Case Study on Sivakasi fireworks industry

CASE STUDY ON CHILD LABOUR :

Child labour is exploitation of underage children in any forms, forcing them to work illegally which harms or abuses them. This abuse may be physical, mental or sexual; depriving the children (child labourers) of their right of basic education. . According to the International Labour Organization(ILO), "child labour is where children are deprived of their childhood  because they are forced to work long hours for little or no money, deprived of education and in conditions harmful to their mental and physical development.”   It is present everywhere i.e. in developed, developing and underdeveloped world though ratios differ. Asia leads by 61% followed by Africa 32%. According to UNICEF, there are 250 million children aged between 5-14 years employed as child labour in developing countries out which 120 millions work full time.

Among the developing countries, India has the highest number of child labours under the age of 14 years which is approximately 12.6 millions. Children are engaged in every sector of economy like match stick making, fireworks, domestic labour, construction, carpet making industry, brick kilns, etc. one of the places where child labour is experienced the most is Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu.

i)Case study on Sivakasi fireworks industry

CHILDREN AT FIREWORK

Sivakasi is a small municipal town in Ramanathapuram district. In the immediate vicinity of the town are two other municipal areas, Thiruthangal and Sattur. It is famous for three types of industries – fireworks, match sticks and printing. 90% of India’s fireworks is produced here. There are nearly 450 fireworks  factories  in Sivakasi employing almost 40,000 workers directly and about 1 lakh indirectly such as paper tube making, wire cutting, box making in the country side. Due to lack of modern machines child labour is extensively used. Economic factor is also one of reasons responsible for child labour. Poverty forces parents to send their children to work in these industries. Employers take advantage of their economic condition and force them to work at low wages. According to official Harban Singh’s report which was conducted in 1976, in spite of working 12 hours a day younger children aged 4 – 10 earn an average of Rs. 2 per day. The older ones get maximum of Rs. 6 -7 per day. According to a magazine published by The Hindu in april 29-may 12, 2000, children earn around Rs. 20-30 per day. Talking about the working conditions, according to sources children are taken to industries like animals in buses filling almost 150-200 children in a bus. And they have to leave their house as early as 3a.m. in the morning and come back at 9p.m. at night. There are agents to make sure that they get up and go for work. Some children stay at home and work. Even they have to work for long hours. According to a magazine Sumathi age 11 of Ammapatti village rolls 2300 paper pipes a day for just Rs. 20 though she had been working for a year in a firewoks unit. Also Chellaiyan age 12 working in a factory in anaikuttam village earns Rs. 30 though working  12 hours a day. Expecting them to think about their health, education and personal growth at this situation is impossible.

            Education is nowhere in their life. They are unable to think beyond their food. It’s a fact that children are the future of any nation or community. If this condition of children prevails what can be expected for a country. According to International Labour Organization (ILO), if child labour will be banned and all children get proper education, world’s total income would be raised by nearly 22% over 20 years, which accounts for more than $4 trillion. Banning child labour will help in boosting the economy of a country. But the situation here is worse. Most working children in Sivakasi have not been to school. According to a sample survey conducted in 16 factories covering 4,181 children, 3,323 (79.48%) are illiterate ; 474 children (11.34%) were educated upto primary school level. Dropouts were 384 (9.2%).

         

          Health is very important. And children working in these factories suffer a lot due to the hazardous working conditions. Also they don’t have enough time and money to spend on health issues. Filling their stomach is their prime goal. Hence by the time they grow up they lose their health and are no longer like other normal people of their age. Asthma and TB are prevalent among 90 per cent of them who are involved in gun powder filling and are directly in contact with the chemical ingredients of crackers and matches.  These workers usually do not wear any protective clothes and their whole skin can be seen covered with the chemicals such as sulphur, aluminium powder and gun powder. “Snake Tablet” – one type of firework, which uses nitric acid, causes skin diseases. Working on this type of firework is considered to be highly dangerous for workers.

          The work children do from the early stage of their life can affect them in several ways. The following are some of the affects on children, positive on the left side and negative on the right.

         

Hence child labour should be removed soon to ensure basic rights of every child. It hinders their personality development.

Despite many laws framed for the children to protect them from the injustice done to them, not much progress has been seen. Laws are only made but practically it is not being followed.

The major domestic national laws include:

·  Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

·  Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933.

·  Factories Act, 1948.

·  Bidi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.

·  Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.

·  Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of

Service) Act-1979.

·  Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.

·  Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

·  Plantation Labour Act, 1950.

·  Apprentices Act, 1961.

·  Shops and Establishment Act, 1961.

·  Shops and Commercial Establishment Act.

·  The Moter Transport Workers Act, 1952.

·  The Mines Act, 1952.

·  The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.

 The main reason for the still existing child labour may be corruption. Also child labour contributes a lot in the economy of a country especially for a developing and under developed countries. So removing child labour is really difficult in these countries though loss is for short duration. Removal of child labour ensures good future economy. Many NGOs have come up to fight for child labour and hence then on some positive progress has been seen. A NGO in delhi rescued around 450 children and helped them in rehabilliation. And then on child labour rescue is on full swing. But until government takes some real initiative it is not going to improve. Hence for the good future of our country government has to be responsible.