Child Labour in Tamil Nadu
An Initial Survey

David Steele, March 2002

Contents:

1. Tamil Nadu
2. Child Labour in Tamil Nadu
3. Intersection of ETI Sourcing and Identified Areas of Child Labour in Tamil Nadu
4. Child Labour in the Tirupur Garment Industry
5. Child Labour in the Cotton Industry
6. Industry Policy on Child Labour
7. Tamil Nadu Government Policy on Child Labour
8. Progress in the Education System
9. References

• Footnotes

 

 

1. Tamil Nadu

The state of Tamil Nadu occupies the easterly portion of the southern tip of India, from the hills bordering the state of Kerala in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. The capital city is Chennai (Madras), situated on the coast close to the north east boundary of the state. The projected 2001 population was 62.2 million of whom 40 million were rural dwellers and 22 million urban. Administratively, Tamil Nadu is divided into thirty-one districts.

 

2. Child Labour in Tamil Nadu

According to a variety of sources, child labour is a serious problem in Tamil Nadu.

According to the Global March Against Child Labour, the following types of child labour can be found in Tamil Nadu:

Table 1:
Global March Child Labour Data, Tamil Nadu

Source: India report on Global March Against Child Labour website. 

According to UNICEF [1], in 1991 there were 3.1 million children of school age (5-14 yrs) not attending school in Tamil Nadu. It is assumed that most of these children were working, either part or full time. Many children work in agriculture, but many also work in industrial occupations. The districts with the highest estimated numbers of child labourers were: Coimbatore (where Tirupur is located), North Arcot (where Ambur is located), Periyar (adjacent to Coimbatore) and Salem. Specific sectors identified were:

Table 2:
Sectors Identified in UNICEF Status Report on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu

Other sectors mentioned were: Beedi rolling, matches, salt, plantations, prawns and fireworks.

Source: R. Vidyasagar (1995)

 

3. Intersection of ETI Sourcing and Identified Areas of Child Labour in Tamil Nadu

ETI members source from a number of the above sectors and locations. Specifically:

Source: Results of India Sourcing Survey, ETI Child Labour Project, Jan 2002

 

 

4. Child Labour in the Tirupur Garment Industry  

Amongst all the locations of child labour in Tamil Nadu, Tirupur has been a particular focus of attention because it is the major base of the India garment export business. In 1994, Tirupur exported Rs. 1332 crores out of the India total of Rs. 2933.45 crores, i.e. 45% of the total.[2] In 2000, 60-75% of India's exports of cotton knitwear came from Tirupur and surrounding towns [3]. There are many links to foreign retailers, some direct and some through agents or exporters in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore. Tirupur has grown to this pre-eminent status because it is close to large supplies of cotton yarn, water (necessary for the bleaching and dying processes) and labour, and because of the cumulative learning of Tirupur garment enterprises. 

The Tirupur industry makes extensive use of local networking, with the manufacturing process broken down into specialised "job work" units, such as knitting, bleaching and dying, printing, cutting and sewing, carried out on different premises. This structure contributes to widespread non-observance of labour laws and to the endemic use of child labour. [4] 

This is not the original industrial form but was developed during the expansion phase of the industry over the last fifty years. The initiators of the process were members of the agrarian Gounder caste who dominate the ownership of the industry. Many of the current owners worked in the industry as employees at earlier stages of their careers. According to Chari, one of the main motivations for the decentralised system was labour control. Enforcement of labour laws is reported to be weak, and many factories are not registered with the factory inspectorate.[5]

A more reliable breakdown of the different types of unit comes from registrations with the District Industries Centre in Coimbatore:

Table 3:
Investment and Employment in the Tirupur Knitwear Industry

 

The knitwear factory is the production hub, sending product out for the various sub-tasks then bringing it back in for completion. This method of labour-service contracts is known as the "job work" system. The term "contract" is reserved for contracting out the entire garment or the final stitching (assembly) stage.

According to Chari [6] the job work system is used in the export sector as well as the domestic sector:

"The industrial form in both domestic and export sectors, which are intertwined to some extent, takes the form of a web of units …"

"Any successful domestic or export company, in all probability, also contracts to several other units of the basic knitwear company …"

"… the successful exporter in Tiruppur must reintegrate and coordinate work across multiple worksites in order to create a cheap garment of the right qualities."

