COTTON’S FORGOTTEN CHILDRENCHILD LABOUR AND BELOW MINIMUM WAGESIN HYBRID COTTONSEED PRODUCTION IN INDIA

by Dr. Davuluri Venkateswarlu
JULY 2015

INDIA COMMITTEE OF THE NETHERLANDS (ICN)
STOP CHILD LABOUR COALITIONTABLE OF CONTENTEXECUTIVE SUMARY

5CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1.2 Nature of child labour in cottonseed production
1.3 Objectives of the study
1.4 Methodology
1.5 Structure of the report

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9
11
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CHAPTER II: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INDIAN COTTONSEED INDUSTRY
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Increase in the seed production area
2.3 Growing control of MNCs and big companies
2.4 Relocation and expansion of production to new areas
2.5 Shifting production from large commercial farms to small family based farms
2.6 Changes in the workforce composition
2.7 Summing up

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CHAPTER III: MAGNITUDE AND PROFILE OF THE WORKING CHILDREN
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Magnitude of child labour
3.3 Trends in the employment of child labour
3.4 Magnitude of child labour on farms producing for MNCs and Indian companies
3.5 Profile of the working children

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25
27
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CHAPTER IV: ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN
COTTONSEED FARMS IN DIFFERENT STATES

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CHAPTER V: INTERVENTIONS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR IN COTTONSEED CULTIVATION

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CHAPTER VI: WAGE RATES: THE ISSUE OF BELOW MINIMUM WAGES
6.1 Introduction
6.2 FLA-ICN wage study findings
6.3 Statutory minimum wages in different states
6.4 Comparison of statutory wages with prevailing market wages

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CHAPTER VII: SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

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CHAPTER VIII: RECOMMENDATIONS

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2

List of tables and figures
Table 1: State wise distribution of sample farms surveyed
Table 2: Company wise distribution of sample farms surveyed in different states
Table 3: Trends in area and productivity of cotton in India
Table 4: Trends in area under hybrid cottonseed production in India
Table 5: The production area controlled by MNCs and Indian companies (area in acres)
Table 6: Relocation of expansion of cottonseed production to new areas
Table 7: Average size of cottonseed farm in different states (in acres)
Table 8: Proportion of family labour to total workforce in cottonseed farms
Table 9: Proportion of seasonal migrant workers to the total labour supply
Table 10: Incidence of child labour in cottonseed farms in different states 2014-15
Table 11: Profile of working children in different states 2014-15
Table 12: Proportion of children (below 14 years) to total workforce in cottonseed farms
Table 13: Proportion of children (15-18 years) to total workforce in cottonseed farms
Table 14: Total area under hybrid seed production in India
Table 15: Estimates of approximate total number of children employed in hybrid cottonseed farms in different
states in India for 2006-07, 2009-10 and 2014-15
Table 16: Comparison of prevailing market wages with statutory minimum wages 2014-15

Colophon
Author: Dr. Davuluri Venkateswarlu, Director Glocal Research, Hyderabad, davuluri_v@yahoo.com
Lay out: India Committee of the Netherland (ICN)
Published by: India Committee of the Netherlands as member of the Stop Child Labour Coalition
Acknowledgement: We thank all the respondents who have participated in the study, including thecompanies that have given their input to the draft report
India Committee of the Netherlands(Landelijke India Werkgroep)
Mariaplaats 4e, 3511 LH Utrecht, Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)30 2321340
E-mail: g.oonk@indianet.nl
Website: www.indianet.nl

Stop Child Labour
Website: www.stopchildlabour.eu

3About the Authors and Publishers
The India Committee of the Netherlands
The India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) is an independent non-governmental organisation
campaigning and doing advocacy work on human rights issues. Central to the work of ICN are the issuesof caste-based discrimination, labour rights and child labour & education. ICN co-operates withorganisations in India and elsewhere in combating discrimination, poverty, oppression, exploitation andlack of education, focusing on the role of policy makers and companies. ICN is an active member of
networks like the Stop Child Labour campaign, the Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Dalit
Solidarity Network and the Dutch MVO Platform.
Stop Child Labour'Stop Child Labour – School is the best place to work' (SCL) aims to eliminate all forms of child labour
and to ensure quality fulltime education for all children until the age of 15. Stop Child Labour promotes
an area-based approach towards the creation of ‘child labour free zones’ and 'child labour freeproduction chains'. Stop Child Labour calls on consumers, companies, governments and internationalorganisations to be part of the solution.
Stop Child Labour is a coalition coordinated by Hivos. The coalition consists of four non-governmentalorganizations and two trade unions based in the Netherlands as well as NGOs and unions in Asia, Africa
and Latin America.
Glocal Research
Glocal Research provides multi-disciplinary research and consultancy services to (state) governments,
non-governmental organizations, corporate bodies and national and international development
funding agencies. The organisation has expertise in the areas of agriculture, child labour, natural
resource management, rural development and rural livelihoods. Its multi-disciplinary team ofprofessionals has undertaken several research, monitoring and evaluation studies and facilitatestraining workshops. Glocal Research is established in 2000 and based in Hyderabad, India.
Over the last 15 years Glocal Research has extensively contributed to policy and academic debates onchild labour and agriculture in India. The research carried out by Glocal Research on child labour incotton production has generated substantial debate among scholars, activists, seed companies andpolicymakers and contributed to the development of several proactive interventions to address childlabour in the seed industry.

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Executive Summary•

The research data for 2014-15 shows that children under 14 years still account for nearly 25% of thetotal workforce in cottonseed farms in India. In 2014-15, a total of around 200,000 children below 14
years were employed in cottonseed farms in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Rajashtan states. Gujarat, which has the largest cottonseed production area in the
country accounts for nearly 55% of the total children employed in this sector (110,000). The persistencechild labour on a large scale is due to the limited coverage and insufficient impact of the presentinterventions. This is even more the case for adolescent children. There are now 281,200 children
between 15 and 18 years working in the cottonseed fields while this number was 190,450 in 2006-07.
This is an increase by almost half.

•

The other issue of major concern in cottonseed production discussed in this report is payment ofminimum wages to workers. A comparison of prevailing market wages with the statutory minimum
wages fixed by the respective state governments clearly indicates that the legal norms are notfollowed, especially for certain categories of workers and activities. The prevailing wage rates for crosspollination activity which is the vital activity in seed production, are 46.5% below the legal minimum
wage in Karnataka, 9.4% below in Andhra Pradesh, 25% below the legal minimum wage in Telangana. In
Gujarat they are 6.6% to 16.6% below the legal minimum wage in Sabarkantha and Choutoudaipur
respectively.

•

This present report examines the recent trends in the employment of children and the issue of below
minimum wages in hybrid cottonseed production in India. The field survey for the present study
covered a sample of 396 cottonseed farms in 72 villages that are producing seed for both MNCs andmajor Indian seed companies in the six Indian states namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu,
Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat which account for nearly 95% of the total cottonseed production inIndia.

•The recent figures regarding the magnitude of child labour, measured in terms of proportion of children
to the total workforce and the average number of children employed per acre, in hybrid cottonseed
production in India show a declining trend in all the states. The decline is significant in Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However, this has not translated into a decline of the total number of children
employed on cottonseed farms, particularly in Gujarat. The latter is due to a substantial increase in the
production area in these states.

•

As a result of the efforts of local and international NGOs, the government, media and social investors,
awareness has been created. Interventions by various agencies, including governmental agencies, theNational Commission for Protection of Child Rights, NGOs like MV Foundation and a union like DRMU,
the seed industry and international organisations like ILO, UNICEF and UNDP have in combination had apositive impact and helped to reduce child labour in the cottonseed industry. The India Committee of
the Netherlands (ICN), International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF) and the Stop Child Labour coalition have– through its range of reports on the issue and engagement with companies –triggered and supported
these efforts by putting ‘the facts on the table’, seeking public attention and encouraging companies totake action.

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•Despite the decline, the total number of children still employed in the cottonseed sector is huge. The
conditions in the fields continue to be very unsafe and exploitative for the children. The children are
made to work long hours and are paid less than market and official minimum wages. They are also
exposed to poisonous pesticides used in high quantities in cottonseed cultivation and are often
trafficked as migrants from other places. The existing employment practices in cottonseed farms resultin the denial of rights of children and violate many national laws and international conventions•

The response of some of the state governments to address the problem of child labour in this sector
has not been very encouraging. The government of Gujarat and Rajasthan, except initiating a few steps
to control the trafficking of children from Rajasthan to Gujarat cottonseed fields, have not paid serious
attention to tackle the issue. They are in a ‘denying mood’ about the existence of large number childlabourers in this sector. In fact the employment of children on family farms, which has increased recently,
has not received any serious attention from the state governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

•

There is a misconception, which is propagated by government and some seed companies, that mostof the working children in seed production are family labourers who help their parents during school
holidays and before and after school hours. This is not correct. Though there is an increase in thecomposition of family children in total workforce in recent years, they still constitute a small portion of
total working children. In 2014-15, family children accounted for less than 30% of the total working
children in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Also the study noted that most of the children
found working on seed farms were school drop-outs who are now working as a full time workers. They
accounted for nearly 62% of the total working children in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In other states
the proportion of school drop-out children varied between 55% and 58%.

•

The response from the seed industry as a whole to address the problem of child labour is minimal.
Despite acknowledging the problem and promising steps to address the problem of child labour, seed
companies, except for a few multinationals and local companies, to date have not taken any serious
efforts to tackle the issue on the farms that are producing seed for their companies. The initiatives
undertaken by Bayer, Monsanto, Du Pont and few local companies have had some positive impact inreducing the number of working children. However, their efforts have only a limited impact on the overallmagnitude of child labour in the industry. Unless all the major seed companies come forward andimplement serious measures in collaboration with other stakeholders, it is difficult to combat the overall
problem of child labour.

•

The minimum wages issue has not received as much attention as child labour and no serious efforts
were made to tackle this issue either by the government, the seed industry or by civil society
organizations, except the work by the union DRMU in Gujarat. There is lack of awareness about the
Minimum Wage Act among workers and farmers. The workers in cotton seed production are not wellorganized and there are no active worker organizations operating in most of the areas.

6CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The issue of child labour and below minimum wages, especially among women, in the production of hybrid
cottonseeds in India has received wide attention in recent years. Since 1998 a number of studies have been
conducted on the nature and magnitude of child labour, the working conditions of children, the reasons for large
scale employment of children in this sector and the role of large-scale national and multinational seed companies(MNCs) contributing to this problem1. ‘Seeds of Child Labour - Signs of Hope: Child and Adult labour in Cottonseed
production in India’ jointly published by ICN, Stop Child Labour and ILRF in 2010, is the latest report available on
the overall situation of child labour in hybrid cottonseed production in different states of India.2 According tothis report despite some improvements in the areas where interventions have been implemented, large numbersof children continued to be employed in hybrid seed production. In the 2009-10 cultivation season, nearly
381,500 children under the age of 18, about 45% of them younger than 14, were employed for the productionof hybrid cottonseeds in the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 90% of the seedproduction in India is concentrated in these states. A study conducted on wages in 2012 indicates that paymentof minimum wages was still a considerable issue at seed production farms. The wage rates for certain production
activities, in which mainly women were involved, were below the state prescribed legal minimum wages3.
Since 2010, many developments have occurred which have influenced the nature and magnitude of child labour
and working conditions of the labourers in the Indian seed industry. The intensified pressure from internationalNGOs and social investors like Norges Bank urged multinational companies (MNCs) like Bayer, Monsanto,
Syngenta and DuPont to continue their efforts to address the problem of child labour in their supply chain. The
decision of Norges Bank to exclude Zuari seed company from its investment portfolio in 2013, as result of the1

Important studies on the issue of child labour in hybrid cottonseed production in India include 1) Venkateswarlu, Davuluri(2001) `Seeds of Bondage: Female Child Bonded Labour in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in Andhra Pradesh` published byBusiness and Community Foundation and Plan International (India Chapter) New Delhi (http://www.indianet.nl/sob.html),
2) Venkateswarlu, Davuluri. and L. da Corta (2001) `Transformations in Age and Gender of Unfree Workers on Hybrid
Cottonseed Farms in Andhra Pradesh` Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp 1-36, 3) Ramamurthy, Priti (2000) `The
Cotton Commodity Chain, Women, Work and Agency in India and Japan: The Case for Feminist Agro-Food Systems Research.’
World Development 28(3): 551-578, 4) Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2003), ‘Child Labour and Trans-national Seed Companies
in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in Andhra Pradesh’, study commissioned by the India Committee of the Netherlands(http://www.indianet.nl/cotseed.html), 5) Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2007), ‘Child bondage continues in India cotton supply
chain` study commissioned by India Committee of the Netherlands, ILRF, DWHH, OECD Watch(http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/childbondagecotton.pdf), 6) Ashok Khandelwal, Katiar Sudhir and Madan Vashnav (2008)`Child
Labour in Cottonseed Production: A case study of cottonseed farms in North Gujarat` Dhakhina Rajasthan Majdur Union(http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/drmureport.pdf)
2Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2010) ‘Seeds of Child Labour - Signs of Hope; Child and Adult Labor in Vegetable Seed Productionin India” jointly published by ICN, ILRF and Stop Child Labor (http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/signsofhope.pdf)
3Venkateswarlu, Davuluri and Jacb Kalle (2012) ‘Wages of Inequality of Inequality: Wage Discrimination and Underpayment
in Hybrid Cotton and Vegetable Seed Production in India` jointly published by ICN and Fair Labor Association(http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/WagesOfInequality.pdf)

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prevalence of child labour, sent strong signals to companies about human rights concerns of social investors4.
Other companies like Namdhari, Kalash Seeds (formerly Bejo Sheetal), Advanta, Nuziveedu etc. have started
interventions, though in a limited way, to address the issues of child labour in their suppliers’ farms.
Since 2010 the total area under hybrid cottonseed production increased in India by 40% due to a growing demandfor hybrid cottonseeds in the market on account of rise in area under commercial cotton. Large companies are
slowly increasing their control over the cottonseed industry by expanding their production area and also byacquiring smaller companies. Seed companies are relocating and expanding their production to new areas
situated in remote pockets where the availability of labour for seed production is not an issue. In Gujarat andTamil Nadu, all the new production locations are situated in remote tribal areas. In recent years Rajasthan has
also emerged as one of the important locations for hybrid cottonseed production. Some of the companies have
expanded their production to tribal locations in south Rajasthan, which used to be the area for labour supply tocottonseed fields in Gujarat. The expansion and relocation of production into remote tribal areas and the decline
in the average size of production units has had significant implications for the composition of the workforce. In
the new production locations, most of the seed growers are small subsistence farmers who often depend on
their own family’s labour, including the labour of their children.

