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

102
Child and adult labour in the gem polishing export industry of Jaipur
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The results comprise the following issues: religion, age, wage and employment of adults,
information on newly established units, complaints made by adult workers, wages, employment
and working hours of child labourers, family size and income, and the reason to start working, the
opinion of working children on child labour, education, recreation, working circumstances, health
hazards, future plans, and a special section on the girl child.
6.5.1 Results and discussions
Religion
This study only covers Muslim children and adult labourers. The traders and big exporters who
were asked questions during field visits, were mainly Hindu. Only sometimes a trader happened
to be a Muslim. One study 156 conducted in the gem polishing industry of Jaipur revealed that
around 15% of the labour force engaged in processing of gem stones in Jaipur is Hindu (Marwaris
and Gujaratis), but they control 95% of the market. Eighty-five per cent of the labour force is
Muslim, but Muslims control only less than 5% of the market. Another study 157 revealed that of a
population of 410 child labourers 97% is Muslim and 3% is Hindu.
Ages
Only boys under 14 years of age were interviewed. Except one girl, all the interviewed girls were
elder. Almost all the children worked full time, and some boy children combined work with
school. The ages of the interviewed boy children varied between 7 and 14 years. The girls, who
were interviewed inside their houses, were aged between 14 and 18, and one of them was 9 years
of age. The majority of the boy children started working at the age between 5 to 8 years (27 out of
43 children).
Girl child labourers work inside the house only, due to the Muslim faith, which states that the girl
needs to be secluded from the outside world. The 7 girls who were interviewed inside their homes
started much later with working, i.e. at the age of around 11. A possible explanation could be that
first the girl is needed in the household and when most of the younger brothers go to school or
start working outside the house, the girl has time to work for an income inside the house also.
Another explanation is that when a girl child starts to reach puberty (around 13 years) she is even
more forced to stay inside the house. If a girl attends school and she is at the age of reaching
puberty, she has to discontinue her studies and has to work inside the house. The special features
of the girl child will be dealt with later in the report.
The ages of adult workers seemed not to exceed 40 years of age.
Wages and employment of adults
The majority of the big gem and jewellery traders and exporters who were asked questions during
this study, was Hindu and compared with the casual workers, earned an enormous 158 amount of
156 Neera Burra, 1995, Born to Work, Child Labour in India, p. 87.
157 Nisha Lal, 1992, Child Labour in Gem Polishing Industry in Jaipur, Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur, p. 40.
158 Medium-size exporters and traders make a profit between Rs 150,000 and Rs 2.2 million per month. The owner of 'The Gem Palace',
one of the oldest (since 1852) and biggest gem and jewellery exporters in Jaipur, has branches in all the five-star hotels in and around Jaipur.