Given that we know that child labour is more likely to occur in outsourced workshops and in places where the domestic and export sectors overlap, ETI will need to enquire carefully about the use of labour service contracts in export garment production. In asking such questions, the term "job work" rather than "contract" should be used, so that there is no misunderstanding about what is being referred to.

Estimates of the number of child workers vary from 8,000 to 35,000 out of a total workforce of 300,000+. Most are likely to be in the 10-14 age group, though there are reports of children under ten working in the industry.

The causes of child labour in the Tirupur garment industry include:

• inadequate facilities in primary schools in Tirupur
• a high primary school drop-out rate
• low levels of family income and family economic insecurity (debt, unemployment)
• relatively high levels of parental (particularly maternal) illiteracy
• limited economic opportunities for members of the "Backward castes" and Scheduled Tribes Communities.
• employers employing children in preference to adults (at cheaper wages)
• relatively high wages for child labourers in the garment industry compared with other occupations involving child labour (Rs. 30-70 per day in hosiery compared with Rs. 3 per day in Beedi)
• lack of enforcement of the laws against child labour (and other labour laws) 

While it is true as a generalisation that low levels of family income and parental illiteracy contribute to the prevalence of child labour, the relationship is not deterministic. According to a socio-economic survey of child workers in the Tirupur hosiery industry some families of child workers earned over four times as much as others and 75% of the fathers of child workers were literate. [7]

Children mainly do work that is ancillary to the main processes, such as carrying stock from room to room, feeding work to adult workers, folding and packing. Some work in dying and bleaching. They work very long days (12-16 hours per day, 6 days per week) in often hazardous conditions. For example: 

"In the dyeing section around five to six boys are working and they are definitely younger than 14. The air is so polluted with chemical dust … that it is difficult to breathe and one needs fresh air quickly. I was shocked by this experience. Children and adults work in this unit 12 to 14 hours per day and also in nightshifts.

The children looked exhausted and their shirts were dirty and covered with paint residues from dyed clothes which they had to carry from one dye-machine to the other with their bare hands. Also their faces and hands were coloured with paint coming from the clothes … I only saw boys working in this dyeing and bleaching unit. They assisted the adult dyers. I saw the adults ordering the children to run to them quickly and assist them. None of the boys was wasting his time …" [8]

The children are reported to have a negative attitude towards child labour. They would like to go to school like other children they see in the town, but feel powerless to do anything about their work situation. They have to abide by their parents' decision. 

 

5. Child Labour in the Cotton Industry

In looking at the cotton garments supply chain in Tamil Nadu we may need to look beyond the factory clusters of Tirupur and Chennai to the cotton growing and spinning industries, which are extensive in Tamil Nadu and adjacent states.

Cotton is grown across the whole of western, central and southern India, with the exception of Kerala. The main producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu produced 475,000 bales in 1995-96, 2.9% of the India total. [9]

Child labour is reported to be common in cotton production. The following description refers to children working in cotton production in southern Andhra Pradesh (adjacent to Tamil Nadu): 

"Typically, 10-15 children are hired for 100-150 days per acre of cotton-seed production. Children as young as six work from 8:30am to 6 or 7pm and some boys even return to the field again from 9pm to 12am. The cotton seed production calendar has been standardised for the process of certification and marketing and has resulted in the regimentation of work schedules of children who are now continuously employed for 6-9 months in the year. In villages where labor is scarce, children are being 'tied' to contract farmers with advances of cash and grain to parents (typically Rs. 1000) and bonuses (a stainless steel tiffin carrier after two years, for example). Children's labor is extended well beyond the work day by paying them piece rates to de-lint the cottonseeds (Rs.10/bag of 25kgs cotton) and catch pests (Rs.0.05/worm). Physical force and holding back wages if a child's productivity is low are routine labor control practices. Many girls also now accompany their mothers for casual coolie work. They are paid daily wages but the mother must not only do her own work but also help her daughter keep pace. Consequently, more and more girls are being taken out of school." [10] 

So far as the cotton spinning industry is concerned, the major concentration is in Tamil Nadu, which (in 1992) had 440 spinning mills out of a national total of 846, employing 174,326 workers out of an India total of 1,055,020. [11] The major concentration of Tamil Nadu mills was in Coimbatore (189 spinning mills). The cotton spinning industry association - the Southern India Mills' Association - is also based in Coimbatore. There are no published reports to hand of the incidence of child labour in cotton spinning, but Steve Grinter of the ITGLWF says that there is no child labour in the formal (large enterprise) export sector. 

