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

The gem polishing export industry of India: Jaipur and Trichy
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1981, which lists all the major industries of Jaipur, does not mention the gem industry at all. The
minimum wages notification of the Government of Rajasthan of February 17, 1987, lists many
industries but the gem industry is not mentioned anywhere' 132 . The gem industry should, however,
regulate child labour according to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of 1986.
Employment of children under 14 years of age is not prohibited in the gem polishing industry
according to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of 1986. The former Government
did not declare the industry as hazardous. In the former Government's National Child Labour
Policy of 1987, however, the gem polishing industry in Jaipur was declared, together with nine
other regional industries, as an area with a high concentration of child labour. Therefore, the gem
polishing industry in Jaipur, like the other nine child labour areas, was identified by the former
Government in the Policy for priority action to tackle the problem of child labour. It was perceived
that working in the gem polishing industry has a detrimental effect on a child's health and
overall development, and, hence, children should not be employed in this industry.
The objective of the National Child Labour Policy is to eliminate child labour in ten selected
industries through non-formal education, employment- and income-generating schemes for poor
parents of working children, and creating awareness on the negative aspect of child labour. It was
also aimed to step up the enforcement of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of
1986 (in relation to all child labour, whether it concerned the aspect of prohibition or regulation),
the Factories Act of 1984, and other legislation existing in the different states in India. The core
of the program is the establishment of special schools to provide the ex-working children, weaned
from the selected industries falling under the Policy, with education, vocational training, supplementary
nutrition, health care etc. A stipend was given to the parents to compensate for the
income of the removed child worker and to promote school enrolment. The Policy envisaged the
provision of free and compulsory education to all the children up to the age of 14 by 1995. What
has been achieved since the Child Labour Policy of 1987?
One study on the child labour problem in Jaipur reveals that poverty 133 of the families is not the
main reason why parents send their children to work instead of sending them to school. It was
found that the attitude of parents mattered in sending their children under 14 years either to
school or to work, regardless of their income. The study reveals that poor parents were even prepared
to send their children to the work even if the child is not getting paid, with the hope that the
child will eventually be trained in an occupation which is more remunerative. These poor parents
were not so much dependent on the wage of their children, and found education not relevant. The
attitude of many parents was that if their children learn a craft at an early age, they would earn a
higher wage at a younger age.
The child labour problem in the gem polishing industry in general, whether it is in Jaipur or
Trichy, still continues today. For both the child labour areas this indicates a gap between the policies
and the legislations on one hand, and a lack of enforcement of the legislation on the other
hand. The children are deprived of free and meaningful primary education, their health gets
affected, and their childhood is polished away at an early age.
91
132 Neera Burra, Economic and Political Weekly, January 23, 1988 (II).
133 Neera Burra, Born to Work, Child Labour in India, 1995, pp. 99-107.