4

See: http://www.indianet.nl/NorwegianPensionFund.html

8

The Government of India (GoI) – in particular the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR)– has in the past taken serious note of the issue and initiated several measures to address the problem. Since2010 the GoI has been implementing the Right to Education Act. The local NGOs particularly in Andhra Pradesh(MV Foundation, CARE, Shramika Vikas Kendra etc.) and Gujarat and Rajasthan (Dakshini Rajashtan Majdoor
Union, Seva Mandir etc) have intensified their campaign. UNICEF and Save the Children Fund with the support
from IKEA and H&M (Hennes and Mauritz) have been implementing projects to address the problem of childlabour in cottonseed production areas in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
In the context of the developments mentioned above, the present study makes an attempt to assess the current
situation of child labour and minimum wages on cottonseed farms in India.
1.2 Nature of child labour problem in cottonseed production
Hybrid cottonseed production in India is concentrated in six states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka in South India and Gujarat and Maharashtra in the central part of India. These six statesaccount for nearly 95% of total cottonseed production in the country. Until recently, Andhra Pradesh used to be
the largest producer of cottonseed but now Gujarat has overtaken this position.
The specificity of hybrid cottonseed production in India is that a significant portion of the labour force in this
sector are children, particularly girls. No other industry in India has such a high proportion of child labour in its
workforce (Venkateswarlu, D. 2001). Hybrid cottonseed production is a labour intensive activity. A main part ofthis production is cross-pollination5 which is done manually. This activity alone requires about 90% of the total
labour and is done mostly by children. Children are employed on a long-term contract basis through advancesand loans extended to their parents by local seed producers, who have agreements with the large national andmultinational seed companies. Children are made to work 8 to 12 hours and are paid less than the market andofficial minimum wages. They are also exposed to poisonous pesticides used in high quantities in cottonseed
cultivation. Most of the children working in cottonseed farms belong to poor families from Scheduled Castes(SCs) or Dalits, Scheduled Tribes (STs) or Adivasi, and Backward Castes (BCs).
Farmers employ children, particularly girls, primarily in order to minimize costs. In cottonseed production, thelabour costs account for about 50% of total cultivation costs (Venkateswarlu, D. and Da Corta, L. 2005). Farmers
endeavour to cut these labour costs by hiring children because the wages paid to children are far below both themarket wages for adults in other agricultural field work and even further below official minimum wages. Farmers
also hire children in preference to adults because farmers can squeeze out higher productivity from children perday. Children will work longer hours, will work much more intensively and they are generally much easier tocontrol than adult workers – whether through verbal or physical abuse or through inexpensive treats likechocolate or hair ribbons (Venkateswarlu, D. and Da Corta L. 2001, Ramamurthy Priti, 2000).
According to Sivaramakrishna, a seed farmer in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana, ’cross-pollination work is verylabour intensive and a large number of labourers are required to do this work. It is also delicate work and needs
to be handled carefully. We prefer young girl children for this task because with their delicate fingers (nimble
fingers) they can handle this work better than adults. They also work more intensively than adults. We can control
5

Cross-pollination involves two separate activities: emasculation and pollination. In plants crossing is done by placing pollen
grains from one genotype - the male parent on to the stigma of flowers of the other genotype, the female parent. The
removal of stamens or anthers or killing of pollen grains of a flower without effecting in any way the female reproductive
organs is known as emasculation. About two months after sowing, the plant starts blossoming and continues growing forthree to four months. During this time, cross-pollination (both emasculation/pollination) needs to be done every day,without fail. The duration of cross-pollination activity is 60 to 90 days and doing this work in one acre farm requires 10 to
15 labourers per day.

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them easily. They listen to us and do whatever we ask them to do. The most important thing is labour costs.
Nearly half of our investment goes towards payment of labour charges. The wage rates for children are far lower
than adult wages. We can reduce our labour costs considerably if we hire girl children. If we want to hire adultlabour we have to pay higher wages. With the current procurement price we get from the seed companies wecannot afford to pay higher wages to the labourers’. (This quote is reproduced from report ‘Child bondage
continues in Indian cotton supply chain’, 2007.)
The exploitation of child labour on cottonseed farms is linked to larger market forces. Several large-scale nationaland multinational seed companies, which produce and market the seeds, are involved in perpetuating the
problem of child labour. The economic relationship behind this abuse is multi-tiered and complex and masks
legal and social responsibility. Cottonseed production is carried out through contract farming. Companies
depend upon local farmers for seed production. They arrange seed buy back arrangements with local farmers
through middlemen called ‘seed organizers’. Seed organizers mediate between companies and farmers.
Although seed companies are not directly involved in the production process, they exert substantial control overfarmers and the production process by supplying foundation seed, advancing production capital, fixing the
procurement prices and through stipulating quality controls (Venkateswarlu D. 2003).
The employment of children in cottonseed work has an adverse impact on literacy and health of children. Mostof the children working in cottonseed fields are either school dropouts or have never attended school(Venkateswarlu, D. 2001). Working in cottonseed fields also has important health implications for the children
involved. The use of pesticides in hybrid cottonseed cultivation is high and children working on farms are directly
exposed to poisonous pesticides for prolonged periods. A report published by Physicians for Human Rights in
20036 pointed out that children working in cottonseed farms are exposed to various health risks. The general
health problems reported by children working in cottonseed farms include severe headaches, nausea, weakness,convulsion and respiratory depression. Few cases of children’s deaths due to pesticide exposure were also
reported in Andhra Pradesh.
The large scale employment of children in hybrid cottonseed production has a very adverse impact on
employment opportunities and working conditions of adult labour. In areas where cottonseed production isconcentrated there is widespread underemployment problem for adult labour, particularly for women.
Mahabubnagar district in Telangana state where cottonseed production is concentrated is well known across thecountry for large scale distress migration of agricultural labourers to urban areas in search of wage work
(Venkateswarlu, D. 2001).
The existing employment practices in cottonseed farms result in the denial of children’s rights and violate manynational laws and international conventions. Children’s right to education, health and safe living are denied by
employing them on the farms on a long term contract basis, making them to work long hours and exposing themto poisonous pesticides that are applied in high quantities on the plants (Venkateswarlu, D. 2001). Securing ofchildren’s labour through giving loans/advances to their parents and compelling them to work until the loan is
repaid, long hours of work and paying less than minimum wage violates many Indian laws including: The Children(Pledging of Labour) Act 1933, The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, The Child Labour (Prohibition
and Regulation) Act 1986 and The Right of Children to Free And Compulsory Education Act 2009. It also violates
ILO Convention No. 138 regarding minimum age for admission to employment, Convention No. 182 which
prohibits worst forms of child labour and the UN Convention on the rights of the child (1989).

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Physicians for Human Rights Child Rights Group (2003) ‘Child labour in India: A Health and Human Rights Perspective’ The
Lancet, December, 2003, Vol 362.

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1.3 Objectives of the study
To examine the current situation of child labour at hybrid cottonseed farms in six Indian states, including
Andhra Pradesh7, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat.
To compare the issues of child labour and the (minimum) wages between a) farms producing seed for MNCs
and major Indian companies and b) farms producing seed for companies that are implementing interventions
against child labour and farms that do this hardly or not.
To study the impact of recent interventions of the seed industry, the governments (both national and state),
NGOs and social investors to combat child labour in the Indian cottonseed industry.
1.4 Methodology and sample
The field survey for the present study was conducted between July 2014 and January 2015. The study is mainly
based on the analysis of primary data collected through field visits to 396 sample cottonseed farms in 72 villages
that are producing seed for both MNCs and major Indian seed companies in the six Indian states. These six statesaccount for nearly 90% of the total cottonseed production in India. Out of 396 farms surveyed, 60 are in Andhra
Pradesh, 56 are in Telangana, 100 in Gujarat and 60 each in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Table 1
provides an overview of the state wise distribution of sample farms that were surveyed.
Table 2 presents a company wise break up of sample farms included in the survey in different states. Of the total
396 farms surveyed 138 (35%) were producing seed for multinationals or its joint venture partners and theremaining 258 for local Indian companies. The names of MNCs included in the survey are Monsanto and its Indian
partner Mahyco (Monsanto holds 26% share in Mahyco), Bayer, Advanta (owned by United Prosperous Ltd) andXylem Seeds (subsidiary of DuPont Pioneer). The names of important local Indian seed companies included in
the survey are Nuziveedu Seeds, Kaveri Seeds, Ajith Seeds, Bio Seeds, JK Seeds, Ankur Seeds, Raasi Seeds, Tulasi
Seeds, Vikram Seeds, Nath Seeds, Kalash Seeds and Vibha Seeds.
In Gujarat the survey was conducted in six districts: Sabarkantha (Idar and Khedbrahama taluk), Banaskhantha(Diodar taluk), Chotaudaipur (Badoli taluk), Mahisagar (Lunawada taluk), Panchamahal (Jambhuguda taluk) andAravali (Meghraj taluk). In Andhra Pradesh Kurnool district and in Telangana Mahabubnagar district wereselected for the survey. In Tamil Nadu the survey was conducted in Attur taluk of Salem district which is the main
production centre for cottonseed in Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka the survey covered three districts: Gadag (Rontaluk), Koppal (Yelberga taluk) and Kolar (Chitamani taluk). In Rajasthan the seed production is concentrated in
Dungarpur and Udaipur districts. The survey covered both these districts. The selection of districts, villages andfarms for the study was based on both random and purposive sampling methods.

Table 1: State wise distribution of sample farms surveyedState

Indian companies

Andhra Pradesh
Telangana

36
48

Multinational
companies (MNCs)
24
8*

Total
60
56

7

Andhra Pradesh state in India was divided into two states in June 2014: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Andhra Pradesh
has three distinct regions namely Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana. Telangana region is now created as aseparate state. For the purpose of comparison of figures with previous years the name of Andhra Pradesh, unless specificallymentioned, in the report is referred to un divided Andhra Pradesh state which includes the areas in the present Telangana
state.

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Gujarat
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan
Total

60
30
42
40
258

40
30
18
20
138

100
60
60
60
396

* Most of the MNCs (Bayer, DuPont, Advanta) currently have no production in Telangana.

Table 2: Company wise distribution of sample farms surveyed in different states
Name of company
Total farms
Multinational companies
Monsanto
39
Bayer
28
Mahyco ( Monsanto partner in cottonseed45
business)
Advanta (United Prosperous Ltd)
4

Xylem Seeds (subsidiary of DuPont Pioneer
Sub total
Indian companies
Nuziveedu Seeds
Ajith Seeds
Raasi Seeds
Bio Seeds
Kaveri Seeds
Ankur Seeds
JK Seeds
Vikram Seeds
Kalash Seeds
Other small companies
Sub total
TOTAL

22
138
49
30
34
26
44
16
18
11
6
22
258
396

Note: The proportion of sample size among MNCs and Indian companies (34.8% MNCs and 65.2% Indian companies) as agroup closely represent their overall share in the market. However, the sample share of individual companies within thegroup does not exactly represent their overall position in the market. As per the data collected by this study, cottonseed
was grown in about 95,000 acres in 2014-15, out of which 32% was controlled by MNCs, 66% by Indian companies andremaining 2% by public sector corporations. Although Mahyco is a Indian company and its operations are largely confined
to India it is included in MNCs category because of its close business relationship with Monsanto. Monsanto holds 26%
shares in Mahyco and both of them are equal partners in MMB (Mahyco- Monsanto Bio tech Limited) which control the
distribution of Bt technology in India.

