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

136
Bonded child labour in the synthetic gem polishing industry of Trichy
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
gem stone polishing and cutting has been performed in the traditional way with simple tools and
hand- and foot-driven machines which delivered stones which were not of a geometrical shape
and size, and therefore not exportable. The present state of affairs in India is due to a low supply
of raw materials, primitive tools and equipment, which could not yield a high production, to the
absence of formal training and of development of proper marketing channels for export 185 . India
is trying hard to penetrate foreign markets, but its share can only increase if the quality of the
stones improve and if the costs of production are low.
To improve the quality of synthetic gem stones and to provide local artisans with training
facilities and more sophisticated machinery, in 1990 the Trichy Gem Park (TGP) was established
by the Diamond & Gem Development Corporation, a private company, together with the Government
of Tamil Nadu (1989-1991). The Gem Park was set up with the objective of training artisans,
supplying them with machinery, tools and spare parts, giving guidance in procuring of
financial input, and providing marketing assistance for finished goods and after-sales services to
small-scale producers. The processing of Cubic Zirconia is simple, labour-intensive and does not
require a heavy capital investment. Compared with the real diamond polishing industry, the
synthetic gem polishing industry gives ten times more employment at the same cost of raw material
input. In this way, the TGP could give work to many more people who are jobless or who are
temporarily without work, and train artisans using sophisticated machines. The TGP established a
'modernized' sector next to the traditional sector of gem polishing in Trichy and the rest of Tamil
Nadu. The Trichy Gem Park, which is a wholly private company today, will be discussed in
section 7.2.1.
Though the few wealthiest unit-owners are loosing interest in the traditional sector, the majority
of the owners cannot afford the new investments in the new machinery supplied by the Trichy
Gem Park; they find their current rates of profit satisfactory and they continue using the old technology
to produce synthetic gem stones 186 . Today, out of the estimated number of 300,000
artisans in Tamil Nadu 100,000 are using the semi-motorized machines and 200,000 are still
manufacturing synthetic gem stones in the traditional way.
In 1990, the former central government started to promote synthetic gem stone manufacturing
also, to achieve the dual purpose of self-employment and foreign exchange earning. Cubic
Zirconia claims the major portion of the world demand for synthetic gem stones. With its New
Economic Policy of 1991, the former government considerably reduced the import duty on
Zirconium oxide and other oxides which are used in the manufacture of Cubic Zirconia and
abolished the sales tax on finished stones completely.
7.1.1 Bonded (child) labour
Though the Trichy Gem Park trained many (new) entrepreneurs and increased exports, it was not
185 K.K. Sharma and P. Manoj Kumar, 1991. Ibid.
186 K. Kapadia, 'The Profitability of Bonded Labour: The Gem-Cutting Industry in Rural South India. In: The Journal of Peasant Studies,
Vol.22, No.3, April 1995, pp. 446-483, London.