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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2. The number of child labourers increases every year and only 50 children can be admitted
per special school and one child per family. Now, the directors of the Special Schools have to
refuse children. This created anger with the parents, mainly Muslims, who have 4 to 10 children.
The parents want more children to be admitted to the school as they want the stipend, food and
education for more of their children.
3. The age of admission for the special school is between 8 and 12 years. The children,
however, start working at the age of 5 or 6. To prevent child labour in the gem polishing industry
the age of admission should be lowered.
4. The budget provides for too little money to pay for the rent of the school. The rents are
very high in Jaipur.
5. The stipend which is given by the ILO is Rs 75 for Class I-III and Rs 100 to Class IV-VI.
The problem is that nowadays the children earn higher wages at the time they start working than a
few years ago. The stipends should therefore be raised to at least Rs 150 to Rs 200. Still parents
find it more profitable now to send their children to work than to the special schools.
6. The school hours are very long (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the children do not reach home
earlier than 5 p.m.
7. The children are only provided with milk and have nothing to eat. They do not enjoy their
milk without sugar. The children carry their own food to the schools whereas it should have been
provided by the Government. This is an extra cost factor for the parents.
8. The Government happens to supply the schools only with study books. The parents have
to buy things like note books, pencils, slates etc., themselves. This has made the parents very
angry again, as it means extra expenditures for them because the school items are very expensive
for them. The special school is supposed to provide the children with these school items.
9. The wage of the teachers, is Rs 800 per month, is too low. Therefore, they are not
motivated to work with the children and educate them.
10. Overall there is a poor communication between the Government and the Special Schools,
especially in money transfers.
6.6.2 Legislation related to child labour implemented under the Government's
Scheme
Though the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of 1986 is not applicable in banning
child labour, but only in regulating it in the gem industry, the Factories Act of 1948, which prohibits
child labour in factories, could still be instrumental in banning the working children under 14
years of age from the gem polishing factories. This proved to be a very ineffective law because its
enforcement was made difficult by the deliberate dispersion and decentralization of production
processes from factories to home-based or cottage enterprises.
In two other child labour areas 171 , which were also indicated by the former Government for
special programmes, this problem had been dealt with through simplifying the law so that child
labour in all kinds of occupations and processes was prohibited. (For example, when the slate
171 ILO, Geneva, 1988, Report to the Government of India on a Programme of Action on Child Labour in Jaipur, Mandsaur and Markapur,
by Assefa Bequele, p. 10.