Bitter truths in Maharashtra’s sugar fields

July 31, 2023 12:08 am | Updated 10:29 am IST The High Court of Bombay has recently taken suo motu cognisance of the exploitation of the intra-State workforce that migrates seasonally from the drought-affected and water-scarce regions of Marathwada to the sugar-belt region of western Maharashtra. Sugar-belt shocker | The financial and sexual abuse of Maharashtra’s migrant workforce Though intra-State migrant workers form the backbone of the sugar cane industry and economic growth, they have remained critically marginalised and oppressed for several decades. The State government has to intervene in the prevalent exploitative structure of recruiting migrant workers in the sugar cane industry filed through the ‘Mukadam’. With expanded scope, the revised MTS can be used in the State’s sugar belt and other seasonal migration corridors to enumerate migrants, understand the dynamics and clearly delineate the specific needs and interventions. Another high priority area is addressing the plight of migrant women workers, and ensuring their health, safety and employment in the sugar cane labour market.