Photo credit: Tej Prakash Bhardwaj
Sixty-year-old perfume craftsman Mohd Zaffer works in extreme heat, tending furnaces that power Kannauj’s traditional attar-making industry, often without protection in poorly ventilated, smoke-filled workshops. His situation reflects the wider risks faced by millions of India’s MSME workers, who endure hazardous heat exposure in cramped, tin-roofed factories, especially during record-breaking heatwaves. Despite rising deaths and illness linked to heat, India’s labour laws and heat action plans remain vague and “general,” failing to address the specific dangers faced by vulnerable workers in industries like perfumery, bakeries, and textiles.