Information on age and gender composition of workers, wage rates and working conditions was gathered
through separate interviews and discussions with labourers and seed farmers and also through fieldobservations. A total of 789 workers including 468 child workers and 256 seed farmers were interviewed. In somecases age determination was found difficult by the field investigators by physical observation or discussions withworkers. Workers who may be 13 or 14 years old also reported their age as above 14 years knowing that the law
prohibits employment of children below 14 years. Age determination was found difficult in 221 cases of young
workers and such cases were recorded separately as age doubtful cases (category ‘probably children’). While12

estimating the total number of children below 14 years, it was decided to take into account 50% of the numberof workers in the ‘probably children’ category as children below 14 years. This is based on the assumption thatthe chance of a worker in the ‘probably children’ category is a child below 14 years, is around 50%.
As per the investigators’ observations in the field and our considered opinion based on that, calculating 50% of
the workers in the ‘probably children’ category as definitely children is the best guess. During the field visits tofarms 64 children in 48 fields were running away from the fields after they saw the study team approaching thefarm. These children were included in the category ‘probably children’.
No official data are available on the total area undercottonseed production and the area covered by individual
seed companies. This information was gathered throughdiscussions with representatives of seed companies andkey informants in the seed industry. The total number ofchild labourers in cottonseed production for the 2014-15
crop season was estimated for each state separately. The
average requirement of labour per acre and the proportionof child labour to the total workforce in the sampled farms
were used to calculate the average number of childlabourers per acre. By extrapolating the sample data to thetotal area under cottonseed production in each state, thetotal number of child labourers on cottonseed farms wascalculated.
1.5 Structure of the report
The report is divided into eight chapters. The context forthe present study, scope, objectives and methodology are
discussed in chapter I. The structure of the seed industry
and recent developments in organization seed productionthat have significant implications for the composition of theworkforce and the nature and magnitude of child labour inthe cottonseed industry are presented in chapter II. The
magnitude of child labour and profile of the working
children in sample cottonseed farms during 2014-15 crop
season in different states were presented in chapter III. To analyze the trends in the employment of children thedata for 2014-15 is compared with previous years data (2009-10 and 2006-07). The estimates of total number ofchildren employed in cottonseed farms in different states based on extrapolation of data from sample farms arepresented in chapter IV. The recent interventions against child labour in cottonseed production by different
agencies are presented in Chapter V. In chapter VI an analysis of prevailing wage rates in cottonseed production
is discussed. The prevailing wage rates are compared with statutory minimum wages to find out implementationof minimum wages in cottonseed farms. Summary of findings and conclusions are presented in Chapter VII.
Recommendation are included in chapter VIII

13

CHAPTER II
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INDIAN COTTONSEED INDUSTRY
2.1. Introduction
The hybrid seed industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India. With a total value of USD 2 billion in2013, India’s seed market is now one of the biggest in the world8. Almost 40% of the 2 billion USD contains thevalue of the hybrid cottonseed industry.
India accounts for about 18% of the world’s cotton production and is the second largest producer of cotton in
the world after China. With around 12 million hectares India has the largest area under cotton cultivation in theworld, which constitutes about 25% of the world area under cotton cultivation. There has been an overall
increase in the total area under commercial cotton production and productivity of cotton in India in recent years.
Table 3 presents an overview of the area and productivity of cotton production in India since 2006-07. The total
area under cotton production has increased from 22.6 million acres in 2006-07 to 31.3 million acres in 2014-15.
The average yields per acre are cotton increased marginally during this period: from 210.85 Kgs in 2006-07 to
217.3 Kgs in 2014-15. The increase in production area and yields are largely attributed to the introduction of Bt(Bacillus thuringiensis) technology in cotton hybrids9 and favourable climatic conditions.
Table 3: Trends in Area and Productivity of Cotton in India

Year
2006-072007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-132013-142014-15 (projected)

Production Area
(lakh acres)
225.95232.62232.42254.76275.32300.92296.00289.77312.58

Production(lakh bales)
280.00307.00290.00305.00339.00353.00365.00398.00400.00

Productivity(Kgs per acre)
210.85224.20212.06203.56209.23199.51209.63225.41217.32

Source: The Cotton Corporation of India, http://cotcorp.gov.in/index.aspx

8

According to International Seed Federation estimates the global commercial seed market value was USD 45 billion and theIndian seed market value was USD 2 billion in 2013.
9
The term “hybrid” refers to a plant variety developed through specific, controlled crossing of two parent plants. Usually,
the parents are naturally compatible varieties within the same species. This hybridization, or the crossing of compatible
varieties, happens naturally in the wild; plant breeders basically just steer the process to control the outcome. Unlike
hybrids, which are developed in the field using natural, low-tech methods, GM varieties are created in a lab using highly
complex technology, such as gene splicing. These high-tech GM varieties can include genes from several species — aphenomenon that almost never occurs in nature. The Bt technology developed by Monsanto includes genetic material fromthe bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which kills bollworm pest. In India hybrid technology was introduced in cotton in
1970s itself. In early 2000s Bt technology was incorporated in existing cotton hybrids. Whether it is traditional hybrid or Bt
hybrid the process used for multiplication of seed (emasculation and pollination) is same.

14

The area under Bt cotton hybrids, has seen a significant increase in recent years. Bt cotton was officiallyintroduced in India in 2002-03. Beginning with 93,992 acres in 2002-03, the area under Bt cotton hybrids
increased to nearly 31 million acres covering about 94% of the total cotton area in 2013-14. Monsanto, whichhas patent rights over Bt genes, has sub-licensed the use of its genes to several Indian seed companies whichhave incorporated Bt genes in their proprietary hybrids.

2.2 Increase in the seed production area
The growing demand for hybrid seeds in the market and the rise in area under commercial cotton resulted in an
increasing area under cottonseed production. Table 4 presents the total area under cottonseed production bystate since 2006-07. In India, hybrid cottonseed production is concentrated in six states, namely Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka accounting for nearly 90% of cottonseed production
area in India. Of the total 95,000 acres of cottonseed production in India in 2014-15, Gujarat has the largest area
covering nearly 50% (48,000 acres), followed by Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) with 17,000 acres (18%),
Karnataka with 9,000 acres (11.6%) and Tamil Nadu with 7,000 acres (7.4%).
The total area under cottonseed production increased from nearly 60,000 acres in 2006-07 to 95,000 acres in
2014-15. In 2006-07, the cottonseed production area covered by Bt cotton hybrids was around 65% (40,000 acresout of 60,000 acres) which has increased to nearly 95% (90,000 acres out of 95,000 acres) in 2014-15. The
hybridization process involved in production of cottonseeds is the same for both traditional and Bt hybrids.

15

Hybridization, which is a vital activity in cottonseed production, is carried out through hand emasculation andpollination methods using a large labour force.
Table 4: Trends in area under hybrid cottonseed production in India
2006-072009-10
State
Andhra Pradesh + Telangana
16,00012,000
Gujarat25,40038,000Rajasthan
0.0
0.0

2014-15
17,00048,0005,000

Karnataka
Tamil Nadu
Other states (Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh etc.)

5,000
9,000
5,000

8,000
5,000
5,000

11,000
7,000
7,000

Total

60,40068,00095,000Note: No official data are available on the total extent of area under cottonseed production and the area covered byindividual seed companies. The figures mentioned are approximates and information was gathered through discussions
with representatives of seed companies and key informants in the seed industry. The figures for 2006-07 and 2009-10
derive from previous studies

Until the 1990s, Andhra Pradesh was the largest state in the production of hybrid cottonseeds in India. After the
introduction of Bt cotton in the early 2000s, the area under cottonseed production in Gujarat rapidly increased
and it has now become the largest cottonseed producing state in India. Since 2006-07, the area under cottonseed
production in Gujarat increased by nearly 90% from 25,400 acres to 48,000 acres. Due to the growing demandfor hybrid seeds, seed companies are expanding their production volumes and areas under seed production.
They have chosen Gujarat to expand their production area since the productivity and quality of seed produced
is relatively better in Gujarat than in other states. The availability of cheap labour to work on cottonseed farms
is another reason for seed companies to expand their production area in Gujarat. All major seed companies both
Indian and MNCs have production facilities in Gujarat.
2.3 Growing control of MNCs and big companies
The production and marketing of hybrid cottonseed in India is almost fully controlled by the private sector.
During the 1970s, the public sector seed corporations played a dominant role in the development, production
and marketing of hybrid cottonseeds. However, since 1985, the role of private seed companies in the cottonseedindustry has been growing rapidly. Currently, private seed companies, both MNCs and Indian companies, accountfor nearly 98% of the total cottonseed produced and marketed in the country. Table 5 presents the share ofprivate and public sector agencies in the production of hybrid cottonseed in India. The share of public sector
agencies like KSSC (Karnataka State Seed Corporation), GSSDC (Gujarat State Seed Development Corporation),
APSSDC (Andhra Pradesh State Seed Development Corporation), MSSDC (Maharashtra State Seed Development
Corporation) and NSC (National Seed Corporation) in the production of hybrid cottonseeds is reduced fromaround 8% in 2006-07 to 2% in 2014-15.

16

Table 5: The production area controlled by MNCs and Indian companies (area in acres)Company

2006-07

A) Private seed companies
MNCs and its joint venture partners (Bayer, 7680
Monsanto, Advanta, DuPont and Mahyco) (12.7%)
Indian companies
47720(79.0%)
B) Public sector corporations
Public sector corporations
5000(8.3%)
Total area
60400
(100.0%)2009-10

2014-1515000(22.0%)
50000(73.5%)

30000(31.6%)
63000(66.3%)

3000(4.4%)
68000(100.0%)2000(2.1%)
95000(100.0%)Note: Similar data used as in table 4

In recent years further market concentration took place in the Indian seed industry. MNCs and large Indiancompanies are slowly increasing their control over the seed industry by expanding their production area and also
by acquiring smaller companies.
The area directly controlled by MNCs and their business partners is consistently growing since 2003-04. The
production area controlled by Monsanto, Bayer, DuPont, Advanta, Mahyco (Monsanto partner) increased almost
four times from 7,680 acres in 2006-07 to 30,000 acres in 2014-15. During the same period the share of MNCs in
the total production area increased from 12.7% to 31.6%.
Despite the relative decline in the area under production controlled by Indian companies in recent years, they
still hold control over two-third of the production areas, while also increasing their acreage. During 2014-15
nearly two third of the production area (63,000 out of 95,000 acres) was controlled by Indian companies. There
were about 200 Indian companies in the early 2000s and their number has now been reduced to around 100
companies in 2014-15. The leading Indian companies involved in the production and marketing of cottonseeds
are Nuziveedu, Kaveri, Ajit, Raasi, Bioseed, Ankur, Vikram, Vibha, JK Seeds, Dhanya, Green Gold, Tulasi, Nath andKrushidhan.
The top five leading Indian companies: Nuziveedu, Kaveri, Ajit, Raasi and Bioseed together control nearly 50% of
the total cottonseed production area in the country. Kaveri, Ajit and Bioseed have recently emerged as leading
players. Kaveri is a public limited company listed in the Indian stock market. The cottonseed business helped thecompany to perform extremely well and the stock price of the company increased more than 30 times from its
Initial Public Offer (IPO price of Rs 150-170 in 2007 to Rs 5,300 March in 201510). Nuziveedu is planning to belisted in the stock market and in April 2015 filed papers with market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange
Board of India)11. Nuziveedu and Kaveri have recently received huge private investments from global investors12.
10

http://profit.ndtv.com/stock/kaveri-seed-company-ltd_kscl
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/market/article-nuziveedu-seeds-files-ipo-papers-with-sebi-757611
12Blackstone GPV Capital Partners Mauritius V-C Limited invested 2500 million rupees in Nuziveedu Seeds in 2010.
Oppenheimer International Small Company Fund and HSBC Bank (Mauritius) Limited holds nearly 10% of share in Kaveri
Seeds.
1117

2.4 Relocation and expansion of production to new areas
Seed companies are relocating and expanding their production to new areas that are situated in remote pockets
where sufficient labour is available for seed production. In Gujarat and Tamil Nadu all the new production
locations are situated in remote tribal pockets which used to be the major sourcing areas for labour supply tocottonseed farms in these states. Traditionally cottonseed production in Gujarat is concentrated in the northernpart of Gujarat in four districts, namely Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Mehasan and Gandhinagar. In recent years
the production has spread to remote tribal pockets in new districts like Chota, Udaipur, Mahisagar, Aravali andPanchmahal. In Tamil Nadu traditionally seed production is concentrated in Attur Taluk in Salem district andKalkurch taluk in Villupuram district. Now the production is slowly moving to new locations like Karumandarai
Hills in Salem district and Sitteri area in Dharmapuri district which are predominantly tribal areas and used to be
the major sourcing area of labour supply for cottonseed production in Attur area. See table 6 for an overview of
the relocation and expansion of cottonseed production to new areas.
The southern part of Rajasthan has recently emerged as an important location for cottonseed production. The
tribal areas of Udaipur and Dungarpur districts in south Rajasthan used to be the prime sourcing areas for labour
for the cottonseed production in Gujarat. During 2006-07 nearly 70% of the workforce in Gujarat's cottonseed18

farms were seasonal migrant labourers mainly from south Rajasthan and tribal pockets within Gujarat. The
seasonal migration of labour from Rajasthan and tribal locations within Gujarat has come down significantly inrecent years. The seasonal migrant labour accounted for only 30% of the total workforce on cottonseed farms in
Gujarat in 2014-15.
In Gujarat in 2014-15 roughly 75% of the seed production was concentrated in remote tribal pockets ofPanchmahal, Chota, Udaipur, Mahisagar, Sabarkantha and Aravali districts. In the new locations most of theseed farmers are marginal landholders. More than 90% of them are tribal people who depend upon their family
labour for their basic needs. In Rajasthan 95% of the production is concentrated in tribal pockets of Kotada andJadol taluks in Udaipur district and Vinchivada, Virpur and Simalwara taluks in Dungarpur district.
Table 6: Relocation and expansion of cottonseed production to new areas