 

6. Industry Policy on Child Labour

In the mid-1990s, responding to concerns expressed by foreign importers, two employers' associations made declarations of intent to end child labour. The Tirupur Export Association (TEA) gave an assurance that their members would not employ children below the age of 14 years and the South Indian Hosiery Manufacturers Association (SIMHA) adopted an undertaking not to continue employing children below the age of 14 beyond 1998. [12] According to SIMHA the main causes of child labour were lack of parental education and parental poverty.  

This undertaking had not been implemented by 1997, but there is recent evidence (September 2000 and June 2001) that child labour may have ended in the top layer of export companies. [13] The same sources say that child labour is still prevalent in medium and small garment factories in Tirupur. [14]

 

7. Tamil Nadu Government Policy

Elimination of child labour is official policy in Tamil Nadu. In November 1993, the Government of Tamil Nadu adopted a State Plan of Action for the Child in Tamil Nadu, which included targets for the elimination of child labour. These were: elimination of bonded child labour and child labour in the match and fireworks industries, elimination of all child labour (up to 14 years of age) in hazardous occupations and elimination of all child labour (up to 12 years of age) in all occupations by the year 2000.

Hazardous child labour was covered by Specific Goal Two, which was expressed as follows: 

"Specific Goal Two: Elimination of child labour in other hazardous industries classified in the Child Labour Act as hazardous which are relevant to Tamil Nadu; namely, beedi, match, fireworks, tanning, wool cleaning, cloth printing, dyeing and weaving as well as others which affect the normal and healthy development of a child.

1995: Plan of action framed and initiated, especially for key industies such as beedi, cashew and skin cleaning and wool processing units. 1998: Eliminate child labour of children under 12 years. 2000: 100% elimination of child labour for children up to 14 years." [15] 

Tamil Nadu policy is underpinned by that of the Government of India which has a constitutional mandate in favour of universal primary education. In 1986, the Government of India adopted the National Policy on Education (NPE) which made universal primary education the top priority .[16] 

The Supreme Court of India, in a judgement of December 1996, made it mandatory for the States to conduct surveys to gauge the extent of child labour and reiterated the requirement for free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years. It also directed that the "concerned employer who employs a child in contravention of the provisions of the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986 shall pay as compensation a sum of Rs. 20,000 per child which would be deposited in a fund known as the Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund". Where it is not possible to provide a job to an adult family member in lieu of the child, the Government is supposed to make a contribution into the fund of Rs. 5000 for each child employed in a factory or mine or in any hazardous employment. [17] 

There is not as much information as one would like about child labour programmes on the web site of the Government of Tamil Nadu. For example, one of the Peace Trust documents refers to the "Department of Bonded and Child Labour" but such a department is not listed on the web site. Such documentation as is on the web site indicates that there is a broad government policy of increasing educational provision, raising the literacy rate and reducing the number of child school drop-outs. [18] 

Specific programmes include the Girl Child Protection Scheme, School Nutritious Meal Centres and the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education. [19]

 

8. Progress in the Education System

A key component in the elimination of child labour is the availability of quality schooling (teachers, facilities, teaching materials and methods) and strict enforcement of the compulsory education requirement. Tamil Nadu has shortcomings in both these respects, but there is an improving trend. 

The literacy rate in Tamil Nadu rose from 47% in 1981 to 63% in 1991 (male: 74%, female: 51%). In 1991, Tamil Nadu had the third highest literacy rate in India, after Maharashtra (65%) and Kerala (90%). Kerala was in a category of its own, with a male literacy rate of 94% and a female literacy rate of 86%. Literacy in the rest of India was in a range from 44% to 65%. [20] 

Expenditure on education in Tamil Nadu increased from Rs. 260 per capita in 1991-2 to Rs. 488 in 1997-98. Tamil Nadu ranks second to Kerala in per capita expenditure on education. [21] 

Within Tamil Nadu there is a considerable range in literacy rates from district to district. Taking those districts in which ETI sources have been identified (as at 24 January 2002), Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai had relatively higher literacy rates (Male: 75%+, Female: 51-75%) while Vellore was lower (Male: 51-75%, Female: Under 50%). [22] Thus it should not come as a surprise if we discover child labour in Vellore as well as in the other states.

