Cir(144)/2022                                                                            November 04, 2022

 

Committee:

    

Sub: US Dept of Labour representatives’ visits Tamil Nadu to review the status of Child Labour in the Textile Industry – reg.

 

Dear Sirs/Madam,

Presence of Child labour or forced labour has been a matter of repetitional risk and concern. In this regard, the US releases a list every two years that highlights the countries as well as the products where they believe that there is the presence of child labour or forced labour.  India is in the list for various textile products. Indian cotton is in the list for Child labour while yarn, thread and garments are on this list for child and forced labour.

To review the situation on ground, officials from the US Dept of Labour (DoL) and the US embassy visited Coimbatore. Besides some factory visits, the team held a meeting with representatives of CITI, SIMA and Texprocil. SIMA, Texprocil and CITI shared reports and initiatives taken to support the continuous positive action taken towards greater awareness on the processes for monitoring and eradication of child labour and forced labour from the Indian Textile Industry.

The US Dept of Labour (DoL) and the US embassy delegation comprised the following:

1. Ms.Nadia A Dayel, Division Chief, Research and Policy Unit
2. Ms.Rachel Raba, Senior Research Coordinator
3. Ms.Sadikshya Nepal, International Relations Analyst
4. Mr.Gary.B.Applegarth, First Secretary, Political Affairs, US Embassy
5. Mr.A.Sukesh, Senior Advisor (Labour & Political), U.S.Embassy, New Delhi

On behalf of the Indian Textile industry, Mr.T.Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), Mr.Ravi Sam, Chairman, SIMA, Dr. Siddhartha Rajagopal, Executive Director, The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), Dr. K. Selvaraju, Secretary General, SIMA and Ms. Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, were present at the meeting

While the delegation noted and appreciated the action taken by SIMA towards developing code of conduct and protocols for monitoring of the presence of child labor at the factory premises, the US delegation advised that similar action should be taken and reported by all other regional and national associations/ industry bodies so that India as a country can be removed from the US DoL negative list.

In this regard, Member associations are requested to share any Code of Conduct developed at the cluster / regional level and other efforts taken towards the elimination of child labour and forced labour from the textile units in their region. These can be used towards compiling India’s efforts towards ensuring that the issue of child labour and forced labour. The present listing of Indian textile products in the TVPRA list bears repetitional risk for the sector and hence collaborative efforts are needed to show consistent positive action in this regard.

This is for your information.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

 

Chandrima Chatterjee

Secretary General