The poor kids of India

 India’s Ministry of Labour estimates 4.5 million children are employed as workers, though there is no reliable sector-wise data on how many children are employed, where, and for how many hours a day.

"Most of the cutting and stitching is done using machines, in factories," says a garment maker. "But trimming of threads is a manual process, usually given to contractors. "Factory owners say it is much cheaper to get the trimming done by contractors. This difference in cost, activists say, is because of the widespread use of child labourers. Garment factories are less likely to employ child workers on their premises. "Instead, we see a shift to home-based work, where tasks such as trimming threads and sewing sequins have been subcontracted to households," saysBharati Ali, founder of HAQ, a non-profit child protection organisation."Under the current legal regime, there are no laws to regulate home-based work, unless the child is employed as domestic help."

"We are against child labour in our factories," says Mohan Sadhwani, executive director of The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India, adding, "But once the material leaves our factory gate, it is beyond our purview and our control."

"The garment sector has many tiers and a long supply chain," says Avinash Kumar Singh, programme coordinator at Save the Children. "At the top, you have export-only factories, which must adhere to the compliance norms of international buyers. Therefore, these steer clear of child labour. But as you move down the chain, smaller factories give work to contractors who are almost never monitored."

The widespread adoption of informal home-based work has meant children "rescued" from factories are likely to continue working at home. According to ministry data, as of 2013, about 24,000 child workers had been "mainstreamed" through rehabilitation. But a 2006 HAQ survey of a small sample of 44 children rescued from Delhi's zari factories found a third of the children had been re-trafficked, while a fifth were either idle or working as agricultural labourers Worryingly, only 4.5 per cent of the rescued children were in school.