are pursuing some 6,000 cases against employers. The Supreme Court ruling also has helped make local government officials more aware of the prohibitions against child labor in hazardous industries. This in some cases has helped improve cooperation between local officials and NGO's like SACCS that are removing children from hazardous workplaces. In the hand-knotted carpet producing area of Uttar Pradesh, the NHRC and NGO's have worked with the state government to establish a task force for the elimination of child labor. In Bhadohi district, Uttar Pradesh, SACCS and local law enforcement officials released 11 child laborers from work on looms for the production of hand-knotted carpets and initiated legal proceedings against the employer. During 2000, SACCS helped release approximately 135 child laborers in Bhadohi district alone. Since 1999 SACCS has freed over 34,000 children from the work force; it also operates an education and training center for children in New Delhi. In 1999 and 2000, SACCS freed 541 child laborers throughout the country through raids with law enforcement authorities on illegal workplaces. SACCS's intervention with parents resulted in the release of an additional 2,758 children, and its referral of cases to law enforcement agencies resulted in the release of 3,994 more child laborers over the same period. In many cases, charges were brought against the employers under the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. According to the Tamil Nadu Labor Department, 155 child laborers were freed from illegal workplaces between April and October 1999, out of the 10,118 child laborers identified in 2 surveys carried out in the state in 1997. State labor officials acknowledged that many more child laborers exist in the state.

Estimates of the number of child laborers range widely. The Government census of 1991 puts the number of child workers at 11.28 million. The ILO estimates the number at 44 million, while NGO's state that the figure is 55 million. Most, if not all, of the 87 million children not in school do housework, work on family farms, work alongside their parents as paid agricultural laborers, work as domestic servants, or otherwise are employed.

Employers in some industries also have taken steps to combat child labor. The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), a quasi governmental organization that receives funding from the Ministry of Textiles, has a membership of 2,500 exporters who have subscribed to a code of conduct barring them from purchasing hand-knotted carpets known to have been produced with child labor. The CEPC conducts inspections to insure compliance, and allows members to use voluntarily a government-originated label to signify adherence to the code of conduct. Rugmark, which is a private initiative, operates a similar voluntary label scheme. Rugmark has 228 exporter members who buy carpets from the 28,118 looms registered with Rugmark. However, the CEPC states that even with the program it is impossible to ensure that a carpet has been produced without child labor, given the difficulties of monitoring a decentralized and geographically dispersed industry. A private-sector research and consulting firm conducts the inspections, which cover only 10 percent of registered looms. The inspectors have difficulty locating unregistered looms. The Government also cooperates with UNICEF, UNESCO, the UNDP, and the ILO in its efforts to eliminate child labor. The Government participates in the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). Approximately 90,000 children have been removed from work and have received education and stipends through IPEC programs since they began in the country in 1992.

The NHRC, continuing its own child labor agenda, organized NGO programs to provide special schooling, rehabilitation, and family income supplements for children in the glass industry in Firozabad. The NHRC also intervened in individual cases.

The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The directive principles of the Constitution declare that "the State shall endeavor to secure...to all workers...a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities." Laws set minimum wages, hours of work, and safety and health standards. Laws governing minimum wages and hours of work generally are observed in industries subject to the Factories Act but largely are unenforced elsewhere and do not ensure acceptable conditions of work for the 90 percent of the work force not subject to the Factories Act.

The Factories Act establishes an 8-hour workday, a 48-hour workweek, and various standards for working conditions. These standards generally are enforced and accepted in the modern industrial sector, but tend not to be observed in older and less economically robust industries. State governments are responsible for enforcement of the Factories Act. However, the large number of industries covered by a small number of factory inspectors and the inspectors' limited training and susceptibility to bribery result in lax enforcement.

The enforcement of safety and health standards also is poor. Although occupational safety and health measures vary widely, in general state and central government resources for inspection and enforcement of standards are adequate. However, as awareness grows, the courts have begun to take work-related illnesses more seriously.

Industrial accidents continued to occur frequently due to improper enforcement of existing laws. Chemical industries are the most prone to accidents. According to the Director General of Mines' safety rules, mining companies must seal the entrances to abandoned underground mines and opencast mines are to be bulldozed and reforested. These rules seldom are obeyed, if ever. According to the Government, during the period from April to September 2000, 90 persons were killed in mining accidents. In February the collapse of a mine wall led to the death of more than 30 miners. An investigation into the cause of the disaster began during the year. Illegal mining is rampant. Oswal Fertilizer Ltd.'s (OFL) Diamonium Phosphate fertilizer plant at Paradip, Orissa, began operations in May 2000. Eleven workers died during the plant's construction; an additional 6 persons were killed and 51 others were injured in a series of accidents at the plant between May and September 2000. None of the workers were using safety equipment. Seven criminal cases have been brought against OFL in connection with the accidents.

Safety conditions tend to be better in the EPZ's.

The law does not provide workers with the right to remove themselves from work situations that endanger health and safety without jeopardizing their continued employment.

Legal foreign workers are protected under the law; however, illegal foreign workers have no protection.

f. Trafficking in Persons

The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, trafficking in persons is a serious problem. NGO's allege that corruption at the enforcement level helps to perpetuate the problem. The country is a significant source, transit point, and destination for numerous trafficked persons, primarily for the purposes of prostitution and forced labor. The country is a destination country for Nepali and Bangladeshi women and girls trafficked for the purpose of labor and prostitution. Internal trafficking of women and children is widespread. To a lesser extent, India is a country of origin for women and children trafficked to other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the West. The country serves as a transit point for Bangladeshi girls and women trafficked for sexual exploitation to Pakistan, and for boys trafficked to the Gulf States to work as camel jockeys.

The Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), supplemented by the Penal Code, prohibits trafficking in human beings and contains severe penalties for violations. The Constitution also prohibits trafficking in persons. The PITA toughened penalties for trafficking in children, particularly by focusing on traffickers, pimps, landlords, and brothel operators, while protecting underage girls as victims. The PITA requires police to use only female police officers to interrogate girls rescued from brothels. The PITA also requires the Government to provide protection and rehabilitation for these rescued girls. In addition, under the PITA prostitution is not a crime; the PITA criminalizes only solicitation or engaging in sex acts in or near a public place. Some NGO's note that this ambiguity, which was intended to protect trafficking victims, instead has been exploited to protect the sex industry.

However, the country's prostitution and trafficking laws are imposed selectively by police; clients and organizers of the sex trade tend not to be penalized, while prostitutes found soliciting or practicing their trade in or near (200 meters) public places are penalized. Due to the selective implementation the "rescue" of sex workers from brothels often leads to their revictimization.

INDIA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

INDIA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, India – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)