Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

Research Studies and Projects
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processing activities and those falling in the age group of 8 to 14 years engaged in beedi rolling
activities from 10 villages which covers about 40% of the villages where beedis are being made.
In addition to this, information has also been elicited from the parents of child labourers,
contractors, employers, panchayat functionaries, school teachers, block development authorities,
sub-divisional officials and district social welfare officials.
12.16 The CSRA has submitted its interim report to the Commission. Some of the highlights
of the interim report are that children are the worst sufferers as they get minimum wages of
Rs.5/- for making 1,000 beedis per day. Most of the families whose children make beedis
live below the poverty line. The principal employers work through their contractors who in
turn employ workers in a village or a cluster of villages. About 10% of the beedis rolled by
the children are arbitrarily taken away as ‘standard deduction’ by the contractor on the
pretext of replacing defective beedis made by children. This results in deduction of daily
wages of children. For this research, the NHRC has sanctioned financial assistance of
Rs.1,88,000/-.
C] Freedom Mortgaged and Future Abandoned: Bonded
Child Labour in Karnataka’s Silk Industry
12.17 The Commission has entrusted the above research study to the Institute of Social
and Economic Change, Bangalore. The main aim of the research is to analyze the household
conditions contributing to the occurrence of bonded child labour in the silk industry of
Karnataka and thereby make an overall assessment of the magnitude of bonded child labour
engaged in sericulture in Karnataka. In addition to this, it would analyze the policies and
programmes of the Government and non-governmental organizations in promoting child
rights and eliminating bonded child labour in the silk industry. The total cost of the study
would be Rs.3,60,367/-.
D] Pilot Study of the Socio-Economic, Political and Cultural
Status of Dalit Women in Haryana
12.18 The Commission had reported in its preceding annual report that it had approved a Pilot
Study entitled “Socio-Economic, Political and Cultural Status of Dalit Women in Haryana”
submitted by Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana). The objectives of the study
are to –
●
survey the socio-cultural and economic status of dalit women through field studies in selected
districts in the State of Haryana;
●
identify the impediments faced by the dalit women in attaining all round development in
social, economic and political field;
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