“The section does not allow even a female entrepreneur who owns the factory to supervise her own staff during the night shift because the Act does not provide for it. In that case, she will be forced to employ a male supervisor for the night shift or she will have to shut down the night shifts in the factory,” the court said today.
“It is the state's duty to ensure safety of female workers in a factory. Even modalities with the help of factory owners can be worked out but safety can not alone be the grounds for not allowing women to work during the night.
“Factory owners should ensure safety and welfare of the women with adequate arrangements. Transportation facility for such workers should be provided to them,” the court said.
Mahila Utkarsh Trust's petition said as most male members had migrated to other places for work, women needed jobs. They had to do the household chores during the day, so they looked for jobs in the night shift.
Balaji Wafers contended that “employability” of women was higher in the food processing industry, as it involves cooking.
“We have 380 women out of total strength of 550. Our demand to extend the working hours for women till 10pm was also rejected by state government. Therefore, we challenged the same in High Court,” said Bhavesh Choksi, its lawyer.
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