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

Conclusions
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created a climate in which also the European importers, retailers and consumers can play a
positive role by demanding garments produced without child labour, and under decent labour
conditions for adults.
8. When child labour is almost absent in an industry, women labour is the next section of the
labour force which is prone to exploitation. The export-oriented garment industry in
Bangalore is an example of this phenomenon. If children are going to be replaced by adults,
women are the next 'target group'. This asks for measures to improve their working conditions
as well, like: the right to collective bargaining, a 'need based' minimum wage, permanent
employment, the availability of a creche at the workplace, social security and regular
checks on a normal working day of 8 hours without working overtime, in nightshifts or on
Sundays.
9. European retailers, chain-stores and buying houses are contributing to economic exploitation
of children and women workers by buying garments from manufacturers in Tirupur and
Bangalore if they do not require from their supplier(s) to abide by minimum labour norms
like absence of child labour, 'need based' wages, a permanent employment contract, social
security, the right to collective bargaining, a normal 8-hour working day etc. The marketdriven
push to purchase garments at the lowest possible price, without taking these basic
labour standards into consideration, will lead to continued exploitation of children and other
workers.
(on bonded child labour in the synthetic gem polishing industry of Trichy)
10. The government of Tamil Nadu does not acknowledge bonded (child) labour in its state and
is unwilling to do something about the problem of bonded (child) labour which is prevalent
in the synthetic gem polishing industry in and around Trichy and other parts in Tamil Nadu.
Due to the absence of an enforcement machinery in Tamil Nadu, especially in the rural areas,
and of job alternatives for the poor and irregular agricultural activities due to heavy droughts,
synthetic gem stone manufacturers and entrepreneurs have a monopoly in generating
employment and can continue the system of debt bondage. Bonded child labourers, who
carry the debt of their parents with them for the rest of their lives, are not free to move to
other jobs and/or areas and can never go to school again. Employers pay very low wages
because the workers have a debt with them which can be ten to a thousand times their wage.
The parents (and the bonded (child) labourers) are not able to pay back the debts and the ever
increasing interest.
11. In the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, a lack of programmes for agricultural development, water
and irrigation management for farmers, a lack of alternative income-generating projects and
absence of legal (government) support for the forming of synthetic gem stone workercooperatives,
forces many under- and unemployed people to take up the job of synthetic gem
stone polishing. They become victims of the system of debt bondage which is practised by
local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs control almost the whole region of Tamil Nadu,
especially the areas of Trichy and Pudukottai District. Bonded child labour, especially in the
growing synthetic gem stone industry of Tamil Nadu, is the consequence.
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