Think Again Before Buying Firecrackers

(Article Posted in the India Times October 13, 1998) For anyone with a conscience...One can't perhaps imagine a Diwali without the glitter and noise of firecrackers. But how many of us know that with each cracker that we light, we help destroy a child? This year, before we buy crackers or burn those gifted to us, we may like to consider the following: Most crackers are manufactured in the Sivakashi area in Tamil Nadu. The factories here employ children as young as three and a half years. Some surveys report even two-and-a-half-year-old tots being recruited for the job. A majority of the children employed in the firecracker factories are girls. The proportion of girls to boys is reportedly 3:1. At any given time 45,000 to 60,000 children are employed in these factories. Parents of child-laborers employed in the firecracker factory are extremely poor and live in villages around the factory towns. The factory owners have agents stationed in the village to recruit children as laborers. It is common practice to give parents advances against work by their children. This not only helps the child-labur market to flourish but also motivates parents to have more children, pushing them further into the depths of poverty and deprivation. It is unbelievable but true that such transactions take place even against babies in their mother's wombs! The children in a way are rendered bonded laborers even before they are born. The factories send out buses to collect the laborers early in the morning. The agent sees to it that the children pile into these buses. They are awakened by 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. and are half asleep when they board the bus. They return at 6 or 7 p.m. Most of these children have never known a school. They work in conditions that are hazardous to health. They handle dangerous chemicals for a minimum of 12 hours a day. They work in poorly ventilated rooms. They have to sit in the same position for long hours, putting a strain on their yet-immature bone structure. Their eyesight and respiratory system suffer as a result of the below-average conditions. They suffer from loss of appetite and consequent malnutrition and growth retardation. All the material used is explosive and inflammable. The fire safety measures are generally absent or very poor. This has caused serious fire accidents maiming and killing several children. Since the payment is on piece rate, the children work longer hours without respite. They get between 6 to Rs.15 per day if they work for 12 hours a day. Their mental development is restricted. There is no opportunity for education, play, recreation, or a simple commodity such as parental love and attention. They return home tired and half asleep. The family atmosphere is rarely good with alcoholic fathers and mothers with poor health striving to make both ends meet. Factory owners continue to make this profit-making venture because there is an ever-growing market for firecrackers. First we used them only during Diwali. Now, no marriage or any other celebration is complete without bursting of crackers. Be it a test-match victory or a minor family celebration, crackers are a must. In fact, a cracker is burst for every four or six runs hit by a batsman - meaning harm to one child at least. It is we who create the market. The more we buy, the greater the number of children pushed into this industry. If our celebrations are incomplete without firecrackers, can we at least insist that those that are manufactured in child labor-free industries clearly say so on the wrappers? The carpet industry was another major employer of young children. This is a largely export-oriented industry. With a growing awareness about children's rights, prospective buyers world-wide now refuse to buy carpets unless accompanied by a "child labor free" label. Can we not insist on child labor-free crackers only? Fun with crackers? Yes. But with crackers manufactured by children? No.

By Anuradha Sahasrabudhe.
Source : Times of India October 13, 1998.