State
GujaratTamil Nadu

Karnataka
Rajasthan

Traditional seed producing areas
Idar, Vadali, Himmatnagar taluks
in Sabarkantha district, Mansa in
Gandhinagar district, Vijapur andKheralu in Mehsana district,Diodar, Palanpur Kankrej in
Banaskanth district
Attur taluk in Salem and Kalkurchi
in Villupuram district
Gajendragud and Ron in Gadag
district, Yelberga in Koppal district

New seed production areas
Lunawada in Mahisagar district,Jambhuguda in Panchmahal district,
Pavejetpur, Bodoli in Chota Udaipur
district, Khedbrahma in Sabarkantha,
Bhiloda and Meghraj in Aravali
district
Karumandarai Hills in Salem district
and Sitteri area in Dharmapuri
district
Chintamani in Kolar district
Kotada and Jadol in Udaipur district,
Vinchivada, Virpur and Simalwara in
Dungarpur district

2.5 Shifting production from large commercial farms to small family based farms
The shift of production from large commercial farms to small family based farms is a new trend which began in
the mid-2000s and further accelerated in recent years. Due to reduction in profit margins on account of rise inproduction costs, mainly labour costs, and stagnant prices for the produce, large commercial farmers who mainly
depend upon hired labour are slowly either withdrawing from cottonseed production or opting for sharecropping arrangements with labouring families13. In recent years companies have received demands for higher
procurement price from large growers in several places. This is one of the reasons for the seed companies toshift their production to new locations while preferring to contract their production to small farmers. The small
farmers are less organised and have less bargaining power to negotiate for higher prices. This also has
implications for the workforce composition in the cottonseed sector. Small farmers tend to depend more on
their own family labour, including their children.
A clear indication of this shift from large to small holdings can be seen in the decline of the average size of
cottonseed farms. Except Andhra Pradesh, in all other states a significant decline in land holding size occurred
13‘Share-crop Contract between Migrant Workers & Farmers: Aajeevika-KAS’s experience in Idar-Kotda’ Aajeevika Bureau,
2010, http://www.aajeevika.org/assets/pdfs/Takrar%20se%20Karar%20Tak%20(Sharecropping%20Contract).pdf

19since 2006-07. The average size of a cottonseed farm is lowest in Rajasthan followed by Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
During 2006 and 2014 the average size of a cottonseed farm declined by 60%in Gujarat (from 1.7 acres to 0.68
acres), 26.8% in Karnataka (from 1.12 acres to 0.82 acres) and 26.6 % in Tamil Nadu (from 0.94 acres to 0.69
acres). Table 7 presents an overview of the data on the size of cottonseed farms in different states. In Rajasthan
and Gujarat, the production shift to small scale tribal farms has resulted in a large number of middlemen/suborganizers in tribal areas who mediate between farmers and company seed organizers. Company seed organizers
are completely depending on these middlemen to recruit the farmers for production, release production
advances and settle final payments. In recent years several reports have indicated that these middlemen aretrying to exploit the farmers while settling the payments to them14.
Table 7: Average size of cottonseed farms in different states (in acres)

State
Andhra Pradesh
GujaratRajasthan
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu

2006-07
1.47
1.7

2009-10
1.35
0.87

1.12
0.94

0.86
0.75

2014-15
1.38
0.68
0.48
0.82
0.69

% growth during 2006-2014- 6.0%-60.0%-26.8%-26.6%

2.6 Changes in the workforce composition
The expansion and relocation of production into remote tribal locations and the decline in the average size of
production units had significant consequences for the composition of the workforce. In the new production
locations most of the seed growers are small and marginal farmers mostly depending on family labour. Here it isobserved that the proportion of family labour, both adults and children, is relatively high compared to traditional
seed production areas. As the new production locations are situated in labour supply zones, the need forseasonal migrant labourers reduced significantly. Most of the hired labourers in new production locations are
local labourers.
Tables 8 and 9 present trends in the involvement of family labour and seasonal migrant workers in cottonseed
production in the period 2006-2014. The data clearly indicate that across all states there is a steady growth in
the proportion of family labour in the total workforce. The proportion of family labour to the total workforce in2014-15 is highest in Rajasthan with 48.8%, followed by Gujarat with 36.8%. The proportion of family labour tothe total workforce increased significantly since 2006-07 in Gujarat (from 17.6% in 2006-07 to 36.8% in 2014-15)
and Tamil Nadu ( from 14.7% in 2006-07 to 25.5% in 2014-15). The trends in employment of seasonal migrant
workers clearly indicate that, except in Andhra Pradesh, there is a steady decline of seasonal migrant workers
working on cottonseed farms since 2006. The decline is very large in Gujarat. The proportion of seasonal migrant
workers to the total workforce declined from 83.4% in 2006-07 to 47.8% in 2014-15.
Table 8: Proportion of family labour to total workforce in cottonseed farms

State
Andhra Pradesh

2006-07
21.8%

2009-1029.3%

2014-15
29.9%

14The Dakshini Rajasthan Mazdoor Union which has been working against trafficking of children from Rajasthan tocottonseed fields in Gujarat received several complaints from tribal farmers that they were not paid properly and that they
were cheated by company middlemen. Source: Annual report 2014, Dakshini Rajasthan Mazdoor Union, Udaipur, India:
http://www.indianet.nl/150120e.html

20Gujarat
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan

17.6%
21.4%
14.7%
NA

31.0%
25.4%
22.2%
NA

36.8%
30.5%
25.5%
48.8%

Table 9: Proportion of seasonal migrant workers to the total labour supply

State
Andhra Pradesh
GujaratKarnataka
Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan

2006-072009-10

2014-15

17.4%
83.4%
7.5%
82.8%

22.7%
54.3%
6.1%
74.1%

NA

NA

30.4%
47.8%
8.3%
67.2%
5.3%

2.7 Summing up
To sum up, the recent developments in the cottonseed industry such as the increase in the production area,
production shifting from large commercial farms to small family units, the expansion and relocation of
production into remote tribal locations and the decline in the average size of production units had significant
implications for the composition of the workforce and the nature and magnitude of child labour in the
cottonseed industry. In the next section the incidence of child labour and profile of the children working on
cottonseed farms in different states are presented.

21

CHAPTER IIIMAGNITUDE AND PROFILE OF WORKING CHILDREN
3.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the magnitude and profile of the children working on cottonseed farms. In order tounderstand the trends in the employment of children on hybrid cottonseed production in different states, theresults of the present study were compared with previous studies carried out by the same author in 2006-07 and2009-10.
3.2 Magnitude of child labour
Table 10 presents data on the incidence of child labour during the 2014-15 crop season in 396 sample cottonseed
farms in 72 villages that are producing seed for both MNCs and major Indian seed companies in six Indian states.
Field visits to the farms were conducted during cross-pollination, the most labour intensive activity, which takes
up approximately 90% of the total work days required for cottonseed production.
The data for 2014-15 shows that children under 14 years still account for nearly 25% of the total workforce incottonseed farms in India. The occurrence of child labour varies between different states and regions withinstates. Tamil Nadu (19.2%) has the lowest incidence of child labour followed by Gujarat (21,5%). Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Rajasthan have the highest incidence of child labour, respectively 24.7%, 28.8% and 28.6% (seetable 10).
Table 10: Incidence of child labour in cottonseed farms in different states during 2014-15
Andhra Pradesh
GujaratKarnataka Tamil Nadu
and Telangana
Total number of farms
116
120
60
60
surveyed (area in acres)(160.5)(78)(49.5)(41.5)
Total number of workers
1376
854
455
369
engaged in crosspollination activity% children (below 14 years) 24.7%
21.5%
28.8%
19.2%
to total workforce
(340)
(184)
(131)
(71)
% children (15-18 age
34.6%
31.1%
30.7%
36.3%
group) to total workforce
(477)
(266)
(140)
(134)
% adults (above 18 years)
to total workforce
Average number ofchildren (below 14 age) per
acre
Average number ofchildren (15-18) per acre

Rajasthan
60
(29)
301

28.6%
(86)
30.2%
(91)

37.9%
(521)
2.1

47.3%
(404)
2.3

40.4%
(184)
2.6

44.4%
(164)
1.7

41.2%
(124)
2.7

2.9

3.4

2.8

3.2

3.1

Note: figures between brackets are the absolute numbers

22

A total of 369 workers were found working on 60 sample farms during field visits in Tamil Nadu, out of which
19.2% (71) were children below 14 years. Children in the age group of 15-18 years accounted for 44.4%. The
average number of children employed per acre is 1.7 children below 14 years and 3.2 children between 15-18
years.

Struggle to combine work with school : case studies of part time child workers
Sujatha, a 13 year old girl, is now studying in eight class. She goes to school only six to seven months in ayear and the rest of the time she works in cottonseed fields. Due to this she is unable to cope with herstudies and her school results are very weak. She says nearly 20% of the children in her class are like thiswho go to work during cottonseed season and rest of the time to school.
Sujatha has two brothers and one sister. Her family is primarily dependent on wage work . Her father is adrunkard and spends most of his earning on liquor. Her mother is the only full time working member in her
family. In order to supplement the income and help her mother, Sujatha started working in the cottonseed
fields. ‘’if my father went to work regularly and give money to the family there is no need for me to go towork. I am really interested to go to school regularly. I don’t know how long I can continue like this ( both
work and school). I may have to discontinue my school soon because I am very weak in studies and may not
be promoted to higher class`.
Santilal Dhanpalbhai, a 13 year old boy, hails from a poor Aadivasi family in a small village in Khedbrahma
taluk in Sabarkantha district, Gujarat state. His family owns two acre of dry land and income they get fromtheir land is insufficient to meet their expenses. Most part of the time his parents work as wage labourers.
He is studying in 7th class in a local government school.
During the last three years the cottonseed growers in his village are encouraging school going children to
take up cross-pollination work on cottonseed farms as a part time activity. The timings of cross-pollination
activity are adjusted to suit to the school timings – in the morning three hours (6.00 am to 9.00 am) before
school starts and in the evening two and half hours (4.00 pm to 6.30 pm) after the school.
In 2014, Santilal joined as a part-time worker with a cottonseed employer in his village and worked for twomonths during September and October months. He is paid Rs 50 as a daily wage for working five hours aday. The daily schedule of Santhilal during the cross-pollination period is very hectic. He wakes up at 5 am
to get ready by 6 am to start work in the fields. He works in the cottonseed field till 9 am doing pollination
work. He comes back home at 9.30 am, eats and then goes to school by 10 am. From 10 am to 3.30 pm heattends the classes. He goes to the farm again at 4.00 pm and works till 6.30 pm doing emasculation work.
Though cottonseed work looks like a part-time activity for the children they actually work five to six hours
and the time they actually spend in work is almost the same as they spend in school. This will have serious
implications on school performance of the children and put pressure on them to slowly dropout from schooland join the workforce.
In Gujarat the total number of sample farms covered by the survey is 120. Of the total 854 workers observed incross-pollination activity on the sample farms 21.5% were children below 14 years and 31.1% were older children
in the age group of 15-18 years. The average number of children employed per acre stands at 2.3 children below
14 years and 3.4 children between 15-18 years. Compared to new production locations the incidence of childlabour was found low in traditional seed production locations like Idar and Himmatnagar taluks in Sabarkantha
district and Vijapur and Kheralu taluks in Mehsana district. Earlier in these districts farmers were dependent on
seasonal migrant labour. Due to the decrease in seasonal labour migration and the restrictions imposed by the
Rajasthan and Gujarat governments on the movement of young migrant workers from Rajasthan to cottonseed23

farms in Gujarat, less seasonal migrants, including children, are working in the traditional seed production
locations.
In Andhra Pradesh which is now divided into two states, field work was conducted in two districts: Kurnool which
is now part of Andhra Pradesh and Mahabubnagar which is part of newly created state of Telangana. The children
below 14 years accounted for 24.7% of the total workforce in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana together. Both the
per acre employment of children and the proportion of children to the total workforce was relatively high in
Mahabubnagar district compared to Kurnool district. The proportion of children below 14 years accounted for
21.2% in Kurnool district where as it is 29.8% in Mahabubnagar district. The per acre employment of children
below 14 years stands at 1.8 children in Kurnool district and 2.5 children in Mahabubnagar district.

