Child Labor in Sari Production

A story was published today in The Telegraph (Kolkata, India) about the use of child labor in the hand weaving industry of Bengal. These children are sold into the industry and can only be extracted from the situation by paying off the loan parents receive upon the child's employment.

Indigo Handloom in no way supports child labor which is why we visit our weavers often to make sure there are no children employed by our weavers.

It is also important to be aware of the injustices occurring in any industry.

The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)
Sujoy Singh Roy wrote:
Nakashipara, July 26: Many of Bengal’s famous handloom saris, badges of high culture that sell for a neat sum in cities, are woven over the tears of children pushed into slavery by their parents for money.

Handloom owners in Na- dia’s Nakashipara pay poverty-stricken parents between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 for a child, who works for about a fourth of the wages of an adult.

The money is handed as a loan but most villagers are unable to repay it and the children, some as young as six, are stuck with the loom owners for years on end.

Two children together we-ave one taant sari in a week and earn Rs 150 each. The sa-me sari often sells for as much as Rs 1,200.

According to a rough district labour wing estimate, 2,000 children are employed in the 400-odd units in the area. Thirteen-year-old Meno Khatoon was pulled out of sch-ool and sent to “train” at a lo-om five years ago. Three years ago, her sister Parveena join-ed her.
Rahima Bibi, 45, admits taking Rs 20,000 for her elder daughter and Rs 15,000 for the younger one.

“What could I do? My husband, a labourer, has been suffering from a nerve disorder for the past five years. I needed money for his treatment and the mahajan (the loom owner) came to my aid. I am totally dependent on my daughters' income,” said the mother. Meno and Parveena toge-ther make four saris in a mon-th and earn Rs 1,200.

The younger girl, working since the age of six, has never gone to a school. Even if the mother wants to take her children to school now, she can’t. “I can’t ever repay the loan. So, my daughters will have to continue working,” said Rahima.

Meno said her eyes once welled up every time she saw a girl in school uniform. “I don’t cry now,” she said, furiously weaving away.

Since Rahima could provide two working hands, the mahajan installed a loom in their house. But in the absence of electricity at home, the sis- ters have to work without a break from 9am to ensure they finish their day’s task before sunset. That means there is no lunch break.

Others like Azhar Sheikh, 13, go to work in larger units, where scores of children sweat it out together. Every morning, he goes to work with his two sisters. Their father died of cancer last year. Neither Azhar nor his sisters Panobati, 14, and Mani- sha, 16, have ever been to school.

“I have taken Rs 80,000 from the loom owner over the past three years for my three children. All the money went into my husband’s treatment. Now, if my children don’t work, what will we eat?” said Sufal Bewa.

The loom owners employ the children because they cost less and there is no chance of them quitting because of their parents' debt. They see nothing wrong in the “system”.

“If the parents want to take their children back, they will have to repay their loans. If they want to go to school they can leave the job. But before that we must have our money back,” said Chamu Mirja, a handloom owner at Kachkuli village, where Meno lives.

Adult handloom workers get Rs 80 a day and often quit if the working conditions don’t suit them.

The children work for eight hours a day, 365 days a year, but get an hour’s lunch break. The young hands are spared if they take ill. Sources said units that employed children spent less than Rs 500 to make an “expensive” sari.

District magistrate O.S. Meena said a probe had been ordered into the use of child labour at Nakashipara, 130km from Calcutta. “Making children work like this is illegal and we will take strong action against those responsible.”

Nakashipara, a handloom hub in Nadia like Shantipur and Phulia, has an annual bu-siness of over Rs 1.5 crore.