Sudhir Katiyar, director of the Prayas Centre for Labour Research and Action, an organisation working for the welfare of cotton industry workers, said: “This hearing will have representation from nearly 200 affected labourers and the report will be submitted to the Gujarat government and the human rights commission for their intervention.”

Katiyar said the Labour department had been continuously apprised of the “indifferent” attitude of factory owners and contractors, issues relating to compensation and rehabilitation of injured workers, sexual exploitation of the women workforce, poor working conditions, negligence of safety norms and child labour. “Their response has been pathetic to say the least,” he said, adding: “R N Patel, Principal Secretary (Labour), has even refused to send any government representative to the public hearing.”

Patel, however, said: “We have got no formal complaint regarding any industrial accident in the cotton ginning factories. Our department will not be represented at these public hearings.”

The claim was contested by Prayas, which had submitted a detailed report, relating to the accidents, to the labour commissioner some time ago.