Editorial 1 : Analysing labour on a warming planet
Context
The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) latest report, ‘Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate’, is an urgent call to ensure the future of labour is climate proofed and to address the constantly evolving work environment as the planet warms.
The emerging hazards
- The ILO has identified six key impacts of climate change.
- They are — excessive heat, solar ultraviolet radiation, extreme weather events, workplace air pollution, vector-borne diseases and agrochemicals.
- The ILO mentions agriculture workers, workers in the construction sector, conservancy workers in cities and those employed in transport and tourism as most affected by climate change.
- It is also important to take note of the global rise in gig employment, which is highly heat-susceptible.
- Gig workers constitute about 1.5% of India’s total work force, which is projected to grow to about 4.5% by 2030, according to a Nasscom study.
- In the Indian context, all these segments put together suggest that about 80% of the country’s 2023 workforce of 600 million is susceptible to heat-related hazards.
Sectors affected
- Agriculture is by far the most heat susceptible sector globally, particularly so in the developing world, where informal farm labourers work with little to no weather protection.
- Agriculture is followed by India’s sprawling Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector that employs about 21% of the country’s workforce, or more than 123 million workers.
- The overwhelming informalisation of the sector has meant little to no oversight of worker conditions by State Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) departments, leaving them highly vulnerable to heat hazards.
- Workers here must cope with the urban heat island effect, as construction is a highly urban-centric economy, with rising growth in cities.
- Construction workers are also the most prone to physical injuries and air pollution related health hazards, like asthma, as several Indian cities are among the most polluted globally.
Laws addressing workplace safety and issues
- A range of more than 13 central laws in India including, the Factories Act, 1948, the Workmen Compensation Act, 1923, the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, the Mines Act, 1952 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, regulate working conditions across several sectors.
- These laws were consolidated and amended in September 2020 under one law — the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code, 2020).
- While several unions are critical of the new law for watering down safety and inspection standards, the Union government is yet to officially notify its enforcement. This has meant that unions and the judiciary continue to rely on the older laws to seek redress and accountability.
- The overwhelming majority of India’s 64 million MSMEs are not registered under this law, and are therefore outside the purview of governmental inspections.
- When it comes to dealing with occupational heat, the Factories Act broadly defines “ventilation and temperature” and leaves it to the States to decide optimal standards based on specific industries.
- However, these regulations were framed more than five decades back.
- Amendments are also required to address the handling of effluents and byproducts disposal, as they could significantly impact human health based on temperature.
- A significant occupational illness to be addressed in the coming decades would be the possible rise in silicosis cases.
- Silicosis is a fatal and incurable pulmonary disease caused by what is commonly called “lung dust”, the fine particulate matter emitted in the mines of coal, precious gems like quartz and diamonds and stone quarries.
- India is set to record its highest coal production ever in the financial year 2023-24 and has expanded the number of mines to meet rising power demand, leading to an increase in the probability of silica exposure.
Conclusion
Often the link between labour productivity, human health and climate change gets scant attention, as the focus remains on economic and infrastructure resilience. The ILO report points to the need to ensure a universally accepted regulatory framework to climate-proof work and workers.
Editorial 2 : An animal protection Bill that must be moved in June
Context
Countries across the world are reforming their animal cruelty laws and enhancing punishments for animal cruelty. Recently, Croatia imposed stricter penalties for acts of cruelty, especially the abandonment of domestic pets.
On punishment theories
- Over the years, much has been discussed about the inadequacies in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act (1960), the primary piece of legislation that criminalises various forms of cruelty towards animals in the country.
- Poor enforcement of this law and the meagre penalties it prescribes are often cited as reasons for its failure to achieve its main objective of preventing cruelty to animals.
- While this is true, there is more to this issue than meets the eye. When looked at through the lens of theories of punishment, the PCA Act seems woefully ineffective.
- According to the various theories of punishment, punishing someone for committing a crime could have three main goals: retribution (punishment imposed to avenge the crime committed); deterrence (punishment imposed to deter the perpetrator and the general public against committing such crimes in the future), and reformation or rehabilitation (punishment imposed to reform and shape the future behaviour of the perpetrator).
Bailable offences, weak fines
- In its present form, the PCA Act fails to achieve all of these. First, most of the offences under the Act are bailable and non-cognisable.
- Second, the amounts prescribed as fines under the PCA Act are the same as the ones prescribed in its predecessor, the PCA Act 1890.
- This means that the fines are insignificant (as low as ₹10 in many cases) as they have not undergone revision in over 130 years.
- Third, the law is worded in such a manner that the court dealing with the issue has the discretion to choose between imposing imprisonment or imposing a fine on the accused.
- This allows perpetrators of animal cruelty to get away with the most brutal forms of animal cruelty by just paying a fine in most cases.
- Finally, the law itself does not contain any provision for ‘community service’ such as prescribing volunteering at an animal shelter as a form of punishment, that could potentially reform the perpetrators.
- These shortcomings contribute towards making the PCA Act ineffective in punishing the crimes of animal cruelty.
Words to heed
- It is important, however, to recognise that even with its limitations, the enactment of the Draft Bill could be a huge step forward for animal law in India.
- India must set a great example to all countries in the world. We should set the example not because we think we are superior but because we have spoken about ahimsa far more than any other country.
- So the more we talk about it, the greater is the responsibility to put into practice.
Way forward
When the new government comes to power in June this year, it should accept this responsibility so that the amendments to the PCA Act (1960) will finally see the light of day.