3 million tonne drop in sugar production, farmers' pay hit

Hearing a suo motu petition on the plight of sugarcane workers, court directs state to submit a compliance report by Nov 2025

- Saurabha Kulshreshtha

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday directed the state government to implement a series of welfare measures for sugarcane cutters, as per the suggestions of amicus curae Mihir Desai, during the next harvesting season, which runs from mid-October to late March.

The government must systematically register sugarcane workers under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, implement various laws and provisions including the Central Sector Scheme for the Rehabilitation of Bonded Laborers, and submit a compliance report by November 2025, said the division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice MS Karnik.

The court was hearing a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL) based on a 2023 newspaper report which highlighted the financial and sexual exploitation of nearly 1-1.2 million migrant workers engaged in the cutting, pruning and transportation of sugarcane in Maharashtra.

The workers migrate from drought-prone regions of the state like Vidarbha and Marathwada to the sugar belt in western Maharashtra every year as they have no means of livelihood in their villages during the lean agricultural period and are trapped in cyclical debt.

They endure extreme conditions at worksites, with no access to housing, drinking water, sanitation, health facilities and schools for their children, the PIL said.