WITH A DECADE of shop floor experience, Harlal is an expert in firing up and managing boilers in a textile factory. He has been working in Rajkot, Gujarat, one of the centres of the Indian textile industry. Despite the importance of his role and many years of service, Harlal was earning just Rs 350 for a day’s work. His wife made another Rs 200 a day from sweeping and cleaning the mill. The family lived in the mill despite the heat and smoke on the premises.
A year ago Harlal found himself accused of selling coal on the. . .