An Awareness Session on Health and Good Working Conditions for Women Workers was jointly organized by the Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, TEA, and UN Women Empowerment Asia on 09 December 2025 at BNT Innovations (P) Ltd. The objective of the session was to address key issues related to the health, safety, and working conditions of women workers in the garment industry.
Mrs. Sumita Ravi, Special Invitee, TEA, and Member, Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, TEA, welcomed all the participants.
Mr. Kumar Duraiswamy, Joint Secretary, TEA, shared his insights on workplace safety and the health of women workers in the garment sector. He highlighted that women constitute nearly 65% of the workforce in the garment industry, with approximately 4.5 to 5 lakh women employed in various roles across Tirupur. He emphasized the growing need for safety measures and health awareness, especially considering the increasing diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease, mental health issues, and kidney-related conditions.
He also noted that India is becoming the “diabetes capital of the world” due to insufficient awareness regarding healthy food choices. As part of TEA’s Women Empowerment initiatives, this awareness program aims to address such concerns. He further announced that in the next 2 to 3 months, the Sub-Committee plans to reach 5,000 women workers through similar awareness sessions. This inaugural event was hosted at the factory of the Chairman, Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, BNT Innovations (P) Ltd. He concluded by expressing his hope that many more such impactful programs would take place in the upcoming years.
Mr. M. Anand, Joint Secretary, TEA, explained that the primary aim of the awareness session is to educate women workers on women’s dignity, safety, physical health, and good working conditions. He reiterated that women – both native and migrant are the backbone of the garment industry’s production workforce. Migrant workers, often face communication barriers, particularly language-related challenges, which hinder their ability to express physical and mental health concerns. He called participants to openly share the issues they face so that appropriate interventions can be taken by the management. He concluded by wishing the Women Empowerment Sub-Committee success in extending this initiative across more factories to reach greater numbers of women workers.
Ms. Uma, Technical Specialist, UN Women and Ms. Prasiddha, Technical Expert, UN Women started their awareness session, covering the following key topics:
1. Communicable and non-communicable diseases: prevention, symptoms, and treatment guidelines.
2. Mental health and well-being: maintaining peace of mind and emotional balance for improved productivity.
3. Health and nutrition for women workers.
4. Anemia: common causes and dietary measures to overcome it.
5. Work–life balance, including managing family and work responsibilities effectively.
Mrs. Shrutika Sethu Madhavan, Chairman, Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, delivered the Vote of Thanks and appreciated the contributions of all participants, speakers, and organizers.
Mrs. V. Surithi, Vice-Chairman, Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, Mrs. P. Suganthi, member of Women Empowerment Sub-Committee, Mr. Sethu Madhavan, Managing Director of BNT Innovations (P) Ltd and over 60 women workers attended the event.
