Abstract: This discussion builds on a study conducted by the speaker in the early nineties on child labour in zari industry and seeks to explore what has changed for the children in one generation. Based on in-depth interviews of children, parents, employers, senior artisans and middlemen in Jogeshwari slums (Mumbai), the study had questioned if children’s engagement in zari work was part of their socialization or if it was exploitation. During the past three decades, significant legal changes have occurred. Firstly, zari work got classified as a ‘hazardous’ process in 1999, thereby outlawing child labour in this sector. Secondly, elementary education became a fundamental right in 2001 and the new legislations on right to education and child labour have totally prohibited children’s employment in the zari industry. Based on a follow-up visit to the same location and interviews with key informants working on child labour, the speaker will share her preliminary findings about the changes observed and what appears to have contributed to the same.
About the speaker: Archana Mehendale joined NIAS as an Adjunct Professor and works with the Education Programme of the School of Social Sciences since October 2024. She is a social worker by training and has received her PhD (Social Sciences) from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. She has over twenty-five years of experience working in academia as well as non-governmental organisations, primarily in India and briefly in the US. Her research interests are education law and policy, inclusive education, and child rights. She was a Member of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee set up by the Government of India to frame the Right to Education bill in 2005. Archana has earlier worked with the Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru and Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She divides her time between US and India.