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

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Child and adult labour in the gem polishing export industry of Jaipur
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they were missing their friends to talk to and play with.
The girls worked full-time (8 to 16 hours) inside the house. The homely atmosphere, where she
was allowed to move around, disguised her exploitation. The interviewed girls looked very tired
and exhausted. They said they were very jealous on girls who were allowed to go to school.
Most of the girls worked for money inside the house because of cases of illness in the family, or
because their father had recently died or had become unemployed. Another reason was that she
only had younger siblings and one elder brother or sister. The relatives of these girls were dependent
on the income of these two eldest children of whom she was one. The girl children did the
lowest skilled jobs and processed the semi-precious stones on the lowest quality machines.
The wages of the interviewed working girls in the age of 14 to 18, varied between Rs 12 and Rs
40 per day. See the case study of the girl child Zazmah, case no. 12.
6.5.2 Upward mobility: for whom?
Two forms of upward mobility were observed. The first form concerned upward mobility in the
amount of money which was earned by the worker and which was related to work experience
and/or (higher) education. This form of upward mobility did not mean that the worker made a
step to the next level in the industry like a unit-owner or trader; the worker stayed an artisan. The
second form was related to upward mobility in the type of job. It meant that a worker became a
unit-owner or a dealer/trader, or even further, a worker who became an exporter and started a
shop in the centre of the city.
The expansion of the industry was directly linked with the increased international demand for
gem stones and gem studded jewellery. This had resulted in many people who started a new
manufacturing unit in the periphery of the city and even in other districts. Hence the question:
was the majority of the workers upwardly mobile in wage and/or job? If not, what were the constraining
factors?
(i) Upward mobility: higher wages
It seemed that educated as well as illiterate persons could realize upward mobility in the industry
after some years of polishing. All the workers earned higher wages after some time. There were
quite a few adult workers who had some education (7th to 9th standard) and had started working
in the gem polishing industry around the age of 15 to 18. They had been in a apprentice period
only for a few months. These adult workers earned higher wages at an earlier time in their career
than children (or illiterate adults) who had to work for 5 to 7 years before they could earn the
same amount. These findings indicated that educated workers earned a higher wage sooner; the
worker had more bargaining power with the employer and could ask for higher wages.
Workers said that the wage was fluctuating due to the irregular supply of raw stones and the
varying international demand for gems and jewellery. For the poorer workers and unit-owners,
the lack of work and income security was a problem. These workers depended on the work, did