In 1988 I first witnessed child labour in the match factories of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. As my network of Indian child activists grew, my first visit was followed by others. I ultimately visited the lock factories of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh where more than 10,000 children daily toil in terrible conditions. In Manali, Himachal Pradesh, I visited a Buddhist Lama, Lama Gondup, who operates a school for children who cut stones manually for road construction. As they work, the children breath the polluted air caused by passing trucks, buses, and boiling tar.
Local activists give a larger number.
No one can deny that roads must be improved in India, but it is certain that children will be working on road construction activities as a result of this project. In January 1994, I accompanied Dr. M.K. Patra, Director of the Asian Workers Development Institute in Rourkela, Orissa, on a tour of the dumping yard of the Rourkela Steel Plant. It is in the dumping yard that you will find the working children. That place is like hell. Accidents occur there often, mainly bad burns.