india's tourist magnet starts to clean child labor 'blot' - childrens costume jewellery

JAIPUR, India (
Thomson Reuters Foundation-
In a small room with no windows in the center of India's tourist magnet Jaipur, Parveena showed school uniforms and small shoes to prove that the little boy sitting on the floor glued beads to the bracelet to school, not a child slave.
Parveena will only name her, she has a workshop in the Bhatta Basti district of Jaipur, and in the narrow alleys, the maze-like building houses thousands of units, officials say the children have been making bracelets for tourists.
Thousands of children in the northern Indian state of Bihar were born in poverty and have been sold to tourist resorts for many years.
As a slave to making bracelets, embroidery or sewing buttons, magnet Jaipur.
To stop this, a major state
The campaign was launched last month, with officials citing India's $7 revenue.
5 billion it is planned to turn 100 urban centres into smart cities by 2020. Although high-
The high-speed Internet and modern transportation system are key elements of the smart city project, which in this magnificent fortress and palace has attracted the attention of the authorities on the issue of child labor.
"Cleaning up becomes important when it is decided to make Jaipur a smart city," said narundra sikwar, director of the Jaipur children's welfare committee . ".
"If tourists notice child labor, they will have a wrong impression.
We can't damage our reputation.
"This is a stain on the city," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation . ".
Government data show that Rajasthan has about 250,000 child workers, most of them Jaipur.
Activists warned that the problem could actually be much larger because the data failed to capture the extent of the family
Based on child labor.
According to the latest Indian census data, there are nearly four people.
4 million child labor in the 5-14 age group in India.
Officials say 80% of Jaipur's child labor has been trafficked from Bihar state to slave labor, including crafts.
Embroidered clothes, clothing jewelry and bracelets.
"Jaipur is known for its crafts and artisanal industries, which is very inconsistent with the image of children working in workshops," said Deepika Allana, a freelance Fund project consultant . ".
Free radical Kim is cooperating with the Jaipur authorities and other non-Jaipur authorities
Profit and business of the end of child labor initiative.
Rajasthan's handicraft exports, including printed textiles, shawls, embroidered fabrics and jewelry, are worth nearly $2.
2017 6 billion-18.
The increase in demand has led to extended working hours and employers are trying to increase profit margins by reducing labor force, activists said.
"The handicrafts of Jaipur were once a family --
But it expanded to a large extent.
They want more people to work for more profit, "said Varsha Joshi, head of the Jaipur charity children's hotline.
Manufacturers prefer children because they are easier to control, unpaid, and have flexible fingers to pick up small beads to stick to the bracelet, or to embroider a complex design on the fabric, officials and activists said.
"When we went to the rescue, we found out that the children who had been working for more than 18 hours were not paid.
"They can't even stand because their knees bend after sitting for a long time," Sikhwal said . ".
Activists say past rescue operations have failed due to a lack of government support and the children will be trafficked again within days of the rescue.
But the new campaign is expected to change.
The inspection of the railway station has been strengthened, and officials in Jaipur have traveled to villages in Bihar to check the trafficking of children at the source and destination. Non-
Deputy director Archana Mukharji said that profit good's "child labor free" carpet certification will be extended to the home textile, clothing and jewelry industries in Jaipur and other Indian arts and crafts centers this year.
The campaign has made batabati's employers vigilant enough to hide child labor once outsiders are found.
But this does not prevent them from using these children.
Employers like Parveena cite poverty or illness in their families as the reason why they accept "child help" work, even if posters entice people to "make Jaipur a child --
"No Labor" appeared near the tourist center ".
In the office of the children's welfare committee, officials talked about 8-year-
The old kids who escaped from the bracelet maker the day before told them that they were trapped there "more kids ".
Meanwhile, the Taj Mahal in the iconic Hawaa five-
Pink sandstone palace-
The owner sells scarves, sheets and bracelets to tourists.
"Traders only worry about costs.
We buy from people who give us the lowest price, "said Arpit Miya Bajaj, who has a Jaipur print carpet store near Hawa Mahal.