"The hidden cost", 06 Dec 2022

...Could you tell us about the key findings and statistics discovered while you were talking to these migrant workers?

Namrata Raju: When we talk about our report from Equidem’s side, it is a culmination of 18 months’ worth of work, where investigators who are from migrant worker communities themselves collected this data, and it is against a larger backdrop where there is a very high fear of reprisal among workers for speaking out about the experiences that they have been undergoing. It is also a context where trade unions are banned...

But, most unfortunately, what we saw in our report and what workers alleged was that their experience is a far cry from the image that is being touted of reform. And I do think that reform processes, just to simplify it, basically have two layers. The first layer is implementing policies and frameworks and ensuring those protections are there for workers...