Enrolment of children in primary schools (ages 6-11) increased from 5.5 million in 1990-91 to 6.8 million in 1997-98, taking the enrolment ratio to 94%. Over the same period the number of primary schools increased from 29,979 to 30,796. The number of teachers increased from 120,000 to 144,000, lowering the teacher:pupil ratio from 65 to 44. 

99% of habitations had a primary school facility within a distance of 1km. However, only 78% of habitations had a secondary school facility within a distance of 5km. [23]

The difference between western expectations and realities in Tamil Nadu is underlined by the following statement from the Government of Tamil Nadu's Social Sector report, 1997-98: 

"While it is gratifying to note that there is no school in Tamil Nadu without a teacher, as many as 3810 are single teacher schools. However, in respect of availability of class rooms it is a matter of concern that 104 schools are functioning without a class room and 7987 schools have only a single class room facility." [24] 

While the primary school enrolment ratio was 94%, the drop-out rate was a serious problem. Many students start school, but leave before completing their primary (or secondary) education. This is reported to be a particular problem in Tirupur where families migrate from rural areas in pursuit of work. Children leave the school in which they are enrolled when the family leaves its home area, but often do not re-enrol in Tirupur, but are sent out to work instead. [25] 

In 1990-91, the primary school drop-out rate was 18% for boys and 23% for girls. These rates dropped to 14% and 16% respectively in 1997-98. [26] The gradual improvement in the holding capacity of primary education was attributed by the Government to factors such as the implementation of the Nutritious Noon Meal Scheme, free health check-ups, free education, offering of concessions like free bus passes, slates, books, uniforms and general awareness.

The Government has also adopted a policy to reduce gender disparities under the District Primary Education Programme. Interventions include: flexible school timings, gender sensitive curriculum and text books, recruitment of women teachers and improved school facilities (such as new buildings, toilet and drinking water facilities.) This programme is focussed on the districts with the lowest female educational participation. 

Turning to secondary education, the Government of Tamil Nadu reports an increase in the number of secondary schools from 3151 in 1990-91 to 3765 in 1997-98 and a 32% increase in student strength over the same period. The number of higher secondary schools increased substantially, from 2045 in 1990-91 to 2975 in 1997-98. Enrolment and drop-out rates for secondary education are not given. [27]

The data and commentary presented in the Government of Tamil Nadu's 1997-98 Social Sector report, show that the Government of Tamil Nadu takes the view that the elimination of child labour requires the universal availability of primary and secondary school education of sufficient quality to enable all children to enrol in school and to retain them once enrolled. The Government is making a considerable investment to achieve that goal and the data show an improving trend, though a substantial number of children are still falling through the net.

 

9. References

Chari, Sharad, The Agrarian Origins of the Knitwear Industrial Cluster in Tiruppur, India, World Development, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp 579-599, 2000.

Clean Clothes Campaign, AKR Tex, Tirupur, India. Extract from the CCC report on H&M, 1995. CCC website January 2002.

Clean Clothes Campaign, C&A and the Memorandum (MOU) on Child Labour in Tirupur, India. Extract from CCC report on C&A, May 1998. CCC website, January 2002.

Government of Tamil Nadu, Chapter 12: Social Sector from Tamil Nadu – An Economic Appraisal 1997-98, Department of Evaluation and Applied Research, Chennai, 1998. From the website of the Government of Tamil Nadu, January 2002.

Government of Tamil Nadu, State Plan of Action for the Child in Tamil Nadu, November 1993.

Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Departrment Policy Note 2001-2002, www.tn.gov.in, 20 Feb 2002.

Government of Tamil Nadu, School Education Department Policy Note 2001-2002, www.tn.gov.in, 20 Feb 2002.

