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

PART II
THE RESEARCH - CHILD AND ADULT LABOUR
IN THE GARMENT AND GEM POLISHING
INDUSTRY OF INDIA
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II-A THE GARMENT EXPORT INDUSTRY OF INDIA:
TIRUPUR AND BANGALORE
Name: Uma
Sex: Girl
Age: 10 years
Job: Assistant of a tailor in a garment export factory in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Tasks: handing of threads, buttons, zippers to the tailor, holding the piece of cloth,
folding the cloth, arranging the clothes.
Working since: Started working at the age of 7.
Working hours: 8-9 shifts per week, 12-14 hours per day (1 shift = 8 hours). If she works
till late in the night the employer takes her home on his scooter.
Wage: Rs 22 per day (= Dfl 1.00 per day).
Reason of working: Low paid job of father, unemployed mother; the family has not sufficient
income to buy food for a family of five. Thus Uma is send to work to increase
the family income for survival.
Education: Up to second standard. When Uma started working she dropped out of
school. In a non-formal education centre she learns to read and write in the late
evening hours. Due to regular overtime work in the factory there is little time to visit
the centre for education.
Migrant: Due to unemployment of the father in a village 70 km away from Tirupur,
migration to Tirupur with a lot of job opportunities in hosiery (garment) industry,
was the only option.
Occupational health problems: exhaustion, cough.
Religion: Hindu, Scheduled Caste
Introduction
The garment industry, which is a part of the more than 100 year old textile industry, did not
develop as a separate industry before Independence in 1947. In fact, the garment industry did not
gain importance before the 1970s when it started catering to the world market in large quantities.
Beginning in 1975, the Indian government launched a series of measures aimed at liberalizing
industrial policy, but strong-ly in favour of the small-scale sector and against the largest industrial
and foreign trade houses. The mainly informal and small-scale garment sector was largely responsible
for the production increase in this period. The increase can also partly be explained by the