Forced labor in Indian Gold Jewellery Manufacturing

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Associationfor Stimulating Know How (ASK)
V-30/3 DLF-III, Gurgaon-122002 Haryana, INDIA
Ph: 91-124 - 4060353/ 4060354 Fax: 91-124- 4060355
www.askindia.org
FINAL REPORT
8th
January, 2014
Report on the “Risk Analysis and Vulnerabilities to
Forced Labour in Indian Gold Jewellery Manufacturing”
Research Conducted by: Association for Stimulating Know
How (ASK), India
Supported by: Humanity United, USA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK) is thankful to Humanity United for giving us
the opportunity to conduct the research ‘RiskAnalysisandvulnerabilities to Forced Labour
in Indian Gold Jewellery Manufacturing’, in Mumbai, India. We also take this opportunity to
thank the entire team of Verite in supporting us in the entire process.
We are grateful to Mr. Sharad Rao (President of Mumbai Labour Union), Mr. Subhash Parui
(Head of Bengali Association and a veteran in jewellery sector), Shops and Establishment
Department of MCD, Mr. Sharit Bhowmick (Prof. Centre for Labour Studies, TISS, Mumbai),
Mr.SurendraMehta(Secretary, Bombay Bullian Association) and Secretaryand Treasurerof
Mumbai Suwarnkar Sangh for providing necessary support to the field research team as well
as for proving their valuable perspective into the research.
The support and cooperation by the above said members and the organizations during the field
study made the entire process an enriching one, providing the researchers of ASK, with an
opportunity to understand the issue in a holistic manner.
We are extremely thankful to the Workers/artisans/head artisans of Zaveri bazaar and
workers of SEEPZ who gave the research team an insight into the realities of the area, their
lives and without their input the research would not have been possible.
We hope that this research will help in contributing towards the betterment of lives and
working conditions of all the artisans and workers involved in gold jewellery manufacturing in
India and more specifically Mumbai.
Thanking you,
Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK), Gurgaon

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter Content
Acknowledgement 1
ExecutiveSummary 3-6
1 Backgroundand Introduction 7-9
1.1 About Gold Jewellery Industry in India and Mumbai 7
1.2 Gold jewellery supply chain in Zaveri bazaar 8
1.3 Worker WelfareAssociations in Zaveri bazaar 8
1.4 Government initiatives 9
2 Legal-International Conventionson forcedLabour 10-12
2.1 ILOconvention on forcedlabour 10
2.2 Acts prevalent in Zaveri bazaar 11
3 Aboutthe research 13-15
3.1 Objectives 13
3.2 Scope of work 13
3.3 Rationale of research 13
3.4 Research Methodology 14
3.5 Respondents/stakeholders 14
3.6 Research team 15
4 Findingsandanalysis 16-22
4.1 Workengagement 16
4.2 Living conditions and arrangements 17
4.3 Modes of payment 17
4.4 Working hours 19
4.5 Threat and abuse 20
4.6 Other issues 20
4.7 Team reflections: challenges and limitations 21
5 Conclusion 23
Annexure 24-38
Annex I Framework forresearch 24
Annex II Interview questionnaire 27
Annex III Checklist 28
Annex IV Presence of ILOindicators of forcedlabour 31

