Opposition asks Modi to look into Foxconn hiring practices

India’s opposition Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to question Foxconn about its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple supplier rejects married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.
The government has sought a detailed report from the state of Tamil Nadu, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn’s hiring practices.
The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper editorials and calls from women groups, including within Modi’s party, to investigate 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 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 disregarding our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, posted on X.
Apple, Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Congress letter.
The Reuters investigation found Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone plant on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.
Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.
Responding to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues.
All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.
Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form”.
Apple said all its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices were first raised in 2022 we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld”.
The Foxconn positions in India offer food and accommodation and a monthly paycheque of about $200.
In China, six online job ads reviewed by Reuters showed workers engaged in iPhone assembly at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant can earn $400-800 a month.
The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.
“While they don’t discriminate in China, can they do whatever in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party Of India (Marxist), another Modi opponent, told Reuters on Thursday. “Labour unions, women’s welfare organisations and democratic forces should raise their voice against this discrimination.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation party said this week that action must be taken against what it said were “exploitative and discriminatory (hiring) practice”.
On Friday the women’s wing of Modi’s ruling party urged the National Commission for Women to launch an investigation.
“It is imperative to conduct a thorough investigation into these claims and ensure that the rights of women employees at Foxconn Hon Hai are protected,” Vanathi Srinivasan, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s women’s wing wrote in a letter to the Commission, posted on X.
In response to the letter, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, wrote on X: “We are doing the needful.”
She did not elaborate.
The National Commission for Women has the authority to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other legislation, its website says.
It also has powers of a civil court to summon any person.
In the letter, Srinivasan referred to the reported hiring practices of Foxconn as a “grave issue”.
“It has come to our notice through various media sources that Foxconn has adopted discriminatory practices against married women,” Srinivasan wrote.
The letter also stated that it had come to the knowledge of the BJP’s women’s wing that women employees at Foxconn are not even allowed to use the washroom during working hours, and those who stay in hostels are not permitted to take leave.
Srinivasan’s letter did not elaborate on these points.
Earlier this week, Modi’s labour ministry said it has requested a report from the Labour Department of Tamil Nadu on the matter.
The hiring curbs at the iPhone plant show the challenge for both Apple and Foxconn in upholding their stated global standards of inclusion while expanding their supply chains in this fast-growing but largely conservative country.
Modi has previously called for removal of societal impediments that prevent many Indian women from getting jobs.