Child labor at a brick kiln in India
India is estimated to have more than 1 lakh brick kilns, employing about 10 million workers and consuming about 35 million tons of coal annually. This series is a pictorial documentary of child labor at one such kiln.
Starting with the safety hazards, Combustion of coal and other biomass fuels in these kilns results in the emission of particulate matter , including Black Carbon, Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide among many others. The emission of these pollutants has an adverse effect on the health of workers and vegetation around the kilns.
Exploring around this particular settlement, I found that they have access only to untreated ground water as drinking water, much of which is polluted and not safe for consumption. 3 out of 4 toilet facilities in the kiln had no running water, along with worksites having a large amount of dust and other chemicals present.
There is an astounding level of bonded labor and child labor at these places. Talking around, I got to know these young children, rather than going to school, are working for seven hours a day in dusty air filled with chemicals.
Parents are not at fault as they are given a loan before they begin work, causing them to go into debt at the start. Then they are trapped in “clearing the debt” cycle i.e. forced to work for an entire season without being paid, unsure whether they have worked off their debt or not.
Since no records are kept, the brick kiln owner often decides to pay less at the end of the tenure. This system encourages child labor by incentivising parents, as in order to earn at least the minimum wage, families enlist the assistance of their children in the production of more bricks.
