labor14

India Bangles are a big business in India. Millions of bangles, made by children in
the dark rooms of Ferozabad's slums, are bought and sold each year.
Children begin work making bangles as young as 4 years old. Many children work
8-10 hours a day in dark unventilated rooms. Boys traditionally do the "jhalai"
work, flattening bangles into a level plane over gas flames and girls do "judai"
joining the bangles together. Children earn about Rs30 (50 pence) for producing
on average 4,500 bangles each day.
Fast spinning mills and gas flames release glass particles into the air, and as a
result a large percentage of the children working in the bangle industry develop
tuberculosis. These children are rarely cured of pneumonia and bronchitis,
because they are never removed from the environment that causes the disease.
It is estimated that over 75,000 children work in the bangle industry in Ferozabad
town, out of an estimated 1.5 million children who work in the north Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh.
Aiming to remove children from this hazardous industry, UNICEF India has
launched an integrated community based project to mobilise communities to
prevent child labour by sending their children to school.
Parents involve their children in work because more hands makes the work go
faster – payments are made on a piece rate basis - and payments are often below
minimum wage standards. Even when both parents work, they do not earn
enough to provide for the family – so parents are forced to send their children to
work. This violation of the minimum wage and labour laws has a deadly impact on
children.
In terms of legislating against child labour, the Indian Factory Act prevents
children from working in adverse conditions in a factory environment. But this
law does not extend to children who are engaged in family businesses or
workshops where there are less than 10 workers in a room. "Cottage industries"
are not considered factories and so currently, are not against the law.
UNICEF's Integrated Community Project in partnership with the government and
implemented by NGOs, targets families with working children. Each NGO reaches
approximately 18,000 children through community mobilisers who talk to families
about the importance of going to school.
The trained mobilisers are mostly women who can go easily from house to house
talking to other women. Mothers are mobilised through the existing self–help
groups – to determine how women's income can be increased to allow their
children to go to school. Mobilisers tell the children and their families how they
can be slowly introduced to the school system, through non-formal education
classes.
Sombati who is 12 years old began non-formal education classes two years ago.
Sombati is now enrolled in formal school, but she still works with her mother,
doing jhalai aligning from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. before she goes to school.
"I found out about the centre because the teacher talked to my grandparents. My
grandma said 'yes' because she wanted me to go to school." It's a long day, and
by 7p.m, she is in bed fast asleep, "I work and go to school. I get tired, but I know
it is important to go to school."