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

Child and adult labour in the gem polishing export industry of Jaipur
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constitutes a factory; they do not get paid for days they are ill or when there is no work. The huge
amounts of money which are involved in the business influences the power of the people involved.
During this study, quite a few times did experts in the field say that corruption takes place at
all the levels of the industry, even at the Airport where the Government is asking for commission
money.
The highly informal nature of the industry and the poor accessibility of the units make it
extremely difficult to check violations of human rights or general labour conditions. Labour
legislation happens to be difficult to implement. No labour union is active in the gem polishing
industry in Jaipur.
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6.2 Structure of the gem polishing industry
The gem polishing industry is a multi-tiered industry. The industry is controlled at three levels; at
the top of the industry is the exporter/trader, then comes the dalal or middleman, and at the end
come the actual artisans who are divided into three categories: master craftsmen, the ustad-contractors
and the workers. The child labourers, like the adult workers, have no bargaining power in
the industry. The gem polishing industry is labour-intensive and is completely informal.
The following diagram will give the structure of the industry at a glance.
Rough gem stones Importers Dalals Resale of Rough Exporters, traders, master
craftsmen, ustad-contractors and workers finished gem stones dalals traders, exporters,
gem & jewellery shop-owners.
Exporters sell finished goods to retailers and wholesalers in foreign countries, individual
buyers like tourists but also individual buyers who come to India for purchasing, exhibitions in
foreign countries.
Exporters
Exporters have either their own manufacturing unit or they subcontract the work out to other
manufacturing units where the master craftsman has his own work force. Due to the increased
international demand and the high foreign exchange earnings, this segment has increased
enormously over the years. The New Economic Policy of the former Government stimulated only
the (big) exporters of the industry by giving tax exemptions and incentives to facilitate the import
of raw materials and machinery.
According to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in Jaipur, the number
of registered units of gem and jewellery exporters in Jaipur has increased from 880 to 1327 units
in the years between 1990 and 1996. A teacher who is involved in rehabilitating ex-child workers
from the gem polishing industry in Jaipur, estimates that the number of units is much higher and
is around 10,000 nowadays. The New Economic Policy had stimulated this growth through all
kinds of measures. Mr. Singh, Regional Officer of the GJEPC in Jaipur, said that next to supports
like tax exemption and reduction of import tariffs on raw stones,'one can start a gem