Child-and-adult-labour-in-the-export-oriented-garment-and-gem-polishing-industry-of-India

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The gem polishing export industry of India: Jaipur and Trichy
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an estimated 200,000 122 artisans are working. The total workforce includes 10,000 123 to 13,600 124
working children under 14 years of age of which 13,000 child labourers are Muslim and 600
children are Hindu. An estimate of the number of child labourers today (1996) is around 15,000-
20,000 125 . The majority of the total labour force is Muslim (95% 126 ). Trichy, in Tamil Nadu, is
among the 5% remaining other gem polishing centres in India where mainly synthetic gem stones
are cut, shaped and polished. It is estimated that out of the total workforce of around 60,000 artisans,
8,000-10,000 127 are under the age of 14 years. In this industry 'most of the working children
are bonded 128 child labourers' 129 .
It is in the gem polishing industry of Jaipur that recently experts have observed a great influx of
children due to a growing international demand for gem stones 130 . Parents see the gem polishing
industry as an avenue of upward mobility especially for their children 131 . Due to the increased international
demand, the gem polishing industry in India could expand. Though the expansion has
given employment to many people, unfortunately this has also led to the employment of more
children. Children are the cheapest form of labour for an employer and they can do the same work
adults can do. The industry is said to be the best employer in Jaipur with good wages and prospects.
Is that really true for the majority of workers and the children?
One is caught by the beauty and exact fineness of a polished ruby or emerald stone set in a jewellery.
It is difficult to believe that next to adults also children process these stones - often by hand -
and work for many hours per day. Eye strain, cut fingers and back ache, due to sitting for many
hours in the same cramped position, are often heard complaints of the workers. If one buys jewellery
or (semi-) precious gem stones the high price is hiding the toil and sweat of the children and
adults who, compared to that price, earn a pittance for processing the stones. It takes many hours
to make a tiny raw shaped stone into a shiny geometrically faceted gem stone. 'The gem industry
does not come under the purview of any labour law, be it the Minimum Wages Act (it was said
by people that wages are paid according to carat weight of the processed gem stones and minimum
wages can not be applied) or the Factories Act of 1984. The Jaipur district Census of
122 Estimate made by a teacher at a Special School in Jaipur, 1996.
123 The Gurupadaswamy Committee Report of 1979 (GOI 1981:9).
124 Neera Burra, 'Exploitation of Children in Jaipur Gem Industry. I: Structure of Industry'. In: Economic and Political Weekly, January 16,
1988, p. 76.
125 Estimate made by a teacher at a Special School for rehabilitation of ex-working children from the gem polishing industry in Jaipur,
1996.
126 Neera Burra, January 16, 1988 (I), ibid.
127 A Status Report on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu. Based on An Annotated Bibliography of Studies/Surveys on Child Labour in Tamil
Nadu, UNICEF, Madras, 1995. Written by R. Vidyasagar.
128 Refers to a situation when child (workers) are forced to work for an employer to pay back a loan their (grand)parents had taken from
him. Due to very low wages and an ever increasing interest they are often not allowed to leave the employment as they are not able to pay
back the loan.
129 Kapadia, K. (1995). The Profitability of Bonded Labour: The Gem-Cutting Industry in Rural South India. In: The Journal of Peasant
Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3, April 1995, pp. 446-483.
130 Neera Burra, Born to Work. Child Labour in India, 1995, p. 81.
131 ILO, August 1988. Report to the Government of India on a Programme of Action on Child Labour in Jaipur, Mandsaur and Markapur,
by Assefa Bequele; Neera Burra, Economic and Political Weekly, January 16, 1988 (I).