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

6 Introduction
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people, which shows the magnitude of the child labour problem in India.
The majority of the child labourers in India works with their parents in the agricultural sector.
Mainly girls work as full-time housemaids, often for the middle class. Children, boys and girls,
work in factories and workshops where they clean and pack food, weave carpets, sew and embroider
garments, glue shoes, carry molten glass, cure leather, make matches, locks and firework,
and polish gem stones, to mention a few occupations. Besides, children work in restaurants and a
large number is self-employed, hawking everything from cigarettes to flowers. Children even sell
themselves as prostitutes. Other work children are doing is scavenging and sorting garbage,
crushing bricks and stones and working in road constructions and mines. These are not exclusive
categories and may overlap.
While there are conflicting data regarding the number of children who are employed in the workplace,
'it is observed that the economic exploitation of children in India is extensive and appears
to have increased over recent years' 10 . Another observation is that child labour imposed a great
cost on the economy of India in terms of 'the opportunity lost to develop the country's human
resources'.
India is one of the countries which are in the race for getting a larger share of the world trade with
the aim to partly solve their debt, unemployment and poverty problem. Since its economic reforms
of 1991, India is actively involved in opening up its market to the world market. In a fast
tempo India is changing from an economy where the rules were set by the Government into a
market economy. To reduce its above mentioned problems, India makes use of many economic
growth mechanisms; besides inviting (foreign) investments, the Government of India is stimulating
export-oriented industries. The most lucrative, labour intensive and competitive exportoriented
industries, like the gem and jewellery and garment industry, are supported most by the
Government in terms of investments and tax exemptions, etc, since they bring in much foreign
exchange and generate employment. According to the Confederation of Indian Industries, the
competitive edge in these industries and other major foreign exchange earners like the carpet,
brass artware, handloom, tea industry etc., is partly provided by child labourers 11 ; 'as they are paid
less than adults and do not demand social security benefits and are, therefore, able to produce
goods at a lower cost' 12 . On the other hand, a recent ILO study 13 indicates that some industries
with a large number of child labourers, like for example the glass-bangles and diamond polishing
industry, can very well survive without child labour. Child labour, however, increases the profits.
Though the above mentioned industries are supported by the government to increase their exports,
they are at the same time neglected by the Government in terms of labour inspections and
10 Unicef India, The progress of Indian States, 1995, p. 64.
11 Confederation of Indian Industry. A Seminar On Economic Implications of Abolition of Child Labour in India, 1995, India, p.5.
(Background Paper).
12 All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), op. cit. In: Theme paper submitted by AITUC to a Orientation Workshop for National
Trade Union Leaders on Child labour and IPEC. National Labour Institute, Noida, India, 1995.
13 (1)'Child labour in glass bangles industry of Firozabad - Uttar Pradesh. An economic analysis', p.19. Centre for Operations
Research and Training (CORT), Baroda. (2) 'Economics of replacing child labour in diamond industry of Surat', p.13. Operations
Research Group, Baroda. In: Economics of child labour in selected industries. A National Workshop. Organised by Centre for Operations
Research and Training (CORT). In collaboration with IPEC and ILO, Geneva.