'Child labour in diamond industry reduced drastically in last 5 years'

A report released here on Saturday by A F Fergusson & Co, reveals that child labour levels in the diamond processing industry in India have reduced drastically between 1998 and 2003.

The report was released at a seminar on "Eradication of Child Labour from Gem and Jewellery Industry", organised by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and Surat Diamond Association.

The report reveals that child labour in the gem and jewellery industry on the whole has declined from 0.55 per cent in 1998 to 0.31 per cent in 2003. It states that presence of child labour in the Indian gemstone industry is estimated to be around 0.98 per cent.

In the jewellery industry it is 0.1 per cent, and in the synthetic stone industry, the child labour level is estimated to be around 0.31 per cent.

Speaking on the occasion, GJEPC chairman Bakul Mehta, said, "We strongly believe that it is the industry's responsibility to ensure eradication of child labour. We are happy to notice the progress we have made in our efforts to eradicate child labour. We are actively working towards totally eradicating even the current negligible level in the gem and jewellery sector."

"We plan to conduct a series of seminars in all gem and jewellery manufacturing centres such as Surat, Coimbatore, Bhavnagar, Palanpur, Amreli, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, and others, to spread awareness about the need for eradicating child labour," he added.

For the study, a total of 663 manufacturing units were visited across 21 locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

While diamonds were the primary focus of the study, gemstones, synthetic stones and jewellery units, were also surveyed.

Also present on the occasion were Surat MP Kashiram Rana, Rajeev Bhandari, chairman, De Beers India, Kanu Shah, GJEPC vice chairman, Chandrakant Sanghvi, regional convenor, GJEPC Gujarat, Nanu Vanani, president, Surat Diamond Association, and others.

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To stem the rot

• The report reveals that child labour in the gem and jewellery industry has declined from 0.55 per cent in 1998 to 0.31 per cent in 2003
• It states that presence of child labour in the Indian gemstone industry is estimated to be around 0.98 per cent
• GJEPC to conduct seminars in all gem jewellery manufacturing centres in the country