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research was conducted with an objective to understand if there are any practices of forced
labour in the gold jewellery manufacturing in India, the root causes for the same and the
government interventions to curb them. Research was conducted by a team of ASK, Gurgaon,
India from 9th December to 18th December, 2013 in Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ in Mumbai in the
state of Maharashtra in India.
In the entire process various stakeholders were met for data collection in the period of 10 days.
The research was qualitative in nature and majorly one-on-one interview, focus group
discussions and observations were part of the research methodology. The research team was
able to cover a sample of 92 workers (SEEPZ and Zaveri bazaar).
Findingsandanalysis
Workengagement
The workers are influenced by their relatives, friends and village acquaintances to work in
Mumbai gold jewellery market. These workers come from various districts of West Bengal and
migrate to Mumbai in order to earn money. It was brought forth that in Zaveri Bazaar work is
given on the basis of trust and reference. During hiring no identity documents are sought from
the workers. It was also seen that none of the workers have been provided with any type of
employment documents, which can serve as an employment proof for the worker.
In Santa Cruz Electronics & Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ), workers are hired in three
ways: daily contract, period contract and permanent. Most of the workers in SEEPZ are on
period contract. The permanent and period contract workers are provided with employment
card and a salary slip as well for the payment they receive.
Living conditions and arrangements
Zaveri bazaar is dominated by Bengali migrant workers and all of them (junior karigars) live in
the workshops only. The working units serve as working station at day time and living station at
night and a corner of it serves as cooking space. The research team observed that the space is
cramped and over-crowded with 6-8 workers living in 10x8 sq. feet space, which was infested
with bed bugs. The workshops are poorly ventilated and in most of the places no ventilation was
seen. Lighting conditions were not good and did not suffice for the nature of work being done.
The sanitation facilities were almost non-existing and the existing ones were the source of
unbearable odour and infections. The workers are not willingly staying there but the
circumstances are such that their conditions are forcing them to live in such degrading
places. The condition is of saving the money to send it back to home and high cost of living in
Mumbai.
Modes of payment, rate of payment and payment cycle
In Zaveri bazaar Payment of wages is done in cash to the workers and on a monthly rate but the
payment or the pagaar is not fixed and is as varied as between 2,000-15,000 INR (on the basis
of worker interview). Even though the salary is decided on the monthly basis but the

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amount varies from owner to owner. Further, the payment cycle is not defined. Bengali
workers take weekly money, or whenever required, from the owner for their day-to-day
expenses but they are given their actual salary (calculated on monthly rate) only when they go
home once or twice in a year. It must be noted that, on an average a skilled worker makes
10,000-12,000 INR every month as his salary and this salary is usually earned by someone with
an experience of 6-7 years working for approximately 12 hours in a day on an average1
In SEEPZ, the research team found out that modes of payment is of two types; money deposited
in account and in cash. The rate of payment is on hourly basis and a worker may get 40-55 INR
for an hour of work. The payment cycle for workers in SEEPZ is defined and the payment is
made between 7th-12th day of every month by the contractor. The contractor usually takes 10-
15% of the workers wage, which counts to 5 INR/hour of worker’s wages every month from the
worker.
Working hours
In Zaveri bazaar, normal working hours are from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. workers normally work
10-12 hours in lean season but in peak season they work upto18 hours or more for which they
are not being compensated for the Overtime hours that they put in beyond the regular 8 hours2.
Most of the workers are working half a day on Sundays as well. From the findings it is clear that
the workers are working overtime everyday and they are not even getting paid for it.
In SEEPZ also overtime was clearly visible but the workers are being paid for overtime work. It
must be noted that even though the workers are getting paid for overtime, the money is the
same aswhat they receivefor normal working hours and not double the amount of their
normal hourly wage, which has been decided by law. Further, it was observed that
deduction of lunch hour (half an hour) is done from the total working hours and therefore in
actual the worker has to work half an hour extra (8 and half hours the whole day) later in the
day. In other words, workers in SEEPZ are not being provided with paid lunch break.
Threat and abuse
In SEEPZ majority of workers brought forth that if they raise voice against over-time, the
supervisors tells them to leave the job or not to come to work from the next day. If some worker
has urgent work at home and needs to leave on time then the worker is asked to leave the job.
Threats like these are forcing the workers to work without their wish. Therefore, sometimes
the workers are being forced to keep working Overtime in the fear of losing their jobs.
Other issues
Health and safety: The sleeping, eating and sanitation facilities are very poor in Zaveri bazaar.
Workers sleep in loft, thus making the entire place stuffy and poorly ventilated. The lighting
sources are not sufficient; the sanitation conditions for workers are in a deteriorated state
where the harmful odour is present in the entire building. Since the karigars' workplace acts as
living quarters as well, cooking materials are kept alongside sulphuric acid, nitric acid and other
hazardous chemicals needed in jewellery-making. It was seen, no safety measures are being
1
This information has been mentioned on the basis of the data collected from worker interview.
2 This information has been mentioned on the basis of the data collected from worker interview.

