Crushed fingers, delayed aid: Invisible injuries in India’s auto sector

More than 7,000 auto-sector workers have suffered severe workplace injuries since 2016, mostly in the supply chains of India’s top automobile brands. But injuries and owner negligence remain underreported, says a report by non-profit Safe In India

Sanskriti Talwar

Bhoodevi and her husband Somendra Singh lost their fingers while operating a power press at auto manufacturing companies in Gurugram. Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

GURUGRAM, Haryana: Bhoodevi had not completed even a month at work when she lost three of her fingers.

That morning, since starting her shift at 8 am at an auto components factory in Gurugram, she had already shaped 300 metal pieces for a JCB machine. After a short tea break at 10 am, she returned and completed eight more. She was reaching for the ninth one when the machine came crashing down on her right hand. It was her 27th day at the factory.

“The component was as thick as an arm,” she recalled, sitting on a bed in her rented room in Begumpur Khatola village, Gurugram. “I tried to pull it towards me, but it wouldn’t move. When I pushed it slightly backwards, the machine descended on my hand.” The 37-year-old, wrists adorned with green glass bangles, glanced down ruefully at the stumps of her amputated middle, ring and little fingers.

Bhoodevi, a native of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, still works at Premisha Udyog Pvt Ltd, located in the same area where she lives. “I joined the company on August 7, 2023, and on September 2, I lost my fingers,” she said. The machine that injured her was a power press, used to cut, bend or shape metal sheets by slamming a heavy plate onto a mould. In many small factories, these machines are manually operated with a foot pedal or hand lever, and often lack basic safety features like guards or sensors.

Workers that The Migration Story spoke to said that safety guards were usually left out because factory owners believed they slowed down production. This callous cost-cutting measure, they said, leaves the door open to immense danger—if a worker’s hand is still inside when the press descends, the result can be devastating, often crushing or amputating fingers. Workers also pointed out that such injuries were often the result of poor maintenance of old machines.

In Bhoodevi’s case, a chabi or pin meant to stop the press from descending had broken. The chabi essentially acts as a brake that stops the wheel from moving. When the pedal is pressed, a stopper lifts, allowing the wheel to rotate, which in turn causes the press to come down.

Bhoodevi had sensed something was wrong with the machine earlier that day and had alerted the floorman. “It was making a kat-kat sound (a loud clattering sound) jaise shaadi ki baaraat karti hai (like the drumbeats of a wedding procession passing by),” she said. “The floorman told me to run it in front of him. Since it worked fine then, he walked away.”

After the accident, she was rushed first to a private medical practitioner, then to the Ayushman Hospital and Trauma Centre. “The doctor said my fingers were no longer fit for work and suggested that they be amputated,” she said. “I told him to just do something, anything, because I was in such pain.” 

At the hospital, the company owner visited her. “It wasn’t your fault or ours. It was written in your fate,” he told her. In the company’s accident report, it was stated that a trolley had accidentally run over the power press pedal. 

Bhoodevi’s fingers were amputated that Saturday night. She took Sunday off. On Monday, she returned to work. 

“The doctor said my fingers were no longer fit for work. I told him, ‘I’m in pain, do something, anything.’ Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

DATA GAP

Bhoodevi’s story is not an isolated one. According to the Safe in India Foundation (SII), a non-profit that assists injured workers in the auto sector with healthcare and compensation, what befell her is part of a much larger, underreported crisis unfolding across India’s small auto-manufacturing hubs. These factories supply parts to major brands such as Maruti, Honda, Hero, Mahindra, Tata, Bajaj and others.

According to the government policy think-tank Niti Aayog, the auto sector contributes nearly 7% to India’s GDP and is one of its largest employers, supporting millions of direct and indirect jobs. In Haryana alone, hundreds of such small units have sprung up across the National Capital Region, including Gurugram, Manesar and Faridabad.

There are several kinds of suppliers—the Tier 1 dealers that sell directly to major brands  and the  Tier 2/ Tier 3/Tier 4 ones that are subcontracted work. With every descending tier, the workforce shrinks as does the likelihood of injuries being formally reported. Many injured workers, as a result, struggle to access benefits under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme, a central government body under the ministry of labour and employment that is supposed to give medical care and compensation to workers under a certain earning threshold.

