January 9, 2003

Despite Hyderabad being home to the largest bangle industry in the world, its labourers are made to work round the clock in deplorable conditions and are paid a pittance, reports Shabana Channa

There is considerable uncertainty among the thousands of workers of the bangle industry in Hyderabad. The workers, who have earned the city the distinction of being home to the largest bangle industry in the world, are employed as daily wage labourers. Hundreds of women and children have been working in the houses of Chori Para in the city round the clock at low wages.

The Partition of the subcontinent is behind the establishment of the bangle industry. People migrated from various parts of India to a locality of Hyderabad known as Chori Para. The work on bangles was done by the migrants’ ancestors on a small scale but because of their hard work and labour their skills were recognised and it slowly evolved into the largest bangle industry in the world.

Chori Para is a vital module of the industry. It comprises more than 5000 houses with an average of 10 to 12 persons living in each house. The livelihood of the residents of Chori Para depend on the making of bangles — from the design to its formation to the bangle’s maintenance.

The bangle industry comprises more than 50 to 60 mills/factories situated in the outskirts of Hyderabad where the preliminary stage of making and shaping glass bangle takes place. The bangles are then brought to the houses in Chori Para through middlemen. All aspects of bangle production is very time, and energy, consuming.

One will find scores of women and children working in this industry from home. The job of lining the edges of bangles on a kerosene burner is also done at homes but it must be done in narrow places so as to curb the entrance of air. This creates more miserable working conditions in the summer.

Once the aforementioned task is complete, the next step is the designing or printing which is carried out on the surface of the bangle itself. Many hazardous chemicals are used during this process, infecting workers with various fatal diseases such as asthma, joint and bone pains and skin diseases on the hands of the women. At the end of this time-consuming work the labourer is charged only Rs. 35 to 40 per packet of bangle consisting of 288 bangles.

Muhammad Rafique Sidiqui, a resident of Chori Para, has four daughters and three sons who are all engaged in the same work. He lamented over the low wages and benefits despite the long drawn out process. He said that the chemical, colour and kerosene oil and the accessories of designing are included in the labour charges and as a result he gets a benefit of just two to three rupees on the preparation of a pack of bangles. The income is not sufficient for running the family in these trying economic times. As a result, Siddiqui can only afford to send two of his children to a government school.

People employed in this field generally work on a contract basis and are usually not paid on time. Another worker, Ali Mohammed, who is engaged in the profession with 12 members of his family at his home on a contract basis, said that despite a round the clock work schedule to meet the demand of the dealers, they were not unable to even get two square meals. He predicted that if this situation continued, the bangle industry would be destroyed.

Fareeda, another worker, blamed the middleman for exploiting workers. Whenever workers raised any objection regarding the increment of wages, it was the middleman who threatened to take away the contract, and as a result she believes that workers don’t have a choice but to work in same conditions for their survival. Despite their hard work, most of the workers are living below the poverty line.

In this connection, a survey conducted by Sindh Development Society on the Working Condition of Women revealed that one out of three women was found to be infected with asthma, eye problems, skin diseases, lung problems, burning and cutting of hands, backbone pain and so forth. The report said that female workers between the ages of seven to 50 are engaged in bangle work and most of them are deprived of even primary education.

It further disclosed that women have the burden of having to manage their household affairs while working round the clock, exacerbating their health problems.

The report called upon the government to take appropriate steps to ensure the due payment of bangle workers, especially female workers, and make health related arrangements for their treatment.

Dr Rizwana Ansari, who has worked on a team of coordinators with the same NGO, said that the process of making and forming of a bangle is very heedful, risky and unsafe for the lives of working people in the factories and homes. Most of the houses of Chori Para are built on only 80 yards and so the congested area results in residents sleeping, cooking and doing their work in the same rooms before the burners. As a result the scraps of bangles, Meenakari and other chemicals get scattered in and across the houses. Thus, she said, the inhaling of smoke with dangerous chemicals results in them being in the grip of asthma and other eye and skin diseases.

Dr Ansari expressed her concern over the negligible attitude of the factory owners and concerned government officials who don’t pay any attention to the wretched working condition of working women in the factories and houses.

The irony is that under the Labor Act each factory which has more than 10 employees has to get its employees registered with Employees Old Benefit Institution which binds the owner of a factory to provide facilities to labourers including medical allowances, house allowances and loans if needed. Moreover, the administration of a factory must abide by another clause of the Act which states that a labourer employed or working for three months must be regularized. But like other laws and Acts, this one is also being violated by the owners of bangle factories, with the support of the officials of concerned government departments for their vested interests.

The Executive Officer of Employees Old benefit complained about the administration of bangle factories for not maintaining the record of their employees in order to escape from submitting the fees fixed under Labor Act for providing basic services to the workers. However, Dr Mohan Lal, medical officer of Labour Department, denied that bangle workers are being paid low wages saying thay bangle work is difficult and limited people can do it properly. He was of the view that bangle workers exploited their skills and have received their due salaries or wages.

Owners of the factories like Zakiuddin, the owner of Muslim Glass factory and Riaz-u-din of the Al-Madina factory admitted to non-regularization of the labourers in their respective factories. Justifying their stance, they said that their respective factories are sustaining losses due to the high charges of electricity and gas and a reduction in the sales of bangles. They said that their factories make profits only during the Eid days — factories remained closed during most of the rest of the year and therefore they can not regularize their employees.

Zakiudin held government officials responsible for not considering and addressing their problems. He said that factory owners don’t have any unions due to differences between them, which is also a reason of their grievances. On the other hand, Riazudin dispelled the impression of not having any union of owners. He said that there was a union called Glass Bangle Managing Association which eagerly worked for labourers’ problems. The organization of the bangle workers has not been functioning for the last few years due to a conflict among its office-bearers. Because of that, the bangle workers do not have any platform through which they can approach the authorities concerned to get their problems resolved.

Because of abject poverty a considerable numbers of labourers are compelled to work as bonded labour after getting loans from factory owners. Despite the ongoing crisis, the workers in the bangle industry do not accept defeat from whatever condition they encounter as they have still a ray of hope that someday they will see a new day of prosperity and rid themselves of poverty.

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