Case study of a girl worker exposed to pesticide poisoning
Yadamma, a 14 year old girl, hails from a Dalit agricultural labour family in a remote village in Gattu Mandal
in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. She has been working in the cottonseed fields for the last
three years. She has two younger brothers and both of them are going to school. She also went to schoolfor four years and discontinued after fourth class. Her father is lazy person and does not go for work24

regularly. He also has a drinking habit and does not contribute his wages for the maintenance of family.
Her mother alone looks after the family, also financially. When Yadamma was nine years year old andgoing to school her mother was overburdened with wage work, domestic and child care activities. She
requested Yadamma to discontinue her studies and help her in looking after young siblings (Yadamma
bothers). After the children grew up and started going to school, Yadamma started going for wage work.
Two years ago Yadamma`s mother took a loan of Rs 8000 from a cotton seed farmer pledging the labourof Yadamma to meet the medical expenses because of the illness of her husband. Since then Yadamma is
working with the same employer. In the field she is entrusted with the tasks such as cross-pollination,
sowing, weeding, harvesting and the application of fertilisers. Cross-pollination is the main activity she isinvolved in most of the time. During cross pollination time she works about 10-12 hours a day and is paida monthly wage of Rs. 4500
Yadamma had a serious health problem during the last working season because of heavy exposure topesticides sprayed in the fields where she was working. While doing the work in the field she got serious
headaches and felt giddy. At some point she fainted and became unconscious. She was taken to the local
doctor and given treatment.
Recalling the incident Yadamma said that ‘’I am very allergic to the pesticide smell. I do occasionally getheadaches and feel giddiness whenever pesticides are sprayed in the field. In the past whenever I had
these problems I used to complain to my employer. He used to suggest me to take rest for few hours
under the tree in the field. But that day I had a severe headache which was not normal. We were fourchildren working on that day. Due to heavy pest problem pesticides were sprayed in our field almost
continuously with a five or six days gap. Because of the smell of pesticides two other children also had thesame problem. When we complained to our employer he asked us to take rest. We were walking towards
the tree. I felt giddy and fell down. I became unconscious. My employer informed my mother and both ofthem took me to the doctor. The doctor gave some injections and tablets. My employer paid part ofmoney for my medicines. It took me about eight days to recover and go to work again.’’
The local doctor Mr. Mallesh who treated Yadamma reported that ‘’it was a clear case of poisoning due
to heavy inhalation of pesticides. I have treated her with `atcropine` which is used for pesticide poisingcases. I have also given three bottles of Glucose water (given through injection). I have advised her to takerest for four or five days. I have also advised her not get exposed to pesticides and take precautions suchas not to do any work while pesticides are sprayed, cover the nose and mouth if she has to work in thefield after spraying pesticides, properly wash her hands with soap after doing the work and before eating
anything’’.

Compared to other states the incidence of child labour is high in Karnataka and Rajasthan. The proportion ofchildren below 14 years accounted for 28.8% and 28.6% of the total workforce in Karnataka and Rajasthan. The
average number of children below 14 years employed per acre stood at 2.6 children and 2.7 children in Karnataka
and Rajasthan respectively.
3.3 Trends in the employment of child labour
Table 11 and 12 present the trends in the incidence of child labour in hybrid cottonseed production in different
states since 2006-07. The recent trends indicate that there is an overall decline in the proportion of children to
the total workforce as well as a decline in the average number of children employed per acre of cottonseed
production in different states since 2006-07.

25

The proportion of children (below 14 years) to the total workforce declined with more than a third (from 32.7%
to 21.5%) in Gujarat, with almost 50% (from 55.6% to 28.8%) in Karnataka, also with more than a third (from42.7% to 27.4%) in Andhra Pradesh and almost 60% (from 46.2% to 19.2%) in Tamil Nadu during 2006-2014. The
proportion of children (15-18 years) to the total workforce witnessed a marginal decline of 1-3% in different
states during this period.
A similar trend was observed with regard to the average number of children employed per acre. During 20062014 the average number of children (below 14 years) employed per acre has been reduced by nearly 60.5%(from 4.3 to 1.7) in Tamil Nadu and 55.5% (from 5.9 to 2.6) in Karnataka. The decline in the average number ofchildren per acre was 45.4% in Andhra Pradesh and 32.3% in Gujarat.
Table 11: Proportion of children (below 14 years) to the total workforce

2006-072009-10

2014-1542.7 %
4.4

29.8%
2.6

24.7%
2.1

32.7%
3.4

24.6%
2.4

21.5%
2.3

55.6%
5.9

39.2%
4.0

28.8%
2.6

46.3%
4.3

31.2%
3.1

19.2%
1.7

NA
NA

NA
NA

28.6%
2.7

Andhra Pradesh% total workforce
Average number of children
employed per acre
Gujarat% total workforce
Average number of children
employed per acre
Karnataka% total workforce
Average number of children
employed per acre
Tamil Nadu
% total workforce
Average number of children
employed per acre
Rajasthan% total workforce
Average number of children
employed per acre

Table 12: Proportion of children (15-18 years) to the total workforce

2006-072009-10

2014-15

34.8%
3.6

39.3%
3.5

34.6%
2.9

33.4%
3.5

34.4%
3.3

31.1%
3.4

Andhra Pradesh% total workforce
Average number ofchildren employed per acre
Gujarat% total workforce
Average number ofchildren employed per acre
Karnataka

26

% total workforce
Average number ofchildren employed per acre
Tamil Nadu
% total workforce
Average number ofchildren employed per acre
Rajasthan% total workforce
Average number ofchildren employed per acre

33.9%
3.6

34.1%
3.4

30.7%
2.8

34.8%
3.4

36.3%
3.2

32.6%
3.0

NA
NA

NA
NA

30.2%
3.1

3.4 Magnitude of child labour on farms producing for MNCs and Indian companies
The comparison of the magnitude of child labour between MNCs and Indian farms indicate that the situation is
generally much better on MNC-related farms, in particular Bayer, Monsanto and DuPont which have
implemented special programmes to address the issue of child labour. Since 2005-06 Monsanto and Bayer havebeen implementing several measures to address the problem of child labour on the farms directly producing
seed for their companies. DuPont entered into the cottonseed business in India in 2009 and started its
interventions against child labour from 2010. The action plans of these companies includes motivation
campaigns, price incentives to the growers for not employing children, disincentives like black-listing of farmers
who are found using child labour in their production and supporting special schools for the rehabilitation offormer child workers. These initiatives have had a positive impact; the proportion of child labour to the total
workforce on the farms producing seeds for these companies has dropped significantly.15
Compared to other MNCs and Indian companies, the incidence of child labour was found significantly lower onBayer and Monsanto farms. During 2014-15, the proportion of children (below 14 years) to the total workforce
on farms producing seed for these companies was found less than 2%16. The lowest incidence of child labour forboth Bayer and Monsanto was found in Andhra Pradesh. DuPont`s cottonseed production is mainly concentrated
in Gujarat and Karnataka. The proportion of children (below 14 years) to the total workforce on DuPont farms
accounted for 5.8% in Karnataka and 5.1% in Gujarat17. The situation of child labour on Mahyco farms(Monsanto`s partner) was no different from several other companies who did not implement any serious
measures to tackle the issue.

15

For complete details of various measures initiated by Bayer and Monsanto for addressing the issue of child labour in theircottonseed production farms in India and its impact please refer to Venkateswarlu Davuluri (2007) ‘Seeds of Change:
Impact of interventions by Bayer and Monsanto on the elimination of child labour on farms producing hybrid cottonseed inIndia’ (see: http://www.indianet.nl/pb070608.html. Also for a detailed account of Bayer’s interventions `Bayer CropSciencein India (A): Against Child Labor` by Satyajeet Subramanian, Charles Dhanaraj and, Oana Branzei, Richard Ivey School ofBusiness Foundation, 2011. Bayer and Monsanto are publishing every year the internal and external monitoring data on
incidences of child labour in their cottonseed farms on their websites.
16
According to the internal monitoring data published by these companies on their websites the incidence child labour interms of proportion of children to total workers for 2014-15 stand at less than 0.2% ( 0.014% on Bayer farms and 0.18% on
Monsanto farms).
17
The internal monitoring data shared by DuPont shows the incidence child labour in terms of proportion of children tototal workers monitored at 0.3% for 2014-15.

27

The leading Indian seed companies Kaveri, Nuziveedu, Ajit, Rassi and Bioseed, which control more than 50% of
the total cottonseed production area in India, have acknowledged the child labour issue and initiated a few
measures such as adding a no child labour clause in their contracts with seed farmers and organizing a few
awareness raising meetings with growers to tackle the problem. All these companies are members of the ASI(Association of Seed Industry), now merged into the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), which has passed
a resolution in their annual general body meeting in 2003 to proactively discourage direct and indirect (throughits members) engagement of child labour in hybrid seed production. During 2003-05, ASI took some initiatives,in collaboration with other stakeholders, to eradicate child labour in the hybrid seed production areas.18 The
efforts initiated by these leading Indian seed companies helped to raise awareness about the issue among
farmers. However, they had a limited impact in reducing the magnitude of the problem as they lack systematic
action plan for monitoring of the situation on the farms and rehabilitation of child workers. The proportion ofchildren to the total workforce on the farms of leading Indian seed companies varied between 16.4% and 32.6%
in different states. The highest incidence of child labour was reported in Gujarat and Rajasthan and
Mahabubnagar district of Telangana state and lowest in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Unless the major
seed companies like Nuziveedu, Kaveri, Raasi, Ankur, Ajit, Bioseed, Mahyco, Tulasi, Nath, JK Seeds, Vikram andKushidhan which control more than 75% of cottonseed business in the country start taking effective measuresagainst child labour, it remains difficult to address the problem at an industry level.
3.5 Profile of the working children
Girls outnumber boys
The gender composition of the working children on cottonseed farms shows that girls outnumber boys in all thestates. They accounted for nearly 65% of the total working children (below 14 years) during 2014-15 (see table13). Compared to Gujarat and Rajasthan, the proportion of girls among working children is relatively high in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. There is a marginal decline in the share of girls in working children in recent years
particularly in the areas where family labour involvement is more common.
Hired labourers outnumber family labourers
Most of the working children in seed production farms are hired labourers. They constituted nearly 70% of thetotal working children in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Compared to other states the share offamily children is relatively high in Rajasthan and Gujarat where they accounted for 53.2% and 37.5% of allchildren involved. The proportion of family children to the total number of working children has increased
significantly in recent years in the areas where production has shifted from large commercial farms to smallfamily farms.

18

For details see: Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2004): ‘Child labour in hybrid cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh –Recent Developments’, study commissioned by the India Committee of the Netherlands.

28

Table 13: Profile of working children in cottonseed farms during 2014-15 season:
AndhraGujarat Karnataka Rajasthan
Pradesh+Telangana
Total number of sample farms
116
120
60
60
Total number of children (below 14
340
184
131
86
years)
Family versus hired labour% of family labour to total labour
28.2%
37.5%
32.1%
53.5%
(96)
(69)
(42)
(46)
% of hired labour to total labour
71.8%
63.5%
67.9%
46.5%
(244)
(115)
(89)
(40)
Gender composition% of boys to total children
30.6%
43.5%
28.2%
39.3%
(104)
(80)
(37)
(31)
% of girls to total children
69.4%
56.5%
71.8%
60.7%
(236)
(104)
(94)
(48)
Caste composition% of Scheduled Castes (SCs)
34.3%
4.5%
29.3%
6.6%
(92)
(6)
(27)
(4)
% of Scheduled Tribes (STs)
10.8%
70.1%
15.2%
71.6%
(29)
(94)
(14)
(43)
% of Backward castes
47.0%
18.6%
45.6
18.3%
(126)
(25)
(42)
(11)
% of Other castes
7.8%
6.7%
9.8%
3.3%
(21)
(9)
(9)
(2)
School going status% of school dropouts
62.3%
56.7%
61.9%
58.3%
(167)
(76)
(57)
(35)
% of schoolgoing but working during 28.7%
34.3%
23.9%
30.0%
peak season
(77)
(46)
(22)
(18)
% of schoolgoing but occasionally
8.9%
8.9%
14.2%
11.7%
working during school holidays
(24)
(12)
(13)
(7)

Tamil Nadu

60
71

31.0%
22
69.0%
(49)
36.6%
(26)
63.4%
(45)
23.2%
(13)
39.3%
(22)
33.9%
(19)
3.8%
(2)
55.4%
(31)
33.9%
(19)
10.7%
(6)

Note: The school going status and caste background details are not available for all the working children. These details areavailable for 268 out of 340 children below 14 years in AP, in Gujarat for 134 out of 184 children, in Karnataka 92 out of
131 children, in Tamil Nadu 56 out of 71 children and in Rajasthan 60 out of 86 children.

Most of the working children are Dalits and Adivasi
The details on caste background of working children are available for 610 children. The data clearly indicate thatmost of the working children are from economically poor and socially backward communities like Dalits (also29called Scheduled Castes (SCs), Adivasi (also called
Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Backward Classes (BCs). In
Gujarat and Rajasthan more than 70% of the working
children are from Adivasi communities. In Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh the largest number of working
children are from BCs. Nearly 45% of the total
working children in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
are from BCs.
Educational status: Most of them are school
dropouts
Most of the children found working on seed farms
were school dropouts who are now working as a fulltime workers. They accounted for nearly 62% of thetotal working children in Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka. In other states the proportion of school
dropout children varied between 55% and 58%. The
category of children who go to school andtemporarily drop out during the cross-pollination
period accounted nearly 34% of the total working
children in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. In other states
their number varies between 24% and 30%. The
number of children who are temporarily dropping out
from school during the cross-pollination period has increased in recent years. The pressure on farmers to reduce
the labour costs is leading to the adoption of new strategies to find cheap labour. In Tamil Nadu and parts of
Karnataka and Gujarat it is observed that the farmers are encouraging schoolgoing children to take up cottonseed
work as a part-time activity. Also the timings for cross-pollination activities are adjusted to the school timings.