In 2022, the ministry’s Directorate General, Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) recorded just 48 non-fatal factory injuries in Haryana. That same year, SII supported over 1,050 injured workers, more than 20 times the official count.

The gap has only widened. In 2023, SII helped 1,033 injured workers. In 2024, the number rose to 1,247, all in Haryana. Government injury data for these years is yet to be released.

India’s Factories Act, 1948 requires employers to ensure basic safety and report serious injuries or equipment failures to the state labour department. But compliance remains weak. “Government data significantly underrepresents the scale of factory injuries,” said Sandeep Sachdeva, co-founder and CEO of SII. “DGFASLI figures are based on accident notices filed by factories, which are rarely audited and often underreported.”

Sachdeva said that since 2019, Safe in India had repeatedly urged ESIC and the ministry of labour to cross-check factory accident notices with ESIC injury claims, hospital medico-legal (MLC) records and labour inspector findings to identify unsafe factories and expedite compensation. “Most ESIC-covered injuries already exist in its database, which, if properly used, could provide a far more accurate picture,” he said. “This approach was even recommended in the Economic Survey 2024-25, and DGFASLI has acknowledged the need for such data convergence. But with inspectors now rebranded as ‘inspector-cum-facilitator’, the deterrent effect of surprise inspections has weakened, reducing pressure on factories to report accidents honestly.”

37-year-old Bhoodevi glancing at the stumps of her amputated middle, ring and little fingers.

Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

OF DISABILITY BENEFIT, UNREAL TARGETS AND A HAWAN

According to Crushed 2025, a report by SII, more than 7,000 auto-sector workers have suffered severe injuries since 2016, most often losing an average of two fingers. Many of these incidents occurred in the supply chains of India’s top automobile brands.

The majority of those injured were migrant workers. In Haryana, nearly 87% in the period 2019-2024 came from other states, mostly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In Maharashtra, where interstate migration was relatively lower from 2022-2024 (around 62%), many came from within the state, from places like Nagpur, Nashik and Solapur.

Bhoodevi is one among these. She and her family of eight moved from Garhi Rampal village in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, to Gurugram in 2019 in search of work. Up until then, she and her husband Somendra Singh, had been farming on leased land, but it was not profitable. “We had nothing there,” she said. During the lockdown, her parents helped marry off two of her elder daughters.

Before joining the automobile company, Bhoodevi had never worked on a power press. “I was in need of work when I went to ask for a job,” she said, “The company told me I would have to operate the power press. I thought, if others are doing it, I can too. In majboori (helplessness), I started working on it without any training.”

Since her accident, Bhoodevi has been made a permanent employee and now works on a sensor-based machine. Her salary is Rs 9,500 for 26 days of work, but to earn more, she works all seven days a week and puts in four overtime hours above her eight-hour shift, working from 8 am to 8 pm every day. This brings her monthly income to Rs 14,500. 

In addition, she receives a daily pension of Rs 114.90 for her injury, as a permanent disablement benefit  which took nearly a year to come through under the ESIC process. SII said that it typically took at least six months to process a disability pension, and if there was any error in the accident report, even a misspelling, the process could stretch to a year or more.

Bhoodevi and her husband Somendra live with their four children in a 10x12 room they rent in Begumpur Khatola village, Gurugram.  Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

For a while, Bhoodevi and Somendra—who also took a job in an auto parts factory from February 2024—were able to make ends meet, bringing home nearly Rs 30,000 a month for a short while. But barely five months later, Somendra too suffered an injury on the job. The tip of his right index finger was cut off when the press he was working on came down in a double stroke.

The accident occurred at Shree Mudrika Metals, also located in their area in Gurugram. The company was sourcing parts to Sandhar Automotive, which further supplied them to Hero.

“It was just my luck that I was placing the piece with one finger,” Somendra said, sitting on a sofa across from Bhoodevi. “When a machine is strong enough to crush and bend iron, how would it stop for a human hand?”

Somendra, who had previous experience operating a power press, said he had informed his supervisor that the pin had worn out and the machine could double-stroke. “The supervisor said it wouldn’t happen, and within half an hour, it did,” he recalled. “I was really angry that he didn’t listen to me.”

