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

Chapter 7
Bonded child labour in the synthetic gem polishing industry of
Trichy
7.1 Introduction
Though it is said that 'diamonds are for ever', not everybody is able to buy them and enjoy their
beauty. The extreme rarity and high value of real gem stones prompted many to look for imitations,
which led to the manufacture of synthetic gem stones. In this way almost all popular
precious and semi-precious gem stones like the ruby, emerald, sapphire, diamond, onyx, garnet,
topaz etc., are made synthetically. These synthetic gem stones are used in the mass production of
cheap jewellery, and for fixing on costumes. The main cutting and polishing centres are in Thailand,
South Korea, Philippines, India, and of late, China. For reasons of variety and low prices,
jewellery studded with synthetic gem stones have become popular not only in the USA and the
European market but also in the developing countries of South East Asia, the Middle East and
elsewhere. The market for synthetic gem stones is bound to grow faster than the market for
natural gem stones. The Netherlands started to buy synthetic gem stones from India in 1990, at a
value of Dfl 4,000 180 , and in 1994 at a value of Dfl 17,000 181 .
The synthetic gem polishing industry in India, which is mainly located in Tamil Nadu, in the
south of India, did not start earlier than in the 1920s. Wealthy Tamil merchants, who returned
from Burma, brought with them the technology for making synthetic stones like the imitation
ruby and the American Diamond or Cubic Zirconia (synthetic diamond) and settled down in districts
like Trichy and Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu. A large number of the people who live in the
rural areas around Trichy and in the Pudukottai district, are marginal landholders or own no land
at all. Due to continuing droughts the people have not been able to earn an adequate income from
agriculture. It is precisely because many areas in Trichy and Pudukottai District are arid that the
non-agricultural craft of gem cutting has existed for many years in this part of India. Since the
1950s the industry began to spread over the state of Tamil Nadu. The synthetic gem stone
polishing industry in Tamil Nadu is a cottage industry, which exists both in workshops and
homes and gives employment to around 300,000 persons 182 . From this number around 50,000
artisans work in and around Trichy and Pudukottai District, the two main districts where synthetic
gem stones are manufactured. It is estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 183 children younger than 14
years work in the synthetic gem polishing industry in these two districts.
The synthetic gem stones from India, however, are not of a high quality, and India's share in the
world market has been stagnating at less than 1% 184 for several years. Since the 1920s synthetic
180 CBI, Rotterdam, 1992. In 1990, synthetic gem stones were imported under code nr. HS 7104 90: 'Worked synthetic or reconstructed
precious and semi-precious stones'.
181 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, Heerlen, 1996. In 1994, synthetic gem stones were imported under code nr. HS 7104 20: 'Synthetic or
reconstructed precious or semi-precious, unworked or simply sawn or roughly shaped stones'.
182 Article in a local newspaper of Trichy, May, 1995. Written by A. Sharma, Director of Trichy Gem Park.
183 A Stated Report on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu. Based on An Annotated Bibliography of Studies/ Surveys on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu,
Unicef, Madras, 1995. Written by R. Vidyasagar.
184 K.K. Sharma and P. Manoj Kumar, 'Cubic Zirconia Processing'. A Guide to Cubic Zirconia Processing Industry using modern machines
with special reference to the role played by DGDC, 1991, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, p. 5.