Bonded workers freed from Jaipur sari hellhole

Few things speak more colourfully about India than the beautiful glittering saris that are the national costume.

But often behind the sequins, beads, stones and laces lies the story of bonded labour and the thousands of people including children that make them.

Often there is no rest, no play, no study, only a ten minute break in a typical 17-hour day. The dinner is usually served at 1.30 am. 

India is a signatory to Child Rights Convention, and children are protected by laws including the Child Labour Act. However, the reality of millions of poor children is very different. 

Rajasthan, a popular tourist state in easy reach of to India’s capital, Delhi, has a vibrant market for decorated saris. There are many workshops producing the rich material, especially in the cities of Ajmer and Jaipur. 

On the outskirts of Jaipur, the state capital, sari workshops house hundreds of children brought from West Bengal working in dark rooms known as addas.

Find our children

After receiving a desperate letter from a group of parents from Amrataliya village in West Bengal concerning complaints about one employer Gobardhan Patra, ActionAid's Jaipur team intervened taking the case to the state labour department. 

However, the department refused to take action feigning ignorance about the existence of such workshops and denying the prevalence of inter-state child migration. 

Posing as potential buyers, ActionAid staff traced the children and contacted their parents who immediately mounted a rescue operation.

The parents’ arrival together with a formal complaint to the top district official helped spur the labour department into action.

At 9 pm on March 22 a twenty-strong team of labour department officials, police, parents, ActionAid staff and camera team from Sahara News, a national television channel, freed workers aged between the ages of 13 and 17.

“Parents and the children were immensely happy to see each other,” says Sudatta Khuntia of ActionAid's Jaipur team who took part in the raid. “They couldn’t stop crying.”

Cheated and abused 

The children told horrifying tales of harassment at the hands of their employer. "I will never come back to this place," says 14-year-old Khagen Hansda. 

"It is my fault," says his distraught father Kishen Hansda, an agricultural labourer. "It is because I am unable to feed my children that he underwent such torture and pain."

Many of the children told how they worked for up to 16 hours a day often for meagre wages. Seven children received a mere Rs 500 (about US $11) and three children were paid Rs.1000 (US $23).

Legal action

Legal actions against the employer were filed immediately. The labour department accepted claims and assured parents that an investigation would be carried out soon. 

"ActionAid is urging the labour department to carry out more raids on workshops where children are known to be employed,” says Sudatta Kuntia. “We will continue to push for legal action against employers." 

“The administration has acknowledged that most of the children fall under the category of 'bonded labourers' with very exploitative wages. 

"This recognition is just a start but a good start because at least now the issue is being recognised. No one can deny that bonded labour is a reality in Rajasthan." 

Stemming the tide

Across India, ActionAid and partners are working with marginalised communities to stem the flow of migrant labourers, both children and adults, by helping them to demand their rights, improve their situation and join with others in tackling injustices that cause poverty.