Vol. XVI Issue 2 April - June 2012 2012 Documentation ... - Nipccd

20. Venkateswarlu, Davuluri. (2010).
Seeds of child labour : child and adult labour in cottonseed production in
India. Washington : International Labour Rights Forum, Washington, DC.
~30 p.
http://www.indianet.nl/katoenz_e.html
Background: Hybrid Cotton seed production is highly labour intensive and
children, particularly girls, are engaged in most of its operations. No other
industry in India has such a high proportion of child labour in its work force. In
Cotton seed production, cross pollination is the main activity which requires 90
per cent of the total labour used in seed cultivation. Children are the main
source of labour for this activity. They are employed on a long term contract
basis through advances and loans extended to their parents by local seed
produces. Children are made to work long hours and are paid less. They are
exposed to the poisonous pesticides which are used in high quantities.
Objectives: To examine trends in the employment of child labour on hybrid
cotton seed farms in four states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Gujarat, through an analysis of recent developments that have a
bearing on the nature and magnitude of child labour and the working conditions
of labourers in the cotton seed industry.
Methods: The study is mainly based on the analysis of primary data collected
through field visits to 400 sample cotton seed farms in 76 villages producing
seed for both MNCs and major Indian seed companies in Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The category of probably children was
used when an investigator could not decide whether a worker was a child or not.
Findings: Most of the child labourers belonged to poor families from socially
backward and discriminated communities; in Andhra Pradesh children below 14
years accounted for 57.4 per cent of the total work force in 2003-04, this has
dropped to 29.8 per cent in 2009-10; the proportion of children in the age group
15-18 years to the total work force increased from 34.8 per cent to 39.3 per cent
in 2009-10; 70 per cent of the children labourers were girls; the proportion of
child labour to the total work force varied between 15 per cent to 45 per cent in
different regions of the state ; the proportion of child labour to the total work
force varied between 15-20 per cent in these areas; the large reduction in child
labour was the result of the combined efforts of the companies and civil society
groups; the wage rates paid to children, as well as adult labours, in cotton seed
farms are low compared to wage rates in other agricultural operations; the
monthly wage rate paid to child labourers varied between Rs 2500 to 3500
depending on their age and experience; girls were preferred for crosspollination,
weeding and harvesting operations which were labour-intensive and
35
__________________________________________________________________________________
DCWC Research Bulletin Vol. XVI April - June 2012