Indian Manufacturers Downplay Child Labor Reports

by Justin Fenner | 5:34 pm, September 21st, 2010

This summer, India’s addition to a list of nations the United States watches for child labor violations worried Indian apparel manufacturers — and with good reason. Getting added to the list leaves a big mark on the public’s perception of the way a country does business, and WWD reports that many of India’s textile and clothes makers want it known that they do not rely on child labor:

Premal Udani, chairman of India’s Apparel Export Promotion Council, said his organization is concerned that what he calls isolated instances were used to malign the entire Indian apparel sector. Udani met with Labor Department officials in Washington last month about the Indian industry’s concerns. For now, he said his organization is focused on “clearing up misconceptions” and will introduce its own code of compliance for members.

Still, there is incontrovertible evidence that there are children working in India, despite the head shaking and hand wringing its diplomats might do.

Under Indian law, children under the age of 14 are prohibited from working in “hazardous” industries and in homes, hotels and restaurants. But the law is rarely enforced and convictions have been few. The Indian government estimates that more than 12 million children under the age of 14 are employed, while nongovernmental organizations estimate there are twice that many.

… Global labor rights organizations disagree with the Indian industry’s characterization and said the Labor Department has identified a real problem.

“Child labor is very common in the textiles industry, mostly at the small unit level,” said Shireen Miller, head of policy and advocacy for Save the Children India.

The United States makes two lists of countries that need to be watched for child labor. one is required by law and designed to promote consumer awareness about child labor. It includes Argentina, China, India, Jordan, Malaysia and Thailand. The other, which includes Argentina, China and India, is created by executive order to make sure that the government doesn’t buy products that might have been made by little kids in a sweatshop.

It would be hasty to say that we should all just stop buying things made in India for the rest of forever — after all, there are some manufacturers there who contend that child labor isn’t as widespread a problem as our government would like us to believe it is, and with all the facts, figures and opinions abounding it’s difficult to decipher the truth. One thing is for sure, though — we’re seriously going to think twice about buying a garment if any of the countries listed are on its care label.