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

PART III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Chapter 8
Conclusions
On the basis of the findings, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(on child labour in the export-oriented garment and gem polishing industry of India)
1. For both the garment export industry in Tirupur and Bangalore as well as the gem polishing
export industry in Jaipur, it has been found that their expansion, due to an increased international
demand by European countries and the US for garments and (semi-)precious gem
stones, caused an increase in the number of economically exploited child and adult labourers.
This caused more school drop outs and illiterate children. It has been found that the labour of
children who work in the above mentioned industries interferes with their mental, physical
and social development.
Especially in the garment industry as compared with the gem polishing industry the children
are physically and economically exploited. Though the children in the garment industry earn
higher wages than the children in the gem polishing industry, they are forced to work more
hours per day and also in the nightshift because export orders have to be completed in time.
This puts a tremendous stress on the children. The majority of the children in the garment
industry of Tirupur suffers from exhaustion. This is even more the case for the children who
have to combine work with education in the evening in non-formal education centres.
2. Employers of both the industries have a vested interest in child labour because they can pay
the children a fraction of what an adult should be paid for the same job and, hence, can make
more profits. When the child starts working he or she performs simple tasks, but after a few
years work, while the child is still younger than 14 years, the child does almost all the jobs
which adults do with the same speed and skills for the same number of hours per day. After a
few years of working, the child earns still less than an adult.
3. The 'pull factor' which partly caused an increase in the number of child labourers in the
hosiery industry of Tirupur as well as in the gem polishing industry of Jaipur, was the expansion
of both industries. The expansion of both industries is caused by an increased international
demand for garments and precious and semi-precious gem stones respectively. The
expansion created an extra demand for cheap (child) labour. In Tirupur also the structure of
the industry - a second pull factor - partly caused child labour. The majority of the
manufacturing units in Tirupur are specialized in only a few processes (called 'job working')
of the garment production chain. Among the manufacturers there is a system of networking.
The fragmentation of the production process into many small (job working) units, allowed
the owners of these units to flout (child) labour laws. The manufacturers of these job
working units employed many children in operations which involved only a small period of
training for acquiring the skill.
4. The 'push factors' which partly caused child labour in the hosiery industry of Tirupur were