News forms of child labour: employing children as part-time workers
The pressure on farmers to reduce the labour costs is leading to the adoption of new strategies tofind cheap labour. The trend which began In Tamil Nadu in the mid-2000s has now spread to otherstates as well. In several parts of Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu it is observed that the farmers
are encouraging school going children to take up cottonseed work as a part-time activity. The crosspollination period is adjusted to suit the school hours – three hours in the morning (6.00 am to
9.00 am) before school starts and two and half hours in the evening (4.00 pm to 6.30 pm) after
school. Children are paid a nominal amount of Rs 50-60 per day for this work whereas the actual
daily wage rate for adult workers is Rs 150- 180. Though it looks like a part-time activity, children
actually work five to six hours and the time they spend working is the same amount of time they
spend in school. This will have serious implications on school performance and slowly pressuresthem to drop out from schools and join the workforce. Over time many of the children become
overwhelmed with both school and work and often drop out of school in order to continue working
in the cottonseed fields.

30

CHAPTER IV
ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED ON COTTONSEEDFARMS IN DIFFERENT STATESIn the previous chapter, we presented the findings of the survey of sample cottonseed farms in different states.
In the present chapter, an attempt is made to estimate the approximate total number of children employed incottonseed production areas per state for the year 2014-15. The results are compared with the available data of
the years 2009-10 and 2006-07. The estimates of the total number of children employed in cottonseed farms forthe 2006-07 and 2009-10 for Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka derive from previous studies
published in 200719 and 201020. The total number of child labourers in cottonseed production for the 2006-07
and 2009-10 years were estimated for each state separately on the basis of per acre average requirement oflabour and the proportion of child labour to the total work force in the sampled farms. This was done by
extrapolating the sample proportions to the total area under cottonseed production in different states. Using asimilar methodology, the total number of children employed in cottonseed farms are estimated for 2014-15 fordifferent states.
Table 14: Total area under hybrid cottonseed production in India
2006-072009-10
2014-15
State
Andhra17,00016,00012,000PradeshGujarat48,00025,40038,000% change 2006-07 to 2014-15+1,000 (+6.2 )+22,900 (+91.2%)

Karnataka

5,000

8,000

11000

+6,000 (+120%)

Tamil Nadu

9,000

5,000

7,000

-2,000 (-22.2%)

Rajasthan

0.0

0.0

5,000

+5,00055,40063,00088,000+ 32,600 ( +58.8%)

Total

The total production area is one of the determining factors of the magnitude of child workers involved incottonseed production. Table 14 presents the data on the total area under cottonseed production for 2006-07,
2009-10 and 2014-15. The total area under cottonseed production in the surveyed states increased significantly
by 58.8% since 2006-07 (from 55,400 in 2006-07 to 88,000 acres in 2014-15). Karnataka and Gujarat in particular,
have witnessed a substantial increase in the area under cottonseed production (90% rise in Gujarat and 120%rise in Karnataka). The rise and fall of the total number of child labourers have - in addition to other factors likedecreasing number of children per acre - to be understood in the context of changes in production area.

19

Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2007) ‘Child bondage continues in Indian cotton supply chain’ NETZ NRW ILRF.
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/ilrf/ChildBondageContinuesinIndiaCottonSupplyChain.pdf
20
Venkateswarlu, Davuluri (2010) ‘Seeds of Child Labour - Signs of Hope: Child and Adult Labour in Vegetable Seed
Production in India’.

31

Table 15: Estimates of the total number of children employed on hybrid cottonseed farms in different states in India for2006-07, 2009-10 and 2014-15
2006-072009-10
20014-15% change 2006-07 to 2014-15
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
ChildrenChildrenStatechildrenchildrenchildrenchildrenchildrenchildren below 14
15-18 years(below(15-18(below(15-18(below 14 (15-18
years
14 years) years)
14 years) years)
years)
years)
Andhra70,40057,60031,20042,00035,70049,300- 34700-8,300Pradesh(-49.3 %)(- 14.4%)
GujaratKarnataka

Tamil
Nadu

RajasthanTotal

86,36029,50038,70087,85018,00027,00091,20032,00015,500125,400

27,20017,000110,400

28,60011,900163,200

30800

22,400+25060+75,350(+29.4%)(+85.8%)-900+12,900(-3.0%)(+71.1%)- 26800- 4,600(-69.2%)(-17.0%)+15,500

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

13,50015,500+ 13500

224,960

190,450

169,900

211,600

200,100

281,200-24,860(-11.1%)+ 90,750(+ 47.6%)

Table 15 presents the estimates of the total number of children employed in hybrid cottonseed farms in Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in India for 2006-07, 2009-10 and 2014-15. Rajasthan is a new
production location as there was no production in Rajasthan during 2009-10 and 2006-07.
Despite a significant increase in the production area with 59% the absolute number of children below 14 years
employed in cottonseed farms in different states showed a marginal decline of 8.8% since 2006-07. The total
number of children below 14 years employed in different states has come down from 224,960 in 2006-07 to
169,900 in 2009-10. However, between 2009-10 and 2014-15 this number increased again from 169,900 to
200,100. The children in the category of 15-18 years however, showed an increase of 47% since 2006-07 (from190,450 in 2006-07 to 281,200 in 2014-15).
The state wise trends since 2006-07 on the incidence of child labour in cottonseed production is measured interms of proportion of children to the total workforce and the average number of children employed per acre ofcottonseed production showed a declining trend in all the states. The decline is significant in Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However, this has not translated into a decline of the total number of children
employed on cottonseed farms, particularly in Gujarat. This is due to a substantial increase in the production
area in these states.
In Gujarat, though the proportion of children to the total workforce declined from 66% to 52.5% and the average
number of children per acre from 6.9 persons to 5.7 persons, the total number of children employed increased
from 174,210 to 273,600 between 2006-07 and 2014-15. This is mainly caused by the substantial increase in the
total production area. The total area under cottonseed production In Gujarat increased with 90% since 2006-07.

32

Data on Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu shows a significant decline in the total number of children employed incottonseed farms since 2006-07. The total number of children employed has been reduced from 128,000 in 200607 to 90,100 in 2014-15 in Andhra Pradesh. In Tamil Nadu the number has been reduced from 65,700 in 200607 to 34,300 in 2014-15. The total number of children below 14 years dropped with 42% in Andhra Pradesh and
69% in Tamil Nadu. In the category of 15-18 years there was a 14% and 17% reduction in Andhra Pradesh andTamil Nadu respectively.

33

CHAPTER V
INTERVENTIONS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR IN COTTONSEED CULTIVATIONThe overall decline in the incidence of child labour per acre and also the total number of children particularly of
the category of children below 14 years employed in cottonseed farms in several parts of the country can be
attributed to interventions undertaken by different players - e.g. government, NGOs, seed industry, international
agencies, social investors - to address the issue of child labour.
In Tamil Nadu the state government with the help of UNICEF has implemented a special project since 2009 toaddress the issue of child labour in Salem and Dharmapuri districts where cottonseed production is concentrated.
The district level education and labour departments took active campaign against employment children with a
special focus on cottonseed farms. The department of labour even gone to the extent of filing cases against
farmers employing children and sending them to prison. The government appointed special teams to monitor
the child labour situation in cottonseed farms. These teams inspected the few farms and rescued 22 children in2013 and 43 children in 2014 and filed cases against farmers for employing children21. This has sent a strong
signal to the farmers and many of them are now avoiding the employment of children.
In Andhra Pradesh the low incidence ofchild labour was reported in Kurnool
district where local child rights groups,
particularly MV foundation, are very
active. Kurnool is also a district where
UNICEF (with funding support from
IKEA) in collaboration with local
government and NGOs implemented a
project to address the issue of childlabour with a special focus on
cottonseed sector. This is also an area
where Bayer and Monsanto havesubstantial control over cottonseed
production area and are addressing thechild labour issue on their suppliers’
farms. The large reduction in childlabour in certain pockets of Kurnool
district was the result of combined efforts of MV Foundation, local government, UNICEF, civil society groups andseed companies. While the supply of children into labour market was largely reduced by the Social Mobilization
spearheaded by MV Foundation, which has made very crucial efforts in mobilizing cross sections of the society,the demand for child labour by the farmers was controlled to a great extent by these companies. This has
reinforcing effect both on the supply and demand for child labour. Children who were thus weaned out of work
were either admitted into the schools or into the residential bridge courses.

21

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141017/nation-crime/article/43-child-workers-saved-bt-cotton-field

34

MV Foundation: From Work to School
The contribution of MV Foundation (MVF)22 to abolition of child labour in general and in cottonseed
sector in particular is significant. The exploitation of child labour in cottonseed fields and its link tomultinational corporations was first brought into lime light in 1998 by MVF in Rangareddy district in
the State of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh23.. With the support of local community MVF initiated an
intensive process of social mobilisation against the employment of children and succeeded inremoving large numbers of children from work and joined them in schools. Adult workers replacedchild labour in cottonseed farms.
In 2004, MVF expanded its activities to Kurnool district which has a high concentration of productionof hybrid cottonseeds. In collaboration with district administration in Kurnool, it launched a districtwide campaign against child labour. Children engaged to work in cottonseed production received
special attention .
During 2003-05 it collaborated with Association of Seed Industry (National association of the planting
seed industry in India) and pressured the seed companies to prepare action plans for addressing thechild labour issue in their suppliers’ farms. In the following years government took up the agenda ofmonitoring employment of children in hybrid cottonseeds and MVF facilitated the same throughcommunity based organisations on child rights.
During 2011-14, a special project for elimination of child labour through community mobilization andimplementation of RTE (Right to Education) Act was implemented in Dornipadu and Uyyalawada
mandals with the support from ‘Project Hope’ of GEW24. Intensive campaign was launched mobilising
government machinery, village panchayat, cottonseed farmers, teachers, youth and other sectionsof the society against engaging children in any form of work including working on cottonseed farms.
Due to its efforts, farmers stopped employing children and announced that their farms were ‘childlabour free’. Thus areas of ‘child labour free zones’ began to emerge with the elimination of all formsof child labour including those who were engaged in cottonseed farms in and around these two
mandals. Hundreds and thousands of child labourers were withdrawn from work and sent toschools.

22

MV Foundation, based in the state of Telangana, India, has done pioneering work on the issue of abolition of child labourand mainstreaming them into formal schools. MV Foundation works with the basic understanding that ‘Any child out ofschool is a child labourer’ and the only way to eliminate child labour is through full time formal education. As part of its
overall strategy, MVF mobilises: parents, teachers, youth, employers, women’s groups, elected representatives and thechildren themselves. This massive mobilisation effort is done with a view towards transforming attitudes and creating anenvironment that is supportive of children’s education. Motivation centres have been established at villages which serve as
the nerve centre to bring working children into school. Bridge courses, camps and residential programmes are conducted
as part of a process to encourage children to attend schools. The success of the MVF model can be gauged by the fact thatsince 1991 up to now the Foundation has established a social norm in favour of children’s right to education and againstchild labour in thousands of villages in the country. For further details see www.mvfindia.in
23
The first study on the issue of child labour in cottonseed production was commissioned and published by MV Foundationin 1998.
24
GEW is a German based teachers’ trade union.