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taken and neither are the workers aware about the harmful effects of such chemicals and
equipments. Further, in some units machines are being used for different processes and these
machines are causing noise pollution and are supposed to be used only in factories. Thus, the
workers are being exposed to many health hazards every day in the workshops.
SEEPZ workers (living in an area nearby called Subhash Nagar) are also living in very
unhygienic and pathetic conditions. The rooms are cramped and serve as kitchen and bathroom
too. However, SEEPZ workers are not being exposed to other sorts of occupational hazards in
their living space.
Child Labour/ Young Workers: From the worker interviews it has been revealed that most of
them started working at around 14-15 years of age (according to information gathered from
worker interview). Though direct cases of child labour were not visible during the field study
but in many places the research team found artisans who were working as apprentice or
trainee. The trainees have been trained to not reveal their actual age and during the visit in one
of the workshops one direct case of child labour was seen. The artisans and shop owners also
admit to the fact that the industry has been employing children because the skill of jewellery
making is best learnt at young age and that the fingers are nimble and soft to be trained for this
profession.
Challenges and limitations
 Inaccessibility to workers in Zaveri Bazaar and in SEEPZ was one of the most
challenging aspects for the research team. Workers are dealing with very expensive
metal and the area has always been under various threats therefore the area is highly
secured and outsiders (non-consumers) are generally not entertained inside the
workshops.
 Workers were not able to participate in interviews and focus group discussions because
of the presence of their supervisors and the head artisan whom they call “seth”.
 The team further faced challenges in meeting the workers in their working hours (9
a.m. to 8:30 p.m.).
 In SEEPZ the research team was not allowed to enter the work premises or the
factories and therefore for data collection the team started to visit the home places
(Subhash Nagar) of the workers before and after the work hours
 Inaccessibilityto facts and figures on concerned areas and topics was one of the other
challenges that the team faced. Even the government departments were not able to
provide the required information specifically on Zaveri Bazaar.
Conclusions
The research findings clearly indicate at some of the practices which may have the potential of
becoming root causes or one of the ways of keeping someone in forced labour in future, if not
checked on time. Therefore the research team would like to briefly put forward the broad areas
of concern which needs to be explored and studied in future. First, extended working hours for
workers in both Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ; second, psychological compulsions (to earn money
and support the family) to work involuntarily and to live in pitiable conditions; third, undefined
payment cycle and wages in Zaveri bazaar; fourth, threat of terminating the employment if the

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worker wants to leave on actual time (6:00 p.m.) in SEEPZ and fifth, the miserable living, eating
and sanitation facilities for workers in both Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ.
Government measures and initiatives are prevalent and prominent in the industry but still the
workers are being humiliated and exploited. There is a visible and inconsolable frustration and
dissatisfaction in workers. The workers who are not only a rich part of the Indian tradition and
society but also an important part of the gold industry definitely deserves better than the
present.

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CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
1.1. About Gold Jewellery industry in India and Mumbai
India is the largest market for gold jewellery industry in the world, representing a staggering
552 tonnes of gold in 20123. Indian gold jewellery industry is the largest globally and values
around UDS 40 billion and is the world’s largest consumer of gold, accounting for about 20 per
cent of the total world gold consumption4. Gold jewellery consumption has been driven by
cultural and traditional affinity of the Indian society to the yellow metal and it constitutes about
80 per cent of the Indian jewellery market. It is an essential part of the Indian weddings and
thus it is a type of necessity in the wedding. Further, jewellery demand has also been supported
by demand from rural and non-urban markets which account for about 70% of the total
consumption5. In the Indian society, gold has also been used as means of saving especially for
the rural sector and has been acting as investments in the families due to its anti-inflationary
characteristics.
Mumbai and Surat covers major portion of the gold jewellery production in India. Traditionally
Mumbai has been a major hub for gold jewellery manufacturing in India, while Surat has been
majorly contributing to the diamond processing in India. Places like Zaveri bazaar in
Bhuleshwar, Mumbai are known for their unorganised jewellery manufacturing units. Zaveri
bazaar has been one of the oldest markets in India in jewellery manufacture. There are
approximately 80-100 buildings in Zaveri bazaar housing 40,000-50,000 units6. Over 30,000
units in the market are manufacturing units and wholesalers, traders and retailers make up
10,000 units7. Nearly 50,000 plus workers are employed in this market8. The gold jewellery
industry in India is labour intensive and involves large number of labour force (artisans). Gold is
not only a traditional metal of the country but its manufacturing involves highly skilled artisans
who descend into the jewellery making sector as third or fourth generation. Labour force
(artisans) in Zaveri Bazaar is dominated by the Bengali population who have migrated from
West Bengal in search of livelihood. Most of the population hails from Hooghly, Howrah and
Medinipur districts of West Bengal.
In 1973, Santacruz Electronics Export processing Zone (SEEPZ) was created as Specal Economic
Zone (SEZ) in Andheri East in Mumbai to promote rapid economic growth to attract foreign
investment and technology. It mainly houses electronic hardware manufacturing companies,
software companies and jewellery exporters of India. More than 40% of India’s total jewellery
exports during year 2006-07 came from jewellery production units in SEEPZ9. In 1999,
Government made SEEPZ a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and thus it is outside the custom zone of
India and no excise or custom duty is levied on raw material but companies in this zone cannot
sell their products in domestic market and therefore all the jewellery manufactured in SEEPZ is
exported. The majority of labour force or the workers in the jewellery processing units in SEEPZ
3 http://www.gold.org/jewellery/markets/india/
4 http://icra.in/Files/ticker/SH-2013-H1-1-ICRA-Jewellery.pdf
5Based on Expert (academician) interview
6 http://solitaireinternational.com/images/0907132900Bazaar_Beat.pdf
9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEEPZ

