Child Labor Remediation Program (CLRP)

The Child Labor Remediation Program (CLRP) was initiated in 2004 by American Jewish World Service (AJWS) on behalf of Polo Ralph Lauren (PRL) to ensure that PRLs suppliers in India were not using child labor.  AJWS turned to Child Relief & You (CRY, India) to help them accomplish this task.  CSG, due to its long experience working with children and in these communities, agreed to be the nodal agency in the Salem district, in addition to working directly in fifteen areas.  Another compelling reason for CSG to accept this project was that it was already well-versed in the approach that CRY would use to accomplish the project goals – creating groups, providing training, encouraging discussions, and offering alternative solutions.  A multi-disciplinary team comprising of CRY, CSG, and others periodically planned, monitored, and evaluated the program.

The goal of the project was to implement a community-led child labor remediation program for children and their families in the Salem and Namakkal power loom industries, specifically those producing PRL products.  The program’s operational area included 43 areas (urban centers and villages), of which CSG covered ten urban centers, and five feeder villages, with the rest being covered by two other NGOs.

The program worked to involve all the stakeholders (children, parents, and loom owners) to find solutions to ensure that the children would be able to attend school, and provide training on child rights and their importance.  After training, in spite of an initial lack of cooperation on part of the weavers, many were willing to help the program by supporting CSG in its endeavor to gather data on child labor.  Furthermore, although many families and parents wished to send their children to school, many were unable to do so due to low wages, irregularity of jobs and income, increases in thread and input rates, etc.  Many viewed child labor as apprenticeships since there was not much scope or credit available for alternate (self-) employment.

CSG created new and utilized existing self-help groups or SHGs, and strengthened them through training.  These groups were then used to encourage the formation of Village Level Committees or VLCs to help communities identify child labor, prevent it from occurring, and encourage enrollment in schools.  Training CSG staff and group members on the rights of children, and conducting child labor remediation camps for child laborers helped instill in them the importance of education for themselves and their future children. Many families were also introduced to CSG’s self-employment ideas by making use of micro-credit and group savings schemes, which offered them an employment alternative that would allow them to earn money, and thus, eliminate the need to send their children to work.  A pledge from many loom owners not to employ children, and relieve any underage children who may already be working for them also helped reduce this problem.  These things, of course, are by no means enough; however, they are a start.

As it has done previously with other programs, CSG integrated this project with its other existing programs in the Salem and Namakkal districts once funding for CLRP came to an end.  This has ensured that the work begun through the Child Labor Remediation Programs continues.