Childhood lost in Glass City muddle

Firozabad: Welcome to Firozabad, the glass city of India where every second vehicle on the road is loaded with glass bangles of different colours.

But it is also home to hundreds of such children sitting in sheds for long hours – their job is joining bangles all for a meager wage.

The local government claims that awareness has reached every house in the area. But children continue to work long hours.

Twelve-year-old Seema has been working since she was 6. She wakes up at 4 every morning to join bangles using a kerosene flame. Seema says she earns Rs 2-2.5 for joining 256 bangles.

The story of 11-year-old Shabnam is no different. She decorates bangles before and after school every day. Shabnam says she earns Rs 6 for decorating a100 bangles.

This is what the home based units earn – Re 1 for every 320 bangles straightened, Rs 2 for every 256 bangles joined, and Rs 6 for every 100 bangles decorated. Many children in Firozabad do go to school, but also put in 7 to 8 hours at the gas flames.

Shabnam’s mother Ramvati says, “3 baje se uthte hain, savere 6 baje band kar dete hain. Phir school jaate hain, school se aake, naha-dho ke, khana kha ke phir sadai pe baith jaate hain.” (They get up at 3 am and work till 6 am. Then they go to school. On getting back they have lunch and go back to work.)

Children as little as 5 years of age make bangles along with their parents despite the fact that this has been recognised as a hazardous industry. The only difference is that these industries have now moved to the homes.

Local activists blame the exploitative wage system.

South Asian Coalition Against Child Servitude volunteer Ramesh Singh Chandel says, “kushal karigar hai who, kushal karigar ka 150-200 rupya usko mil raha hota. Uske parivar ke jo 2-4 adult hain, unko mil raha hota, toh bachche ko usko baal mazdoori nahin karvani padti. (If skilled workers got their due of about Rs 200 a day then adults of a family would not make children work.)

And the labour department blames the law.

Asst Labour Commissioner Rakesh Dwivedi says, “Agar koi hazardous process jo parevar khud kar raha ho, aur uski aid mein bacha laga ho, to vahan hum uske parents ko prosecute bahi kar sakte , isliye hum uska identification, for the purpose of prosecution nahi kar pate. (If a family is working on a hazardous process and a child is working with the parents, we cannot prosecute them.)

Inhaling kerosene fumes over long hours, many children suffer from asthma, tuberculosis and complain of poor eyesight.

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