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

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Bonded child labour in the synthetic gem polishing industry of Trichy
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ning. He had been sitting on his heels for 4 hours in the dark. It was so dark that it was almost
impossible to see the tools with which he was working. When the process of joining was over, he
gave the roughly shaped and fixed stones to the polisher. Two child labourers worked with their
relatives. One boy worked with great speed and handled the machine with great skill. The boy
earned around Rs 20 per day and his uncle around Rs 60 per day. The lease money of the
polishing machines (Rs 6 per day per machine) and the bus fare (Rs 5 per day), were subtracted
from the piece rate wage. It means that the child's wage was reduced to around Rs 9 per day.
One boy was interviewed who once had joined a rehabilitation programme of a local NGO where
he got some education. He said that he had left the programme because his parents were not able
to pay back the loan they had taken in advance from the employer. Thus he had to work in the
synthetic gem polishing industry to work for the employer to pay back the debt of his parents.
(2) Manufacturing unit in a village near Trichy
Informants said that in the manufacturing units which were located far from the highway in more
remote areas around Trichy, mainly bonded labourers worked and the number of child labourers
was much higher than in the centre of Trichy. This unit, which could be reached by bicycle only,
45 out of 60 workers were bonded child labourers. Of them, 15 were girls and 30 were boys. It
was shocking to see these child labourers, their thin bodies and big eyes expressed great sorrow.
Working conditions
For 8 long hours both boy and girl children sat on the tops of semi-motorized polishing machines
with a bent back and without proper light. The children who polished or shaped gem stones with
the hand- driven polishing machine had unusually big developed arm muscles. In the section
where workers, only adult males, sorted out and checked the polished stones, there was enough
light, and these workers earned a much higher wage than the people who polished and shaped the
stones. The wage of these workers was at least Rs 50 per day.
The ages of the children varied between 7 and 12 years. The majority had started working at the
age of 6. Because there was no light in the sections where the polishing machines were located,
the working day ended when the sun set. Approximately, the working day lasted 8 hours. The
wages of the child labourers in the unit ranged between Rs 4 to Rs 10 per day. Adults earned
wages between Rs 15 and Rs 40 per day, but the majority earned around Rs 15 to Rs 20 per day.
One boy, who was 12 years of age, complained that he was doing the job of an adult, working the
same hours per day as an adult, but that he was not paid the same amount as adults. He thought
that unfair. He explained that also the system of bondage was unfair as he had to give the whole
wage to his parents because they had to pay back the loan to the employer. He said that he wanted
to earn money also and keep the money for himself, but that was not possible.
Health problems
A few child labourers were asked if they had any health problems due to the work. All of them
complained about knee aches and heavy pain in the back and shoulders due to being in a cramped
position for the whole day. Another complaint was coughing due to the dust entitled by the stones
in the process of polishing.