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
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
problem immediately.
(iii) Lokh Shikstan Samsthan: running the Special Schools, Ms. Sharma
Ms. Sharma is the president of the Lokh Shikstan Samsthan (LSS), the NGO which was
appointed by the Government in 1988 to run the Special Schools. She said that the LSS had conducted
a survey on child labour in the gem polishing industry in 1989 and a follow-up survey in
1994 in four areas in Jaipur where a high concentration of child labourers existed. The areas
were: Ramganj, Ghat Gate, Ganga Pole and Ramchandra Chopri.
The survey held in 1989 revealed a child labour force of around 10,000 children. The survey
included only children from the 6 to 11 age group, because these children were the target group
for admission to the Special Schools. In the period between 1989 and 1994 1,000 children had
been admitted in the twenty Special Schools and around 1,000 child labourers had at that time
been admitted in the fifty non-formal education centres. The non-formal education centres give
tuition up to the second standard during three hours in the morning. The children who attended
these centres combined the lessons with work in the gem polishing industry.
In the five-year period from 1989 to 1994, 3,000 children, says Ms. Sharma, had reached the age
of 14 years and had completed their education. In all, 5,000 child labourers were covered by the
programme. 'Thus', said Ms. Sharma '5,000 out of the estimated total of 10,000 child labourers
are not reached by any programme. Their lot is miserable as they do not go to school at all and
work for many hours each day. These children are exploited in all the ways'. The follow-up
survey, conducted by the LSS in 1994 in the same four areas, identified 2,000 more (new) child
labourers.
The interview with Ms. Sharma confirmed the criticism of the special schools mentioned by the
IDS and the IIHMR, as mentioned in earlier sections of this chapter. Apart from the fact that the
Special Schools and the non-formal education centres could only cover a small part of the child
labour force, the additional 2,000 child labourers - probably this number was higher because not
all areas were covered in the survey - showed the extent of the problem. The absence of the
implementation of any awareness programme had partly contributed to the influx of child labourers
in the 'Special School' areas. The income-generating and poverty schemes of the
Government seemed not to have any effect on the parents; they still sent their children to work. It
seems that the enforcement of labour legislation had been either weak or absent.
(iv) Teacher at a Special School
The researcher of the present study interviewed a teacher of a special school in Jaipur, in March
1996. This teacher revealed the following points concerning the Non-Formal Education Centres
and the Special Schools:
1. The 50 Non-Formal Education Centres, which resulted from the Child Labour Action
Plan, provides education to around 1,000 to 1,500 children. The children of these centres, who
work 5 to 6 hours in the industry per day in combination with attending lessons in the centres, are
doubly burdened. They do not attend the centres regularly. Education at the Centres is not compulsory
as in the Special Schools.
119