They are not permitted to use spoons instead of their hands when checking the boiling cocoons, on the theory that their hands can more easily discern when the threads are ready to reel. At age 10, their palms and fingers are white with the thick tracks of fissures, burns and blisters. Tens of thousands of children also weave the silk. Most silk looms are crowded together in dark, damp, poorly ventilated rooms. These crowded conditions encourage the spread of contagious illnesses among the child silk workers.
Cuts are also endemic and difficult to cure.
A researcher in Kanchipuram reported seeing a boy with fingers so badly cut that he was unable to feed himself. Employers do not provide medical care or even first aid to injured workers, and those who are unable to work receive no wages for the day. Human Rights Watch has also urged the Bank to implement programs to ensure that these children are able to go to school, arguing that this is the only way to break the cycle of bondage. The World Bank generally denies responsibility for, or complicity in, India's bonded labor problem. More than 325,000 children work in the beedi industry, most in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.