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

Child and adult labour in the garment export industry of Tirupur
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paid on a daily wage basis or on a piece rate basis' 81 . It is said that the 'children are at risk since
they are exposed to cotton and chemical dust in the dyeing and bleaching units. The employment
of children in the hosiery industry has also contributed to the increase in school dropouts as
many children who work during vacations never return to school' 82 .
During a conference in 1995 83 , the ex-Prime Minister Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao had expressed
concern over the prevalence of child labour in the Post-GATT era, when foreign countries would
be unwilling to accept products manufactured by children. During the conference the hosiery industry
in Tirupur in Coimbatore district, though not classified as hazardous, was declared as 'a
cause for concern because children below the age of 14 were being employed at Tirupur'. The
Coimbatore district, where Tirupur belongs to, is one of the 100 districts which was appointed for
the implementation of the Child Labour Project of the former Government. Forty special schools
have been established in 1995, to educate 2,000 child labourers at the cost of Rs 67.13 lakhs. On
the conference in 1995, it was said that 'it would take four or five years to bring all the estimated
8,000 to 10,000 child labourers who are working in the hosiery industry in Tirupur, under the
project. A mechanism would be found to minimize the number of students who might register
and later drop out of the special schools. A stipend of Rs 100 will be paid to each of the students
as a special incentive'.
Apart from the action programme of the central government, the state government of Tamil Nadu
set some goals to eliminate child labour in its State Plan of Action, which was launched in 1993.
In the action plan one of Tamil Nadu's specific goals is the elimination of full-time child labour
from all industries and categories for children under 12, in line with the Universal Primary Education
Goal. This goal concerns child labour in the hosiery industry in Tirupur also. The year
1995 was set as the target year for the 100% elimination of children of 10 and younger, 1998 for
the 100% elimination of children under 12 years of age and the year 2000 to sustain the achievement
of the 1998 goal.
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4.2 Child labour in hosiery units: the pull and push factors
Child labour is partly caused by pull factors, which are related to the industry, and by push factors,
which are partly related to the socio-economic background of the parents. Concerning pull
factors, the expansion and structure of the hosiery industry have contributed to the influx of child
labour in the hosiery industry in Tirupur. While on the one hand, the expansion of the knitwear
industry of Tirupur has resulted in more employment opportunities for adults, on the other hand it
led also to the employment of large numbers of children in almost all the production processes 84 .
As stated above, the increased international demand for knitwear and the existing network among
entrepreneurs in Tirupur led to a further fragmented production process - both spatially and orga-
81 Indian Express, September 29, 1994. 'Child Labour rampant at Tirupur'.
82 Economic Times, October 10, 1994. 'No kidding', Awareness is the key to end child labour, says C. Nambi.
83 The Hindu, September 20, 1995. 'Centre's scheme to educate child labourers'.
84 C. Nambi, 1995, Child Labour in the Hosiery Industry of Tirupur. In: Dossier on Eradication of Child Labour and Role of Trade Unions,
Campaign Against Child Labour - Tamil Nadu (CACL, TN) and Centre for Social Education and Development, Avinashi, Tamil Nadu, India,
p. 51.