Indian automotive industry: A hidden world of hurt

As per a report by Safe India foundation, there have been 1,369 cases of serious injuries so far in the automotive industry in Gurugram and the number is still rising at the rate of 2 incidents per day.

The belt that starts from the outskirts of Delhi and stretches up to 80 kilometers into Dharuhera has over 200 automotive units and collectively accounts for 40 per cent of all passenger vehicles and two-wheelers produced in the country.

548 people have lost at least a finger, 234 have lost two, 133 have lost three, 73 have lost four and 17 have lost all five.

According to the report by Safe India foundation, 12 out of 150 workers have lost their arm, while the rest have either injured or fractured their arm. Out of 89 workers 20 have lost a hand, while the rest have fractured or injured a hand.

A majority (87 per cent) were migrants, contractual (70 per cent) and below 30 years of age (66 per cent). Twelve per cent are below 20 years of age. Unlike permanent employees, contractual workers get much less compensation and enjoy a much lax social security net. They are also invariably not part of any union who can fight for their rights.

Bulk of the injuries - 83 per cent happened because the machines either did not have safety sensors or they were malfunctioning. About 47 per cent of the workers lacked or had poor-quality safety gear and 52 per cent of the accidents happened in only one type of machine -- the power press.

Ominously 48 per cent of the workers felt excessive  production pressure from their supervisors, an obvious fallout of the break-neck speed at which the automobile industry has grown over the last two decades in India.

Of the 1,369 workers that have been chronicled by NGO SafetyinIndia, 963 were in factories supplying to Maruti, 646 to Hero MotoCorp and 723 to HMSI (Honda motorcycles and scooters). This does not really come as a surprise as these three are the predominant automobile companies functioning in the region.