By Aditya Kalra and Praveen Paramasivam
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's opposition Congress on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to question Foxconn over its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple (NASDAQ:) supplier was turning away married women for iPhone assembly jobs in the country.
The government has sought a detailed report from Tamil Nadu state, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn's hiring practices. The story has sparked debates on television channels, newspaper editorials and calls from women's groups, including within Modi's party, for an investigation into the matter.
Congress lawmaker Karti P. Chidambaram wrote in a letter to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya that Foxconn receives “substantial incentives” from the federal government and that the company should be asked to explain its practices to ensure it complies with “Indian laws and values.”
“While foreign investment is crucial, it should not come at the cost of ignoring our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, published in x.
Apple and Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the congressional letter.
A Reuters investigation found that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main iPhone plant in India on the grounds that they have more family responsibilities than their single counterparts.
Foxconn recruiters and human resources sources cited family responsibilities, pregnancy and increased absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.
In response to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters flaws in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the problems. However, all of the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant took place in 2023 and 2024.
Foxconn said it “strongly rejects allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form.”
Apple said all of its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices first arose in 2022, we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure they are maintained.” our high standards.
Foxconn's jobs in India offer food and accommodation and a monthly salary of about $200. In China, six online job advertisements reviewed by Reuters showed that iPhone assembly workers at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant can earn between $400 and $800 a month. The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.
“While they don't discriminate in China, can they do whatever they want in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), another Modi opponent, told Reuters on Thursday.
“Trade unions, women's welfare organizations and democratic forces should raise their voices against this discrimination.”
The Communist Liberation Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) said this week that action must be taken against what it said were “exploitative and discriminatory (recruitment) practices.”
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