35

Due to active interest taken by the National Commission
for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), campaigns
from local NGOs and unions like DRMU and Seva Mandirin Gujarat and Rajasthan more actions are seen in recent
years from the state governments in addressing the
problem of child labour on cottonseed farms. Both thestate governments have come out with resolutions
dealing specifically with child trafficking to cottonseed
plots. Gujarat and Rajasthan governments set up bordercheck posts during the beginning of the cottonseed
production season to stop the trafficking of children.
The labour departments in these states undertook
inspections of seed farms. Even though this official
action and interventions by NGOs and unions had somepositive impact, their interventions have not succeededin fully addressing the issue. Especially the state
governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan have not fulfilled
their legal obligation to tackle the issue effectively.
Though there is some reduction in inter-state childmigration from Rajasthan to Gujarat, it has notcontrolled intra-state child migration effectively as wellas the employment of children in family farms. In fact the employment of children on family farms has notreceived any serious attention from the state governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Combating child labour and organizing workers in cottonseed production: DRMU Interventions in
Gujarat and Rajasthan
The Centre for Labour Research and Action (CLRA), an NGO, along with its sister organization Dakshini
Rajasthan Majdur Union, promotes workers’ rights in the vast informal sector economy of India. It
has worked extensively in the cotton supply chain, including cottonseeds. Its primary agenda is toorganize workers into trade unions that can take up the struggle for decent wages and improved
work conditions. CLRA and DRMU mobilized and organized workers in the cottonseed production andcotton ginning units of Gujarat.
In cottonseed farms, the Union was able to impose a blockade on movement of workers from thesource areas forcing the employers to negotiate and grant higher wages. It documented the highincidence of child labour and undertook advocacy with the state leading to development of an antitrafficking protocol. In cotton ginning units it has documented the high incidence of accidents,
highlighting employment of children, and filing legal cases. Its work had led to reduction of childlabor, the reduction of accidents and an increase in wages received by workers.
See also: http://www.indianet.nl/150120e.html

36

CHAPTER VI
WAGES RATES: THE ISSUE OF BELOW MINIMUM WAGES
4.1 Introduction
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 in India guarantees payment of minimum wages to workers in different sectors,
including the agriculture sector25. The power to fix and revise minimum wage rates for different agriculturalactivities has been given to the state governments26. The wages under the Act may be for time work, known asa ‘minimum time rate (daily wage rate)’ or for piece work known as a ‘minimum piece rate’. In spite of this legal
requirement, below payment of minimum wages has long been an issue in the agriculture sector, especially inthe hybrid seed production. It still is, mostly for women and children.
4.2 FLA-ICN wage study findings
A detailed study conducted by the Fair Labour Association (FLA) and India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN)in 201227 on the situation of wages in hybrid seed production in different states of India clearly indicates asignificant variation in wage rates between different states, regions within a state, type of production activities,
gender and the location and nature of labour arrangements. The key observations of the study are as follows:•

Regional variations in wage rates in the same state are present and wages are higher in regions that are
relatively more developed. The average wages are substantially higher for tasks like ploughing, spraying
pesticides and applying fertilizers than the wages for sowing, weeding, harvesting and cross-pollination.
Division of work based on gender is a common phenomenon which has substantial earning implications for
women and men engaged in various production activities. In particular women are preferred for crosspollination, weeding and harvesting, which are labour-intensive and lower paid activities compared toploughing, spraying pesticides and applying fertilizers, which are less labour-intensive, higher paid, andmostly done by men. Daily casual workers were paid more compared to seasonal labourers in all states for
similar activities. Caste-based discrimination in wages was not reported in any of the locations.

•

In general male workers are paid higher than the legal minimum wages for most of the activities in which
they are involved. The average daily wages for ploughing and spraying pesticides, which are exclusively doneby men, are 5% -65% higher than the legal minimum wages in different states. Women are not paid legal
minimum wages for most activities, except cross-pollination, in some locations. The average daily wage rate
women earn with sowing, weeding and harvesting is 5%-48% lower than the legal minimum wages indifferent states. The wage rates for children for all activities are below the legal minimum wages. Children
earn 5%-50% less than the legal minimum wages in different states. Overall, there is non-compliance withregard to overtime compensation and paid rest days.

•

The data on prevailing market wages in cottonseed farms for 2014-15 were collected for three states: Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. In Andhra Pradesh the data were collected in two locations. One is Gadwal
area in Mahabubnagar district which is now part of Telangana state, the second one is Nandyala area in

25

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 http://pblabour.gov.in/pdf/acts_rules/minimum_wages_act_1948.pdf
According to act wage rates have to be revised at an interval not exceeding five years.
27
Venkateswarlu, Davuluri and Jacb Kalle (2012) ‘Wages of Inequality of inequality: Wage Discrimination and Underpayment
in Hybrid Cotton and Vegetable Seed Production in India’.
26

37

Kurnool district which is part of Andhra Pradesh. In Gujarat the wages data was collected in two locations:
Idar taluk in Sabarkantha district and Bodoli taluk in Chotaudaipur district. Compared to Bodoli, Idar is arelatively better developed area. In Karnataka the data were collected in one location, Koppal district.

4.3 Statutory minimum wages in different states
Table 16 presents a comparison of prevailing market wage rates for different activities in cottonseed productionin Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat with statutory minimum wages prescribed by the respective state
governments. The minimum wage rates for daily casual workers for agricultural activities prescribed by therespective state governments varied between Rs150 and Rs269. While Andhra Pradesh follows a zonal system
for fixing wage rates, a uniform wage rate system is followed in Karnataka and Gujarat. The current legal
minimum daily wage rate in Karnataka and Gujarat is Rs 269 and Rs 150 respectively. In Andhra Pradesh, thelegal minimum daily wage rate is between Rs 159 and Rs 266 in different zones.

38

Regulation of cottonseed prices - impact on procurement prices and minimum wages
In India Bt cottonseed prices are regulated by the state governments. Currently there is a cap on
maximum sale price of Bt cottonseeds. In 2006 The government of Andhra Pradesh capped the
maximum sale price of BG1 (Bollgard I) at Rs 650 and BG II (Bollgard II) at Rs 750 for a packet of 450
gm of seed (inclusive of technology fee)28. The other cotton growing states of India also followed
Andhra Pradesh and adopted the same pricing. In 2011 there was a revision of prices by various
state governments and the maximum sale price of Bt cottonseeds was hiked by 30% - for BG I
variety from Rs 650 to 830 and for BG II variety Rs 750 to Rs 930. Since 2014 seed companies arerequesting for revision these prices but not been able succeed. In June 2015, Maharashtra
government in fact reduced the price by Rs 100 for 450 grams in view of the agrarian distress inthe state. Since 2012 the cost of cottonseed production has increased significantly but the
procurement prices paid by companies to seed farmers remained stagnant. The companies arearguing that they will not be able to increase procurement prices unless they are allowed toincrease the sale price. Unless procurement prices are increased farmers will not be able to able toincrease the wages and pay minimum wages to workers. There is a need for the governments forreview of prices at frequent intervals keeping the changes in cost of cultivation.
The findings of the data analysis of the prevailing markets wages for 2014-15 are broadly in line with the findingsof the ICN-FLA wages study in 2012. The average wages are substantially higher for tasks like ploughing andspraying pesticides which are predominantly done by men than the wages for sowing, weeding, harvesting andcross-pollination which are mostly done by women. Regional variation in wage rates are also observed. In Gujarat
wage rates were relatively higher in Idar taluk in Sabarkantha district compared to Bodoli taluk in Chtoudaipur
district which is a relatively backward region. No significant differences in wages were found between the farms
that are producing seeds for national and multinational companies.
4.4 Comparison of statutory wages with prevailing market wages
A comparison of prevailing market wages with the statutory minimum wages fixed by the respective state
governments clearly indicates that the legal norms are not followed, especially for certain categories of workers
and activities. Except ploughing and pesticide application which are almost exclusively done by men, theprevailing market wages for all other activities are below the legal minimum wages. The prevailing wage rates
for cross-pollination activity which is the vital activity in seed production, are 46.5% below the legal minimum

28

The monopoly control over Bt technology by MMB has led to exorbitant pricing of Bt cotton hybrids which were in theinitial years (2003-05) priced between Rs 1600-1800 for 450 gms of Bt hybrids , as against Rs 400-450 for non-Bt hybrid
seeds. MMB dominated the market for cotton hybrids, either directly through selling hybrid seeds or indirectly through sublicensing to private seed companies till 2006. The domestic companies who licensed Bt trait from MMB were required to
pay a one-time license fee as well as royalty fee on every packet of seed sold in the market. Until 2006, the price for official
Bt cottonseeds in India was around Rs 1600 per packet of 450 grams. Out of this, Rs 1250 was charged by MMB as the trait
value. Due to pressure from various farmer and civil society organizations the state of Andhra Pradesh imposed certain
regulations targeted to control Bt cottonseed prices, so as to make the technology affordable and accessible to small andmarginal farmers in the state. In January 2006, the government of Andhra Pradesh filed a case with the Monopolistic and
Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) against MMB for indulging in monopolistic trade practices withunreasonably high prices and limited technical developments. MRTPC gave a ruling against MMB and asked it to rework on
pricing of Bt. cottonseeds.

39Bayer's interventions to ensure minimum wages to workers
The issue of non-payment of minimum wages to workers in contracted cottonseed production
farms has not received any serious attention from seed companies. The only company which has
initiated some steps to address the problem of below minimum wages in cottonseed sector isBayer. Syngenta also initiated some measures to address the minimum wages issue but it is not
involved in cottonseed business.
Bayer has acknowledged the issue and initiated some measures to address the problem. In
collaboration with the FLA, Bayer has organized a workshop in 2010 with stakeholders (NGOs,
government officials, seed organizers, growers and workers) in Hyderabad where the issue ofminimum wages was discussed. Lack of awareness about the Minimum Wages Act among seedorganizers, growers, workers and company field staff has been recognized by the company andsteps have been initiated to create awareness among them. Growers normally do not maintainany records regarding worker contracts and wage payments. Absence of records makes it difficult
for the companies to track wage payments to workers at farm level. The need for documentationof workers attendance and wage payments has been recognized and steps have been taken to
motivate the growers to maintain wage records. Growers have been given separate books forrecording workers attendance and wages paid to them. Bayer is paying a small bonus (about 3%of the procurement rate) to growers to encourage them to pay minimum wages to workers.
The interactions with growers and workers and review of the documentation related to wage
payments at farms producing for Bayer shows that the steps taken by Bayer helped to createawareness about minimum wages particularly among growers and promote the habit of maintainrecords among some growers. However, none of these interventions ensured the payment ofminimum wages to workers. Comparison of prevailing wages rates in Bayer with that of othercompanies in Karnataka where company is implementing minimum wage project on pilot basis
indicates that there is not much difference in wage rates between Bayer and other companies’
farms as the wage are almost the same. The minimum wage rate for cross-pollination is Rs 269 in
Karnataka. The wage rate paid by the farmers for cross-pollination in Chintamani area of
Karnataka where Bayer is implementing its minimum wages project is Rs 168.5, which is still 37.4%
below the legal minimum wage. The cost of production, yields and net income details for 2014-15
collected from farmers in Karnataka indicate that after meeting all the production expenses they
had only 10-12% profit margin. If farmers have to pay minimum wages to workers the cost of
production would rise by nearly 20%. With the current procurement prices and crop yields thefarmers would be left with no margins if they had to pay minimum wages to the workers.
As a first step in the direction of implementing minimum wages companies needs to have a proper
review of their procurement policies and ensure that growers have enough margins to pay
minimum wages to workers. Given the gap between prevailing wages rates and legal minimum
wages the rise in procurement price is required to meet the additional expenses. This is not tosuggest that once procurement price is increased the problem will be automatically resolved andfarmers will pay minimum wages to the labourers. The price issue at least can address a part of
the whole problem and other interventions will be more effective once it is resolved.
wage in Karnataka, 9.4% below in Andhra Pradesh, 25% below in Telangana and 6.6% to 16.6% below in different
locations in Gujarat.

40

Table 16: Comparison of prevailing market wages with statutory minimum wages 2014-15

Andhra Pradesh*

Karnataka

Activity

Statutory
minimum
wages

Statutory
minimum
wages(Rs)

Prevailingmarketwages

Statutory
minimum
wages

Prevailing market
wages

PloughingZone 2- 175 Zone 2-237.5
Zone 3- 159 Zone 3-195.8

269.04

192.5

150.0

159.5 in Bodoli
and 184.3 in Idar

SowingZone 2- 186
Zone 3- 159
Zone 2- 186
Zone 3- 159
Zone 2- 234
Zone 3- 213
Zone 2- 234
Zone 3- 213
Zone 2- 186
Zone 3- 159

269.04

125.0

150.0

269.04

120.0

150.0

269.04

212.5

150.0

269.04

144.6

150.0

269.04

134.5

150.0

116.2 in Bodoli
and 134.6 in Idar
114.2 in Bodoli
and 132.6 in Idar
184.5 in Bodoli
and 204.2 Idar
125 in Bodoli
and 140 in Idar
116.2 in Bodoli
and 139.6 in Idar

Weeding
Pesticideapplication
Crosspollination
Harvesting

Prevailing market
wages

Zone 2-137.5
Zone 3-115 lZone 2-137.5
Zone 3-115
Zone 2-258.3
Zone 3-212.5
Zone 2- 212.5
Zone 3-175.0
Zone 2-156.5
Zone 3-137.5

GujaratNote: In Andhra Pradesh wage data was collected in two locations: 1) Gadwal area in Mahabubnagar district which is now
part of Telangana state. The villages where field work was conducted in this location fall under Zone three as per minimum
wages notification. 2) Nandyala area in Kurnool district which is part of Andhra Pradesh. This location comes under Zone
three. In Gujarat the wages data is collected in two locations. Idar taluk in Sabarkantha district and Bodoli taluk in
Chotaudaipur district. Compared to Bodoli, Idar is a relatively better developed area. In Karnataka the data was collected in
one location, Koppal district.

Higher procurement prices lead to increase in wages and decrease in child labour
An analysis of the trends in wages and procurement prices in the cottonseed sector indicates that
there is a link between them. A recent study on trends in wage rates and procurement prices incottonseed producing locations in Andhra Pradesh during 2004-13 showed that higher procurement
prices for cottonseed led to an increase in wage rates and a decrease in child labour. The study notedthat the rise in procurement prices during 2010-12 enabled the growers to increase the wages toattract more and more adults to join the workforce.
The average daily wages for adult female worker for cross-pollination in cottonseed in Andhra
Pradesh rose almost 3.3 times during 2004-13. The wages have increased at a pace much faster thaninflation29. The increase in real wages in cottonseed farms has been attributed to many factors
including the rise in procurement prices. An analysis of the trends in wages and procurement prices
indicates that there is a link between them. Although a combination of factors contributed to theoverall increase in wages since 2004-05, the sharp increase in wages during 2010-13, can be largely
attributed to the significant increase in the procurement prices paid to farmers by the seed
companies. During 2010-13 the wages in cottonseed production grow by 73.1% which is significantly
higher compared to general wage increase in other crops during this period. During the same period
there was an increase of 48.5% in procurement prices paid to the farmers by the companies (18% in
2010-11, 19.6% in 2011-12 and 5.1% in 2012-13). The sharp rise in procurement prices during 201029

The Consumer Price Index numbers for agricultural labourers rose by 100.6% during 2004-13 while wages in cottonseed
production rose by 331% during this period.

