Gujarat's cotton grows on child labour

Though, the textile industry in India is reaching new heights, with expected growth of $55 billion, the fine looking data has many a tragic tale of exploitation behind it to give that kind of push. The Indian textile industry is thriving on the child Labour. According to the Dakshini Rajasthan Mazdoor Union (DRMU), the industry in Gujarat and Rajasthan has myriad children working in it and face verbal, physical, and sexual abuse regularly. The government data estimates the number to be around 1.4 million.
India hopes to export as much as 7 percent of the world's cotton textile in the coming years, but the government has not yet come up with meaningful policy to curb the menace of child labour in the industry.
A report from DRMU reveals a horrific tale of a 12 year old girl Shobha from a village of Rajasthan, who went to work in a textile factory in Amreli in neighbouring Gujarat. Shobha, who was involved in the ginning work, became a victim of sexual assault and died a tragic death in February in 2007. The union report says, there are a number of cases like Shobha going unreported. The estimated number of children working in the Gujarat textile industry is 2,00,000. Most of them belong to tribal groups and muslim community, and are in the age group of 9 to 14, reveals the report.
Speaking at a recent workshop in Hyderabad, DRMU official Ashok Khandelwal told the media that almost every 18th child in Gujarat is working or searching for work. "The textile sector in Surat alone employs one fourth of the state's child labour," Khandelwal maintains.
The working and living condition of children in these places are also very pathetic. There is no proper drinking water facility, neither their accommodation are taken care of. Girls and boys are made to live together, often in the open, causing deaths due to snakebites. Girls are at an added disadvantage as they often face sexual harassment.
Rise in the demand of cotton textile in world market, and India meeting maximum of it sounds really nice, but economic progress on the expense of precious future can not be acceptable in a developing society like ours.
Source:- http://www.headlinesindia.com/archive_html/02December2007_64683.html