SHAHID ASHRAF Children Labourers Without Alternatives* T he practice of child labour, with its numerous manifestations, is widely prevalent in different economic activities in all developing countries, and India is no exception. The industries most notorious for employing child labour include carpet weaving, fireworks and match manufacture, »bidi«-making, glass and bangle manufacture, construction work and rag-picking, not to men­tion child prostitution. The result is a childhood destroyed, a dismal future, a wounded psyche, and an imbalanced society and economy. The carpet industry of India – a serious contender with coun­tries such as Iran, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal in the markets of North America and Europe— has come increasingly under interna­tional pressure on the issue of child labour. This has given rise to many controversies and face-offs in the international trade arena. The present paper, which concentrates speci­fically in the Indian carpet industry, examines the reasons for the presence of child labour and the effects of the international campaigns against it. It draws much empirical information from the author’s recent visits to Mirzapur and Bhadohi. The Background Child Labour in India According to the 1991 Census of India(the last one to date), more than eleven million children were employed in commercial activities. This does not include children engaged in home-based work, for example children helping their parents in agricul­ture, basket weaving, etc. The 1991 census also shows that 90 million out of the 179 million children in the 6 to 14 years age-group do not go to school. The chances are high that many of these 90 million children are child labourers. The causes for the prevalence of child labour in India have largely been associated with poverty. Low adult literacy levels, the absence of com­pulsory primary education along with a high drop­out rate are part of the child labour syndrome. This has been compounded by social and cultural factors which force the continuity of trade and skill in a particular caste or community at an early age. In fact, Indian society shows scant disapproval towards child labour. The Indian Carpet Industry The Persian hand-knotted pile carpets are gener­ally woven in the south-eastern districts of Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Sonebhadra and Allahabad in the State Uttar Pradesh. Besides these, there are varieties of Nepali / Tibetan carpets as well as tufted carpets, which have different looms and methods of weaving in comparison to the Persian carpets, henceforth exclusively referred to as carpets. The quality of carpets depends on the knots per square inch, the motifs and intricacies of design as well as the number of colours used. The value of carpet exports, which was 600 million Rupees in 1951–52 , slipped to 100 million Rupees in 1984–85 . The 1980 s was the period of Iran’s political turmoil during which their carpet exports to the Western world dropped. The vacuum was filled by increasing supplies from other countries such as India whose exports jumped to 13,500 million Rupees in 1993–94 , but which have since stagnated around 15,000 Rupees. (Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, 1998–99 ). The main importers of Indian carpets * I am grateful to Dr. Klaus Voll for the helpful discus­sions and to Ms. Vinoo Hora for comments on a draft of this paper. Usual academic caveat applies. IPG 3/2001 Shahid Ashraf, Children Labourers Without Alternatives 303