The vandalism inflicted by workers on the factory of Wistron, Apple Inc’s Taiwanese supplier, located 65 km from Bengaluru, earlier this month is a cautionary tale both for companies looking to relocate their manufacturing bases in India and for the state labour departments that oversee them. The incident represents an all-round failure — of the adequacy of the company’s HR establishment, the efficiency of the state labour inspection apparatus, and the redress mechanisms for worker complaints. It could also be regarded as a test case for the manufacturing expansion expected via the government’s signature production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes.
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