Indian garment sector does not allow child labour: AEPC

10 Oct '12

2 min read

Responding to the US Department of Labor’s listing of 21 international goods in which child or forced labour is used, which includes the manufacturing units in Indian garment sector, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) of India has stated that the Indian garment industry strictly follows the norms of international labour laws that forbid child labour.

The US department has included India's apparel export sector under its Executive Order 13126 List on the ‘Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labour’.

The 2012 US report said that the labour law infringement in various forms exist in India in the making of different textiles, including yarn, fabrics, carpets, as well as zari and embellished goods.

AEPC, the apex apparel body of India, said the Government and NGOs are actively involved in creating awareness regarding the labour law compliances among manufacturing units of all sizes in the country.

The council said that to eradicate the problem of child labour, it has been executing a pilot programme called 'DISHA' (Driving Industry towards Sustainable Human capital Advancement) since December 2011.

The project encourages apparel manufacturers and exporters to follow the critical codes of social and environmental ethics, concerning child labour, health and industrial safety.

Funded by the Ministry of Textiles, the programme has conducted several orientation workshops for more than 550 factories across India. The workshops have so far received a good response from the manufacturing clusters of Tirupur, Jaipur and NCR, said AEPC.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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