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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school teacher-student ratio was very unfavourable, with one teacher managing three to four
classes in just one class room. (This finding is very important as it will increase the need to
improve the education system and infrastructure, to make it compulsory and more interesting for
children).
The survey revealed that most of the parents did not attach much importance to education. The
surveyed parents named poverty as the main cause of child labour. The survey revealed that
regarding the total family income, over 70% of the families were above the poverty line. The
study says that if children were withdrawn from work, half of these families would sink below the
poverty line.
(ii) Socio-economic Background of Child labourers - Ms. M.L. Edmunds, Stella Maris
College, Madras
This study was undertaken by Ms. M.L. Edmunds in 1995 and investigated the socio-economic
background of child labourers in one hosiery factory in Tirupur. She did in-depth interviews with
40 children (9-14 years of age) working in one hosiery factory. This factory took care of all the
processes - like dyeing, printing, tailoring and packing - which were practised in separate units
belonging to that factory.
A few major findings:
The ages of the children varied from 9 to 14, with 36 children in the age group 12-14 and 4
children in the age group 9-11 years. Most of the children had been working for 2 or 3 years.
The majority of the interviewed children were migrants (65%) and belonged to the Backward
Caste. The majority of the children (75%) had a few years of primary education but dropped out
due to lack of interest in education (30%), need to enhance family income (20%), bad treatment
in school (20%) and failing in school (10%).
All the children worked 13 to 14 hours per day with 1 to 1,5 hours of rest. Some of the children
even worked 16 to 20 hours when he or she worked in the nightshift also. Nearly all the children
started working at 6 a.m. and reached home at 10 p.m. The children had little or no possibilities to
play. The wages of the child labourers varied between Rs 60 and Rs 240 per week. The wage of
the child depended on experience and the number of shifts (hours) which had been worked.
Conclusions based on the findings:
The practice of child labour was primarily found among the economically weaker sections of
society and among large families. With regard to the education of children, both parents and child
labourers were lacking the motivation towards studies.
The child labour issue in Tirupur had not been dealt with by trade unions, while Coimbatore
district is the area in Tamil Nadu where trade unions are active in the textile and other allied
industries.
Abolition of child labour was not favoured by the children for economic reasons and because
they did not like to attend school; the push factors associated with a poor educational system and
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