New Delhi—India pledged Septsth to end illegal child labor by the end of the decade but accused activists in developed countries of blowing the problem out of proportion as part of a protectionist campaign. “The government is determined to do away with any illegal use of child labor by the end of the century,” Textiles Minister G. Venkat Swamy told a seminar on the carpet industry, targeted by Western campaigners for using child labor.
Lakshmi Puri, a senior Foreign Ministry official, said there was a connection between child labor campaigners and textile export lobbies in the United States after the recent GATT world trade accord Indian officials estimate that 20 million children work in hazardous industries, but child rights activists more than 55 million children work in. matchmaking, quarrying, tanning, fireworks making, carpet weaving and glassworks factories.
Article extracted from this publication >>September 8, 1995
