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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study in Tirupur, who combined work with non-formal education in the evening. The parents will
still need the extra income supplied by their children in case the wages of the parents are not increased
or in case no better job opportunities are available to them. Added to this comes that
children, especially girls, are still needed to help in the household after work. Thus, the
implementation of strategies against full-time child labour which aim to combine education -
which is not compulsory - with working a few hours in the industry, is prone to be violated by
employers and parents. Employers will not send the child home after 6 hours of work because
nobody checks that and the parents will not withdraw the child from work because they still need
the extra income of the child. When education is not compulsory, and parents are not involved in
its implementation, they will not send their child to school. To implement the above mentioned
strategy to combine work and education, firstly primary education should be made compulsory
and free, and should be made more interesting for children. Secondly, working parents should receive
living wages and they should be actively involved in the implementation of school
enrolment of the child. Thirdly, parents should be made aware of the negative aspects of child
labour. This will partly help to prevent and to stop children being pulled and pushed into the hosiery
industry; hopefully it will finally keep children in school full-time, without combining the
education with (enumerative) labour.
The proposed minimum wage for child labourers by AITUC is also not a solution to end child
labour, because it will stimulate children to work instead of going to school. If children are paid a
minimum wage, parents have even more an incentive to send their children to work; children
occupy jobs of unemployed adults. In case children would be paid official minimum wages,
employers still would prefer children and not adult workers because the former are easier to
dictate, are more vital, and they would not ask for social benefits, etc.
The training programme for women, proposed by the Tirupur Export Association, is a first step in
support of the eradication of child labour. But such a program can only succeed if it goes together
with permanent employment opportunities, creche facilities, a 'living' wage. It is also very
important that the labour unions actively participate to supervise the compliance with the labour
and factory laws. The labour inspectors of the Government should check the premises regularly
and immediately fine the employers who violate the law.
Removing the children from the hosiery units in Tirupur should not be done without creating
alternative sources of income for the family. Such alternatives should contain training and better
job opportunities for parents. The working parents should be paid 'living' wages. Removing the
children from the industry, should not be done without making parents aware of the negative
aspects of child labour. Primary education should be made compulsory, free, meaningful and
interesting, and it should be implemented with the involvement of the community. The inspection
system of the labour inspectors should be improved, intensified and strengthened. If children are
going to be banned from the hosiery industry without the above mentioned measures, the chance
exists that children will enter into other employments or their employment becomes disguised.
Migrant families will shift to other areas where their children can be employed again, because
they are still dependent on their income.
Thus, awareness-generating programmes, a strict implementation of compulsory primary educa-
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