The Perilous Lives of Sugar Workers in Maharashtra

Growing abuses against sugar workers in Maharashtra, India, highlight a troubling reality where workers face violence, threats, and even kidnapping, revealing a cycle of exploitation amid international demand for sugar.

In the sugar fields of western India, laborers like Gighe Dutta face distressing choices that put their lives at risk. Dutta, 34, decided he and his wife would leave behind their grueling work in the cane fields when their daughter turned 12. However, upon expressing the desire to quit, he was met with violent resistance from his employer, who forcibly detained him for two days at a local mill, a facility that purportedly supplies sugar to well-known global brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsico, and Unilever.

Despite claims from local politicians and sugar barons that workers can freely leave their jobs, the reality is far different. Workers in Maharashtra find themselves without written contracts, rendering their employment precarious and their escape attempts fraught with danger. Many are subject to threats of violence, coercion, and even abduction, which has led to a pervasive atmosphere of fear that discourages reporting of such abuses.

Conditions in the sugar industry are notorious for a lack of formal oversight, leading to rampant exploitation and abuse. The absence of solid data on these human rights violations only complicates matters further, as workers are often too afraid to speak out against mistreatment. Friends and family members of the workers frequently note that the fear of retaliation suppresses any hope for justice or change.

Despite the hardships they face, workers continue to endure this situation because the alternative of fleeing is often shrouded in threats, violence, and severe backlash from their employers. Many laborers, including those like the Dutta family, endure these abusive conditions in the hope of creating a better future for their children, but the risks they face in doing so tell a different story: one of despair in the pursuit of freedom that too often results in a cycle of exploitation.