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

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Child and adult labour in the garment export industry of Tirupur
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in a mushrooming of manufacturing units. The job-work units started operating long before the
export boom but multiplied progressively during the explosive growth of the industry. Exporters
get their yarn knitted in one place, bleached and dyed in another place, at a third place it will be
printed with a design, and finally they get the knitted fabric cut, stitched and finished again in
another unit.
Next to the main cause, the structure of the industry, there are three other reasons for the growth
and concentration of the knitwear manufacturing units in Tirupur 73 . First, the easy availability of
hosiery yarn from nearby towns. Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of spinning mills (around
100) which produce cotton hosiery yarn 74 . Second, the availability of water from the river
Noyyal 75 , a tributary of the Cauvary river, which runs through Tirupur. The 1,000 dyeing, bleaching
and printing units need around 60,000-70,000 litres of water 76 each day. And third, the
availability of a cheap workforce. Tirupur is surrounded by largely drought prone areas, where the
infrastructure for agricultural development is lacking. The people are without jobs and cannot
earn a living there. The manufacturers and entrepreneurs in Tirupur are always in need of labour.
The poverty stricken rural people, who migrate either permanently or temporary during off-season
to Tirupur, are a source of cheap and docile labour. The workers are paid according to the piece
rate system, which means that they earn more if they work harder.
'The industry, while being the highest paying small-scale industry, hardly implements the labour
laws. Workers are hardly permanent and three-fourth is unorganized. Only 10 to 15 per cent of
the knitwear manufacturers provide the statutory benefits such as Provident Fund, ESI, and so
on' 77 . Thus, the majority of the workers in the export hosiery industry, who are not represented by
labour unions, can not raise their voice against their exploitation. There is no collective
bargaining agreement between the employers and the workers, and so the labour conditions and
standards of these workers are not regulated.
Among the cheap labour force which works in the hosiery industry, which is estimated at over
300,000 workers 78 , there are thousands of child labourers under 14 years of age. Estimates on the
number of child labourers vary from 8,000-10,000 79 to a number of 25,000-35,000 80 . 'The child
labourers are employed in almost all the production processes of the hosiery industry and are
73 A. Krishnakumar, 1995, ibid, p. 75.
74 The Hindu, November, 19, 1995. 'Great Potential of a small town'.
75 Peace Trust, an NGO working mainly on environmental issues in Tamil Nadu, says: 'Today, the 120 kilometres Noyyal, which is polluted
with toxic industrial effluent coming from the dyeing and bleaching units in Tirupur, is seriously damaging human beings, cattle and crops.
A large number of people in Tirupur has skin diseases like Eczema. The coconut trees are affected and the crops on both sides of the river are
of poor quality. The drinking water has become unusable'. The ecological disaster which is happening in Tirupur is, besides the child labour
problem, another huge problem.
76 'The use of these enormous amounts of water has caused a shortage of water. People, now have to buy the water from middlemen who
sell the water in private lorries, which have become major items of business'. In: Frontline, April 7, 1995, p. 82.
77 A. Krishnakumar, The key to success, labour and technology in Tirupur. In: Frontline, April 7, 1995, p. 78. Op. cit.
78 A. Krishnakumar, 1995, ibid.
79 The Hindu, September 20, 1995. 'Child labour census in Tirupur next month'.
80 Centre for Social Education and Development, Avinashi, Tamil Nadu, India. In: Indian Express, September 29, 1994.