Being already familiar with the paperwork required after a workplace injury because of his wife’s accident, Somendra acted quickly. After seeing a private medical practitioner, he asked the supervisor to report the accident and initiate his ESIC claim.

The tip of Somendra’s right index finger was cut off when the press came down in a double stroke.

Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

In March 2025, Somendra began working for Service Engineering Industries, which makes parts for Maruti. But the conditions there, he said, weren’t any better. “In the month of July alone, four operators were injured while working on the power press,” he said.

The owner’s response to this was unreal: he assumed that his planets weren’t favourable and held a hawan, said Somendra. However, the causes of the accidents are far more tangible and remediable—the pin that gave way and caused Somendra a finger pin costs just Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 to replace, said workers.

Somendra said the cases of crushed fingers began occurring the day the company set a target of 5,000 pieces in 10 hours. “Both men and women panic under the pressure to meet production targets,” he said. “Ideally, a job card should be issued for each machine,  mentioning an hourly output depending on the type of piece. But this system isn’t followed at many companies.”

The Economic Survey 2024–25 highlights that improving workplace safety through Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations not only protects workers but also boosts productivity. It calls OSH an investment that enhances business efficiency and contributes to long-term economic growth.

“When it comes to quality, automobile brands routinely engage with suppliers to identify and resolve issues,” said Dr Sunil Pahilajani, a strategic advisor in the auto and auto-components sector. “If such engagement is possible for quality, it is equally feasible for safety. Brands have both the responsibility and the capability to ensure safety standards across their supply chains. The only question is whether they have the willingness to act.”

Lalit Jain, former senior advisor (Special Projects) at Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said that investing in workers’ safety was ultimately profitable for companies but the problem was their outdated mindset. “A few Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers have begun to understand that safety is an investment, not a cost,” he said. “But many still view safety equipment, sensors and guards as expenses that eat into profits. This outdated thinking remains deeply entrenched in Indian industry.”

The Migration Story reached out to Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors over email on July 22, seeking their response to supply chain safety practices (the implementation of protection measures through the entire supply chain). The story will be updated when a response is received.

[Left to Right] Saira Banu, Kachan Sharma, Rajesh Kumar – all migrants from Uttar Pradesh – who lost their fingers while operating a power press. Pic credit: Safe in India

‘WHO CAN I SHARE THIS PAIN WITH’

Somendra has not been going to work at his second job after seeing the spate of accidents there. “He’s scared of going back,” said Bhoodevi. With him at home, the burden of running the household has fallen entirely on her.

“How will I bring up my children? It is not possible with just my earnings. I also have to save for my younger daughters’ weddings,” she said worriedly. Bhoodevi pays a monthly rent of Rs 3,500 for their 10 x 12 room and another Rs 1,500 for electricity.

“The company doesn’t even pay the daily wage mandated by the Haryana government,” she added. “As a permanent worker, I should be getting Rs 12,000 per month for an eight-hour shift. But they only pay me what a helper gets.”

According to Safe in India, Bhoodevi should be getting even more: her work qualifies her for the Skilled A category, which would entitle her to a minimum monthly wage of Rs 13,000 for an eight-hour shift as per Haryana’s revised minimum wage rates. But since she received no formal training by the company, she is seen by it as a semi-skilled worker and is paid less. Gender also plays a role—despite making the same number of pieces per hour that male operators do, she is paid less. The male workers in her company receive Rs 12,000 a month for the same work, Bhoodevi said. 

Her challenges don’t end with low wages. Her injuries have affected even the most basic tasks of everyday life.

“I can’t cook anymore,” she said. “I just put the tadka (seasoning). I can’t cut a potato with a knife. It's difficult to hold one so I mostly cut it in half. I can’t lift a chapati. That makes me want to cry. In winter, we used to make bajra chapatis like we did in our village. I can’t manage that now. When the kids dirty their clothes, and I pick up the scrubbing brush to clean them, it slips from my hand. Who can I share this pain with? Only I know what I’m going through.”

Now, most of the household chores from cooking to cleaning are taken care of by Bhoodevi’s 18-year-old daughter Payal. None of her children go to school, as the family can’t afford to pay private school fees and the nearest government school is two kilometres away from where they live. 