41

13 had a positive impact on wages. It has encouraged the farmers to increase the area undercottonseed production creating additional demand for labour in a market which is already facing
labour shortages. This led has to an increase in demand for labour and pushed up wages.
Source: ‘The price of less child labour and higher wages: assessing the link between farm wages andprocurement prices in Bt. cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh, India,’ by Davuluri Venkateswarlu:
http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/ThePriceOfLessChildLabourAndHigherWages.pdf

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CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKSThe use of child labour in the production of hybrid cottonseeds in India has been widely reported anddocumented since the report ‘Seeds of Bondage’ was published in 2001. Though the use of child labour isprevalent in many industries in India, probably no other industry has since then been so systematically scrutinizedon child labour, and later wages paid, as the cottonseed industry. An important reason for that is the very highprevalence of child labour and the staggering number of child labourers, probably surpassing many otherindustries. Another reason is the substantial presence of large multinational companies that often have a nochild labour policy while their host governments expect from them to abide by the OECD Guidelines forMultinational Companies which include a no-child labour clause. Despite of this the issue of child labour in the
cottonseed industry, as well as that of below minimum wages – especially for women – has been far from solved,
though progress has been made by a number of companies. These include mainly multinational companies, butalso some Indian companies have come forward to address the child labour with their supplying farmers.
Child labour
The recent figures regarding the magnitude of child labour, measured in terms of proportion of children to thetotal workforce and the average number of children employed per acre, in hybrid cottonseed production in India
show a declining trend in all the states. The decline is significant in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
However, this has not translated into a decline of the total number of children employed on cottonseed farms,
particularly in Gujarat. The latter is due to a substantial increase in the production area in these states. As a resultof the efforts of local and international NGOs, the government, media and social investors, awareness has beencreated. Interventions by various agencies, including governmental agencies, the National Commission forProtection of Child Rights, NGOs like MV Foundation and a union like DRMU, the seed industry and internationalorganisations like ILO, UNICEF and UNDP have in combination had a positive impact and helped to reduce childlabour in the cottonseed industry. The India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN), International Labour Rights
Forum (ILRF) and the Stop Child Labour coalition have – through its range of reports on the issue and engagementwith companies – triggered and supported these efforts by putting ‘the facts on the table’, seeking publicattention and encouraging companies to take action.
Despite the decline, the total number of children still employed in the cottonseed sector is huge. The data for2014-15 shows that children under 14 years still account for nearly 25% of the total workforce in cottonseed
farms in India. In 2014-15, a total of around 200,000 children below 14 years were employed in cottonseed farms
in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan states which account for more than
90% of the total production area in the country. Gujarat, which has the largest cottonseed production area inthe country accounts for nearly 55% of the total children employed in this sector. The persistence of child labour
on a large scale is due to the limited coverage and insufficient impact of the present interventions. This is evenmore the case for adolescent children. There are now 281,200 children between 15 and 18 years working in the
cottonseed fields while this number was 190,450 in 2006-07. This is an increase by almost half.
The response of some of the state governments to address the problem of child labour in this sector has notbeen very encouraging. The government of Gujarat and Rajasthan, except initiating a few steps to control the
trafficking of children from Rajasthan to Gujarat cottonseed fields, have not paid serious attention to tackle theissue. They are in a ‘denying mood’ about the existence of large number child labourers in this sector. In fact theemployment of children on family farms, which has increased recently, has not received any serious attention
from the state governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

43

There is a misconception, which is propagated by government and some seed companies, that most of theworking children in seed production are family labourers who help their parents during school holidays andbefore and after school hours. This is not correct. Though there is an increase in the composition of family
children in total workforce in recent years, they still constitute a small portion of total working children. In 201415, family children accounted for less than 30% of the total working children in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu andKarnataka. Compared to other states the share of family children is relatively high in Rajasthan and Gujarat where
they accounted for 53.2% and 37.5% of all children involved. Also the study noted that most of the children
working on seed farms were school dropouts who have discontinued their schooling and are now working as afull time workers. They accounted for nearly 62% of the total working children in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
In other states the proportion of school dropout children varied between 55% and 58%.The category of children
who go to school and temporarily drop out during the cross-pollination period accounted nearly 34% of the total
working children in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
The response from the seed industry as a whole to address the problem of child labour has not been very
encouraging. Despite acknowledging the problem and promising steps to address the problem of child labour,
seed companies, except for a few multinationals and local companies, to date have not taken any serious efforts
to tackle the issue on the farms that are producing seed for their companies. The initiatives undertaken by Bayer,
Monsanto, DuPont and few local companies have had some positive impact in reducing the number of working
children. However, their efforts have only a limited impact on the overall magnitude of child labour in theindustry. These efforts are nonetheless important, as they pave the way for broader initiatives and show thattackling child labour in the cottonseed industry is possible and has positive effects on both children and adult
workers as the latter are better able to bargain for higher wages. It is therefore very important that individualcompanies continue to maintain and increase progress with regard to eliminating child labour in their individual
supply chains. However, unless all the major seed companies come forward and implement serious measures incollaboration with other stakeholders, it is difficult to combat the overall problem of child labour.
The Right to Education Act 2010 that guarantees children free and compulsory education from the age of 6 to 14
years. The previous central government led by Congress party proposed to bring substantial amendments to The
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 to make it compatible with the Right to Education Act. The
amendments include a total ban on employment of children below 14 years in all forms of work excluding
involvement of children in family occupations after school hours and holidays and the prohibition of employmentof adolescents aged 14-18 years in hazardous occupations. A bill was introduced in the parliament in 2012 (Child
Labour Prohibition and Regulation Bill, 2012) which is pending for approval by the parliament. The new
government led by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) which came to power in 2014 proposed some fresh amendments
in May 2015 and is planning to put this pending bill again before parliament for its approval. Though this awelcome step, allowing children below 14 years to work in family enterprises during school holidays and nonschooling hours will have adverse impact, particularly in the cottonseed sector, and push more and more children
to join the work30.
Below minimum wages
The other issue of major concern in cottonseed production discussed in this report is payment of minimum wages
to workers. The Indian laws guarantee payment of minimum wages to workers in different sectors, including the
agriculture sector. In spite of this legal requirement, below payment of minimum wages has long been a serious
30‘Child labour amendment bill to push more kids into working’ Times of India, June 14, 2015
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Child-labour-amendment-bill-to-push-more-kids-intoworking/articleshow/47667566.cms

44

issue in the agriculture sector, especially in the hybrid seed production. Unfortunately it still is a serious issue,
mostly for women and children.
A comparison of prevailing market wages with the statutory minimum wages fixed by the respective state
governments clearly indicates that the legal norms are not followed, especially for certain categories of workers
and activities. The prevailing wage rates for cross-pollination activity which is the vital activity in seed production,
are 46.5% below the legal minimum wage in Karnataka, 9.4% to 25% below the legal minimum wage in Andhra
Pradesh and 6.6% to 16.6% below the legal minimum wage in Gujarat.
The minimum wages issue has not received as much attention as child labour and no serious efforts were madeto tackle this issue either by the government, the seed industry or by civil society organizations, except the workby the union DRMU in Gujarat. In many states, the Minimum Wages Act is not implemented properly in the
agricultural sector. Moreover, there is lack of awareness about the Minimum Wage Act among workers andfarmers. The workers in cottonseed production are not well organized and there are no active worker
organizations operating in most of the areas.
An analysis of recent trends in wages and procurement prices in cottonseed production indicates that there is alink between procurement prices received by the farmers and wages paid to workers. There are multiple factorsthat determine the wages paid to workers in seed production. Procurement price is one of the contributing
factors that determine wages. The cost of production, yields and net income details for 2014-15 collected fromfarmers in Karnataka indicate that after meeting all the production expenses they are left with profit margin of
less than 10%. Given the gap between prevailing wages rates and legal minimum wages, if farmers pay minimum
wages to workers the cost of production would rise significantly. With the current procurement prices and crop
yields the farmers would be left with no or a negative margins if they had to pay minimum wages to the workers.
As a first step in the direction of implementing minimum wages companies need to have a proper review of theirprocurement policies and ensure that growers have enough margins to pay minimum wages to workers. Since2012 the cost of cottonseed production has increased significantly but the procurement prices paid by companies
to seed farmers remained stagnant. Due to government regulation on cottonseed prices, currently the seed
companies are constrained to increase the procurement prices. The companies are arguing that they will not beable to increase procurement prices unless they are allowed to increase the sale price. Unless procurement prices
are increased farmers will not be able to able to increase the wages and pay minimum wages to workers. Thereis a need for the state governments to solve these interlinked problems in combination by – at frequent intervals– reviewing the sales prices of companies, their procurement prices and the wages that are paid to theagricultural labourers taking into consideration the changes in cost of production of seeds, the costs of cultivation
by farmers and the needs for decent wages by agricultural labourers. The present minimum wages might not beenough to be considered a decent or living wage. This should also be investigated and if needed corrected by therespective state governments.

45

CHAPTER VIIIRECOMMENDATIONS
1. On the basis of the due diligence required by the universally accepted UN Guiding Principles for Business andHuman Rights in the full supply chain of companies, both multinational and Indian companies have tosystematically tackle labour rights violations on their suppliers farms, including child labour and below official
minimum and/or living wages. In order to demand from farmers that they should not employ child labourand pay at least minimum wages, seed companies need to do a proper review of their procurement policies
and ensure that growers have enough margins to do this.
2. Multinational Companies (MNCs) have to take responsibility to ensure that also their local business partners
adhere to nationally and internationally defined labour rights, including with respect to combating labour
rights violations like child labour and below minimum wages.
3. As Monsanto plays a very important role in Indian agriculture, including by joining up with Indian partner
Mahyco ánd receiving royalties on its Bt seeds from many India-based companies, it has the responsibility toensure that all companies that they have a business relation with tackle child labour in cottonseed
production and respect labour rights.
4. As several companies have set up effective programmes against child labour in areas where are operating, it
is advised to pool the knowledge gained for those companies that still have to start with this task or are
grappling with the way to do this effectively. Where-ever possible an area-based approach to tackle childlabour and get working children into quality formal education is to preferred. E.g. the NGO MV Foundation
has effectively spearheaded such an approach, including in cottonseed production areas.
5. As cultivation shifts to small tribal farms, the deployment of children increasingly changes from one of
migrant child labour to local family labour. The seed industry should not hide behind local legislation thatmay permit child labour on family farms. Present legislation might allow child labour before and after school
hours. However the working hours in cottonseed plots means that child working on the cotton plots will atsome point miss out on school and become a dropout.
6. Mostly women and children do not receive at least a minimum wage for their work because of gender-related
allocation to certain types of work – like cross-pollination – that do not lead to paying the official minimum
wage for an 8-hour day. This needs to be amended by government action. It also has to be studied if thepresent minimum wages are actually living wages that allow cottonseed workers a decent life. Cottonseed
workers should also be covered under social security benefits like the Provident Fund.
7. According to Indian laws and the mentioned UN Guiding Principles, to which also India has subscribed, thecentral and state governments of India, as well as their designated agencies, have the ‘duty to protect’ therights of both children and adults whose rights are violated on cottonseed farms. Looking at the magnitude
and seriousness of the violations in cottonseed production, a special taskforce of state governments toensure labour rights in this sector would be recommended. Such a taskforce should work in close cooperation with local groups, village panchayats, local (child) rights groups, NGOs and unions.

46

8. The National Seed Association of India(NSAI) should play a more proactive rolein urging their members to combat childlabour and respect labour rights,
including by setting up joint
programmes and requiring frommembers to report on progress.
9. Every Indian or multinational seed
company, as well as the NSAI, shouldhave an effective grievance mechanism
where both farmers and agriculturallabourers can safely file grievances on
e.g. insufficient procurement prices andviolations of labour rights at the farmlevel and resolve those issues. In cases ofsystemic violations programmes totackle these have to be developed.
10. Due to government regulation on
cottonseed prices, seed companies arehesitant to increase the procurement
prices to farmers. There is a need forstate governments to solve theinterlinked problems of (maximum)
sales prices, procurement prices andwages, by reviewing these from time totime. This has to take into consideration
the changes in cost of production of seeds, the costs of cultivation by farmers and the needs for decent
wages by agricultural labourers.
11. As the role of civil society - including local groups, NGOs and unions - in tackling child labour and labour rights
violations in cottonseed production, support for organizations that have shown to be effective ‘change
agents’ is recommended. It is also crucial that have the freedom to organize, mobilize and give their opinion
as is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and Indian laws. Any infringement on these rights by vested
interest groups should be countered by democratic means.

47