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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Recently he joined the NFE centre located in the slum, because his parents want him to have at
least some education, like reading and writing. Selva prefers to go to the regular school but that is
not possible any more. Later in life, Selva wants to become a contractor in the garment industry.
Case 4: Uma
Uma is a girl of 10 years of age, and she is Hindu and from the Scheduled Caste. She started
working at the age of 7 and has been working for three years. Her job consists of assisting the
tailor in a garment factory in Tirupur, located near the slum where she lives. She earns Rs 22 per
day and for that she works 8 shifts a week. She starts at 8 a.m. and leaves the factory at 6 p.m.
There is enough space, light, and ventilation in the factory. There is also a toilet available in the
factory. The employer provides the workers with tea. During lunch time Uma goes home, which
is the only rest point during the day. Sometimes she also works from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Uma gives
her weekly wage to her mother, but she can keep Rs 5 to see a movie on Sunday when she is free.
Uma has gone to school up to 2nd standard. But since she started working, and has dropped out
of the regular school, her parents told her to go to the non-formal education centre to continue
some studies next to her job. Her parents tell her that education will benefit her later in life. In the
centre she learns mathematics, and to read and write English and Tamil. But very often she is not
able to go to the centre when she has to work at these hours in the factory.
The family migrated from a village which is 70 km away from Tirupur. Her father could not find
a job in that village. Now he is working as a private plumber in Tirupur and earns Rs 1000 per
month. Uma's father has had an education up to the 4th standard, and her mother up to 2nd
standard. Uma's 12 year old sister, Tangamani, also works in a hosiery factory and earns Rs 30
per day. She also assists a tailor. The family, which has 5 members, has an income which is
around Rs 2200 per month. Uma looks weak and tired. She also wants to become a tailor later in
her life.
Case 5: Joyti
Joyti Krishnan is a girl of 14 years of age, but gives the impression she is around 20 years of age.
This is not strange as she has been working for the last 4 years in the hosiery industry in Tirupur.
Joyti is Hindu and from the Backward Caste. She started working in the hosiery industry when
she was 10 years of age. At that time she was earning Rs 12 per day for collecting and arranging
the clothes in the factory. Now she has been promoted to assistant of the tailor and earns Rs 28
per day.
Joyti dropped out of the school during the period of the 6th standard because her family needed
her assistance. Her father had an accident and walks problematically. He can only make crafts
inside the home. Together with his wife they earn with that job Rs 500 per month. But that is very
little money to feed the whole family of 5 members. Joyti and her sister and brother have to work
and earn the family income. Amupa, Joyti's elder sister, is 22 years of age and works in the hosiery
industry in Tirupur as a garment checker. She gets Rs 32 per day. The money she gets she
gives to her father and Rs 5 she keeps every week for herself which she saves. Joyti's brother
earns Rs 22 per day and works as an assistant of a tailor in a garment factory. He is 15 years of
age. Although Joyti's father has had an education up to 8th standard, his other children have drop-
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