Nearly every one of the eight injured workers this reporter spoke to said they feared being dismissed if they raised concerns collectively or demanded entitlements like proper wages or safety gear. “If we go together to speak up, they’ll just tell us to leave,” said Saira Banu, 32, a migrant from Aligarh, who lost two fingers on her right hand while working at an auto manufacturing company in Faridabad.

A native of Fawara village in Bihar’s West Champaran district, Biru moved to Gurugram in 2020 after his father passed away and began working in an auto manufacturing company to support his family of three back home. Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

It took Biru Kumar, 25, nearly a month to adjust to his partially amputated left index finger after an accident in April 2023, and almost a year to overcome his fear of operating the power press, although he resumed work just three weeks after the mishap.

“I stay very alert now,” he said. “If I sense that something is off with the machine, I inform the in-charge. I stay away from stress even if it means making fewer pieces in a day. Earlier, I used to work under a lot of pressure.”

A native of Fawara village in Bihar’s West Champaran district, Biru moved to Gurugram in 2020 after his father passed away from cancer. A neighbour already working in the auto sector encouraged him to shift in order to support his family of three.

Since then, Biru has lived in Khandsa village, renting a 10x12-feet room he shares with another worker for Rs 3,000 a month. He now works at Rico Auto Industries, where his  accident happened.

Since Biru is a casual worker hired through a contractor based in Okhla, Delhi, he has to take leave from work and travel over 40 km every time he is summoned to attend to the paperwork for his ESIC claim. He earns Rs 11,000 a month for an eight-hour shift, after the contractor’s cut. To make ends meet, he puts in 12-hour days, working from 6 am to 6 pm. “I wouldn’t be able to save anything without overtime,” he said.

Biru Kumar, 25, was injured in April 2023 while operating a power press. Sanskriti Talwar/The Migration Story

The long shifts leave him with little time. “My whole day goes in the company,” he said. “After I come back, I just cook, eat, talk to my family and sleep. I’m losing touch with most of the family. It’s affecting my relationships.” Biru was married in February this year. 

He has thought about switching to a job in another field but says there is nothing else he knows. “If I do take up another job, I’ll have to start again from zero,” he said.

Biru hopes to work for a few more years and eventually return to his village to run a small kirana (grocery) store. “Maybe I will, once things get a little better and my arthik sthiti (financial situation) improves a bit,” he said.

The Haryana Labour Welfare Board, under its Disability Assistance for Registered Workers scheme, provides a one-time disability grant to workers who suffer injuries in workplace accidents. The compensation is Rs 1 lakh for up to 50% disability, Rs 2 lakh for 51% to 70% disability, and Rs 3 lakh for injuries above 71%.

Rajesh Kumar, deputy superintendent at the Haryana Labour Welfare Board, said they received workplace injury cases under both the Shops Act and the Factories Act. The auto sector falls under the latter.

“The system is the same for both,” he explained. “In case of a workplace accident, the worker needs to fill an online form. Once submitted, and if eligible, the compensation is directly transferred to their account. The medical board certifies the extent of injury, say 50% or 70%, and based on that, we process the payment. From the date of the medical certificate’s issuance, the worker has up to two years to submit the form.”

Kumar says that delays in the disbursement happen because the forms are filled late. “When someone is injured, how can they run around filling forms instead of getting treatment?” he pointed out. “Also, barring the IT sector, nearly 80% of workers are not well educated. We conduct awareness camps to help with this. When companies request it, we send teams to hold these sessions.”

Both Bhoodevi and Biru are eligible for the Rs 1 lakh grant. The grants are under process and they are awaiting them.

The Migration Story reached out to all the auto manufacturing companies where workers had been injured, seeking their comments on why such accidents occurred and what safety measures were in place to prevent them.

However, Premisha Udyog Pvt Ltd and Shree Mudrika Metals, where Bhoodevi and Somendra were injured respectively, could not be reached despite repeated attempts. Rico Auto Industries, where Biru currently works, denied that any such an incident had ever occurred at their facility. Service Engineering Industries, where Somendra is now employed, disconnected the call upon hearing the query.

Edited by Radha Rajadhyaksha

Sanskriti Talwar is an independent journalist based in New Delhi. She reports on human rights, gender, sustainability and rural issues from the northern regions of India. She is a mentee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Just Transition reporting programme.