Bonded child labour: The dark underbelly of Chennai's thriving jewellery-making units

CHENNAI: Thirteen-year-old Ghulamin Shaikh came all the way from Fatehpur in West Bengal to Chennai to escape poverty back home and learn the art of jewellery making so that he could support his family. He doesn’t mind working 13 hours a day, slouched at his assigned spot in a tiny room from morning 11 till midnight and beyond.

A school dropout, Shaikh was one of seven child bonded labourers rescued from a jewellery making unit that was operating discreetly from a densely populated Sattannan Street in Choolai.

When a team of officers attached to a task force arrived at the unit last Friday following a tip-off, they found the children, alongside 30 adults, on the first and second floors of the building bearing door no 16/2.

Deputy Director III of Factories, S. Illavarasan, led the team, which discovered that Sariful Haque, also from Fatehpur, paid Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 to each of the families of the boys and brought them here, promising a monthly wage of Rs 10,000. Once the boys mastered the craft of jewellery making, their wages would increase substantially. “The boys have no complaints whatsoever. This clearly shows that their employer is exploiting their abject poverty,” said a member of the rescue team.

The day and night unfold within a 12x22 sq ft room on the first floor, and a similar room on the second floor for them. They sleep for around six hours and work for at least 13 hours, taking lunch and dinner breaks in between. They have a kitchen and cooking facilities on the third floor of the building and an elderly person cooks for them. “Their lives are confined to the four walls, and they are not allowed to step outside the building. None of the neighbours knew that so many boys were working there. There are several such units functioning in the city,” he added.

The Deputy Director of Factories filed a complaint with the police, who, in turn, invoked sections 16 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, along with sections 143 (trafficking) and 146 (forcing a person to work against his/her will) of the BNS Act, and sections 75 (punishment for cruelty to children) and 76 (exploitation of child employees) of the Juvenile Justice Act. “We have arrested the employer, and an investigation is ongoing,” said Gopinathan, the investigating officer and SI at Periyamedu police station.

Illavarasan said the unit had been operating without the necessary licence.