India has doubled the compensation for the death of power loom workers.The insurance coverage – two lakh rupees in case of a natural death and four lakh rupees for an accidental death – was rolled out this month, in addition to a disability compensation of two lakh rupees.

A single person, working 12 hours or more, often tends to six to nine looms inside cramped spaces, exposed to loud noise and injuries from the shuttle that moves at a high speed across the loom.

Workers often put in long hours because of erratic power supply, an issue that is being addressed by providing solar panels to factories. Workers are exposed to more than 100 decibels of sound - equivalent to the sound of a jackhammer or lawnmower - putting them at severe risk of hearing loss. Most workers die after they are no longer able to work and have returned to their villages.

Power looms contribute around 70 per cent of the total jobs in the textile industry, employing around 6.5 million people. Nearly 60 per cent of the fabrics and produced is exported.

The worker protection scheme, called PowerTex India, was launched in April and includes a helpline for workers and subsidies for employers to upgrade their machinery.