Child Labour in India
Child labour in India
Of 12.6 million children in hazardous occupations, India has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years of age.[1] Although the Constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 to 14 and prohibits employment of children younger than 14 in any hazardous environment, child labour is present in almost all sectors of the Indian economy[2] Companies including Gap,[3] Primark,[4] Monsanto[5] etc have been criticised for using child labour in either their operations in India or by their suppliers in India.
Sectors involved in child labour
Beedi manufacture
A survey conducted between 1994 and 1995 revealed that child workers comprise of more than 30% of total hired workers in the beedi manufacture sector .[6] The United States Customs Service subsequently banned the import of Beedis made in Ganesh Beedi Works of Mangalore [7]
Diamond industry
In 1997, the International Labour Organization published a report titled Child Labour in the Diamond Industry.[8] claiming that child labour is highly prevalent in the Indian diamond industry, as child labourers constitute nearly 3% of the total workforce and the percentage of child labourers is as high as 25% in the diamond industry of Surat. The ICFTU further claimed that child labour was prospering in the diamond industry in Western India, where the majority of the world's diamonds are cut and polished while workers are often paid only a fraction of 1% of the value of the stones they cut.[9] Pravin Nanavati, a Surat-based diamond businessman argued that, since high cost diamonds could easily be lost or broken while cutting or polishing, employing a child labourer would mean risking "lakhs of rupees" and “Around 8-10 years back, some western countries deliberately created the impression that child labour is prevalent in the Indian diamond industry" and called the boycott for monopolising in the sector. The South Gujarat Diamond Workers
Of 12.6 million children in hazardous occupations, India has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years of age.[1] Although the Constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 to 14 and prohibits employment of children younger than 14 in any hazardous environment, child labour is present in almost all sectors of the Indian economy[2] Companies including Gap,[3] Primark,[4] Monsanto[5] etc have been criticised for using child labour in either their operations in India or by their suppliers in India.
Sectors involved in child labour
Beedi manufacture
A survey conducted between 1994 and 1995 revealed that child workers comprise of more than 30% of total hired workers in the beedi manufacture sector .[6] The United States Customs Service subsequently banned the import of Beedis made in Ganesh Beedi Works of Mangalore [7]
Diamond industry
In 1997, the International Labour Organization published a report titled Child Labour in the Diamond Industry.[8] claiming that child labour is highly prevalent in the Indian diamond industry, as child labourers constitute nearly 3% of the total workforce and the percentage of child labourers is as high as 25% in the diamond industry of Surat. The ICFTU further claimed that child labour was prospering in the diamond industry in Western India, where the majority of the world's diamonds are cut and polished while workers are often paid only a fraction of 1% of the value of the stones they cut.[9] Pravin Nanavati, a Surat-based diamond businessman argued that, since high cost diamonds could easily be lost or broken while cutting or polishing, employing a child labourer would mean risking "lakhs of rupees" and “Around 8-10 years back, some western countries deliberately created the impression that child labour is prevalent in the Indian diamond industry" and called the boycott for monopolising in the sector. The South Gujarat Diamond Workers