Carpet industry

An ILO study estimates that there could be 420,000 child labourers in India employed in the carpet industry. According to some NGOs, between 1979 and 1993 the value of export earnings in the hand-knotted carpet industry in India grew tenfold. They also claim that the number of children working at the looms has increased from 100,000 in 1975 to 300,000 in 1990. The Indian ‘carpet belt’ is found mostly in Uttar Pradesh stretching over a vast area. There are usually about 20 or so loom sheds in each village. Some children work as bonded labourers; others are kidnapped from their poverty-stricken home villages, including villages in Bihar, the neighbouring state.

Since the carpet industry is labour-intensive, entrepreneurs try to reduce labour costs by employing child labour. Under the pretext of getting practice, children are introduced into the sector as early as the age of five. Though initially the children find it difficult to sit in the particular posture required for weaving, they gradually adapt to it.

There is a new awareness at present in the international media about child labour exploitation in the South Asian carpet industry. This is partly due to 12 year-old Iqbal Masi, a bonded carpet weaver in Pakistan who was later killed for his anti-child labour campaign. At present, genuine efforts are made by some humanitarian agencies in the carpet importing nations to reduce or eliminate child labour in the sector.