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

Adult labour in the garment export industry of Bangalore
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to become a tailor 108 . Thus, tailoring in Karnataka, came within the reach of the lower income
class and attracted many women. But, as stated by a journalist: 'instead of improving the socioeconomic
status of workers, especially for women, and getting them an apprenticeship place in
the garment factories, which are the main aims of the training centres, the women are extremely
exploited with payments according to the piece wage and a quota system. The strain of long
working hours begins to tell on their health and after some time a considerable number drops
out' 109 .
A third reason why more women work in the garment industry of Bangalore is because they
migrated from the villages in the surrounding rural areas to Bangalore, in search for employment.
A development journalist in Bangalore told me, that in the past mainly males migrated to the
cities, but now also women and children, with or without their husbands, migrate from the villages
to Bangalore as a result of the New Economic Policy which stimulated industrialization in the
cities. The development of the rural economy has collapsed in Karnataka. The small farmers sell
their land to bigger farmers/land owners, to profitable horticulturists 110 and other industrialists
and country clubs. The small farmers migrate with the whole family to cities like Bangalore,
Mysore, Tumkur and Mandya, where the job opportunities are more and better.
Thus the demand for tailors and especially women tailors in Bangalore, could easily be fulfilled
by women who migrated from the rural areas, and by urban women who are trained through the
countless tailoring centres in Bangalore.
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5.3 Results and discussions of field visits: working conditions of adult labour
In total, 18 women and 4 men were interviewed. They came from three different areas in Bangalore.
Most of them work in garment factories which produce garments for export only. The
interviewed workers were from Ashoka Puram Colony (an upgraded slum in Bangalore since
1970 with many garment factories which were built in the slum since 1975), from Singa Sandra
(an upgraded area 18 kilometres outside Bangalore) and from Weavers Colony. During the
interviews I was accompanied by a translator. The answers given by the workers might not be
given in full honesty because due to fear of losing their job. Sometimes the interviewed workers
thought we were inspectors.
108 An interview was held with the programme officer of the Shramik Vidyapeeth in Bangalore, a semi-Government organization which
organizes community-based training programmes for slum dwellers, workers of both organized and unorganized sectors, workers of Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribes, child workers and women workers. One of their many training programmes is a skill training in tailoring. The
programme officer said that 50 of 200 women, who were trained in tailoring by their organization, found a job as a tailor in the garment industry
in Bangalore. More than 50% of them dropped out due to the following reasons: health problems due to too much work pressure, only half
an hour lunch break in a working day of around 10 hours and because they are forced to work overtime which they could not combine with
running the household. They also complained about the continuous stitching in an atmosphere where the noise of the tailoring machines is deafening.
The workspaces are too crowded which causes a tremendous heat. The reason for dropping out was not because of the quality of the
training or the quality of the workers.
109 Deccan Herald, April 3, 1993. Ibid.
110 The development journalist specially mentioned a project for floriculture, which is buying land from poor farmers in the rural areas
near Bangalore. The project uses the best water, while the flowers are mainly grown for the Dutch market.