Harper, Malcolm, The Prevention of Child Labour – ASSEFA in Southern India, Small Enterprise Development, Vol. 9, No. 3, September 1998.

Kruijtbosch, Martina, Child and Adult Labour in the Garment Export Industry of Tirupur, Peace Trust and SAVE, Tirupur, c1997.

Kumar, P.S. Mohana, Cotton Textile Industry, Reliance Publishing House, New Delhi, 1997.

Oldenziel, Joris, The Reality Behind the Code, Working Conditions in Garment Factories Producing for Vendex KBB, SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations), Amsterdam, June 2001.

ORG Centre for Social Research, Situational Analysis of Children in India South Zone of SCF: Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Save the Children, September 1999.

Peace Trust, Peace Trust Action Plan (against child labour), 2001.

Peace Trust, Voice of Labor, Issue No. 13, October 2001.

Ramamurthy, Priti, The Cotton Commodity Chain, Women, Work and Agency in India and Japan: The Case for Feminist Agro-Food Systems Research, World Development Vol. 28, No. 3, pp 551-578, 2000.

SAVE (Social Awareness and Voluntary Education), Report on Labour Standards in Garment Export Industries of Tirupur, CCC/SAVE, Tirupur, September 2000. From Clean Clothes Campaign website.

Sharma, Y.C., Cotton Khadi in Indian Economy, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1999.

Vidyasagar, R, A Status Report on Child Labour in Tamil Nadu, UNICEF, Madras, 1995.

Website of the Clean Clothes Campaign, www.cleanclothes.org

Website of the Clean Clothes Campaign India, www.indiaccc.org

Website of the Global March Against Child Labour, www.globalmarch.org

Website of the Government of Tamil Nadu, www.tn.gov.in

Yamuna, T.V. and N. Jaya, Socio-Economic Profile of Child Workers of Hosiery Industries in Tirupur Town, Tamil Nadu, Man in India, 1993, 73(2) 151-161.

 

Additional Note:

A map of the districts of Tamil Nadu can be found on the website of the Government of Tamil Nadu, www.tn.gov.in

Tirupur is in Coimbatore (west central), Ambur is in Vellore (north central) and Kakkalur is in Tiruvallur (north, close to Chennai). ETI location not yet found: Guinndy.

Comparing the official district map with the district map in Vidysagar (1995) it seems that some districts have more than one name or have had name changes or mergers. The following key gives the equivalent names:

North Arcot = Vellore
Chengalpattu = Kancheepuram + Thiruvallur
Periyar = Erode
Thanjavur = Thanjavur+Thiruvarur

 

Footnotes: 

Note: [context] links are to the appropriate place in the text - for details of the references themselves, please see References section above.

1. Vidyasagar, 1995 [context] 
2. Kruijtbosch, p3. 1 crore = 10 million. [context] 
3. Oldenziel, 2001, p13. [context] 
4. Kruijtbosch p4; SAVE p4. [context] 
5. Chari (2000). P 582. [context] 
6. Chari (2000), pp 583-584. [context] 
7. Yamuna & Jaya, p154. [context] 
8. Kruijtbosch, p23. [context] 
9. Sharma (1999), p 38. [context] 
10. Ramamurthy (2000), pp566-567 [context] 
11. Kumar (1997), pp43 and 46. [context] 
12. Kruijtbosch, p29-30. [context] 
13. SAVE, 2000, p5; Oldenziel, 2001, p23. [context] 
14. SAVE, 2000, p5; Oldenziel, 2001, p25. [context] 
15. Governmnt of Tamil Nadu, 1993, p 109. [context] 
16. Government of Tamil Nadu, 1998, p142-143. [context] 
17. ORG Centre for Social Research, 1999, pVIII.13. [context] 
18. School Education Department Policy Note 2001-2002. [context] 
19. Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Department Policy Note 2001-2002. [context] 
20. Government of Tamil Nadu, 1998, p141. [context] 
21. Ibid, p140. [context] 
22. Ibid, p142. [context] 
23. Ibid, p143. [context] 
24. Ibid, p144. [context] 
25. Kruijtbosch, p14-15. [context] 
26. Government of Tamil Nadu, 1998, p144. [context] 
27. Ibid, p145. [context]

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