My first Magazine | Page 28

APPENDIX 1
Insights from an Auditor in India : Child Labor is Most Prominent Among Subcontractors

APPENDIX 1

Insights from an Auditor in India : Child Labor is Most Prominent Among Subcontractors

“ I don ’ t think stopping child laborers from working is the solution . What would the child do after schooling hours ? Risk of getting involved in anti social activities cannot be ruled out . So maybe involving them with work at home helps with the child learning the family work tradition and also diverts them from getting involved with antisocial activities . As the saying goes : “ An empty mind is a devil ’ s workshop ”. Alternative engagement needs to be provided . We should make sure a child is not deprived of their right to basic education , and also the State , private sector , or organizations ( which are funded by the government or private companies ), could possibly set up a learning center for skill development , computer classes , art class , etc . so that the children can come here after school to learn something which would help them in the future . But again , the parents may have concerns that after the children learn to use a computer or learn to do something new , they will find a job in the city and leave the parents behind , so they prefer their children not to be sent there .”
But if removing the children from the workplace isn ’ t the answer , as Mr . Ganesh believes , it ’ s difficult to find an alternative that would be accepted by all . While asking the factory to hire skilled workers from the areas where such learning centers are based may help the parents accept such centers more , Mr . Ganesh is all too aware that from the factory ’ s perspective , such initiatives may drive up their production costs thus making them less competitive and at greater risk of losing business
In the manufacturing facilities , the HR staff often face challenges when it comes to verifying a worker ’ s age while hiring and it is more predominant in factories located away from cities and closer to / in villages . Mr . Ganesh recounts one instance in which he tried and failed to verify the age of a suspected child laborer during an audit : “ It is often not easy for us to get the real age of the child from child himself / herself , as most children don ’ t know their date of birth exactly .” This underscores the immense challenges HR personnel are confronted with . They have to rely on an age certificate issued by a doctor in absence of any other document reflecting the age
According to Mr . Ganesh ’ s experiences , how do brands react to the child labor situation in India ?
There are some brands working on prevention of child labor in their supply chain but I am not sure how much is achieved in controlling / prevention of child labor within their supply chain . There are multiple questions that need to be taken into consideration including : how many suppliers are working in this area ? How much business is done with this supplier ?, Is it only one supplier or multiple suppliers involved in the products made by the village ?. Investment in setting up learning centers would be related with business / revenue . Continuity of business with supplier ( s ) is not guaranteed as it depends on the market demands / costing etc .,” he suggests . Brands could possibly define how much the supply chain requires to be monitored and what is practically possible . This would involve the tracing of the complete supply chain and each production process involved .
While a handful of brands have started to look into the whole supply chain , Mr . Ganesh points out that it may not be easy for the
25 Best Response : Auditors ’ Insights on Child Labor in Asia