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have migrated from West Bengal and others are from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Odisha states of India.
1.2. Gold Jewellery Supply Chain in India (Zaveri bazaar in Mumbai)
The gold jewellery shops and workshops in Zaveri bazaar works in a chain system which
involves retailers, wholesalers, head artisan (head karigar)/seth (owner of workshop),
supervisor and junior artisans. The flow of the chain can be understood with the following
diagram:
Wholesaler
Retailer workshop Retailer Head artisan/seth (workshops)
workshops Head artisan/seth
Supervisor artisan and junior artisans
The jewellery order is placed from the wholesaler or the retailer to the head artisan or the Seth,
who owns the workshops and has number of artisans under him. The order can also be placed
from wholesaler to the retailer where the retailer further places the order to the head artisan in
workshops. Sometimes even the retailers have their own workshops and where he has own
supervisor and junior artisans. The workshops in Zaveri bazaar is usually headed by the head
artisan/seth who has a supervisor under him and 6-8 junior artisans under the supervisor.
This kind of set up is common in majority of the Zaveri bazaar. The head artisan is also called as
Seth, vyapaari who is the owner of the workshops and has grown up to the status of head
artisans after years of working as junior artisan.
1.3. Worker Welfare Association in Zaveri bazaar
Since Zaveri bazaar is major hub for Business-to-business (B2B) jewellery industry in India, it
has housed some old worker welfare associations. In Zaveri bazaar the associations can be
categorised as: worker welfare associations, trader welfare associations and dual (both worker
and trader) welfare associations. Some of the associations are listed below along with the kind
of involvement in the industry:
 Bombay Bullion Association: It was established in 1948 and is an association of gold
traders and presently has 1000-1100 members from all over India, where 70-80% members
are from Zaveri bazaar. The major role of the association is to deal with problems of
jewellery manufacturers, in house settlement and representing the issues of the gold traders
to the government. Six months back it started its membership with the artisans as well to
deal with their problems. The association is addressing issues like security of the workers
(in case of theft), job security of the workers and will start medical insurance and accidental
insurance of workers very soon.
 Bengali Association: It is an educational and cultural trust which promotes Bengali culture
and because majority of the workers in Zaveri bazaar are Bengali, therefore this association
was formed to contribute towards betterment of the Bengali workforce and more

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specifically the workshop owners. It is involved in solving issues of the workshop owners
(more specifically in regards to BMC) in Zaveri bazaar. They also provide skill trainings to
the young artisans (migrant workers).
 Mumbai Suwarnkar Sangh: It was formed in 1963 and registered as labour union and has
more than 14,000 members (artisans)10. They work for the welfare, livelihood and survival
of the artisans at all India level and are currently conducting educational trainings and
hallmarking trainings. They have also started a Short Messaging Service (SMS) which gives
an update on current or the existing gold rates. The members have been provided with
identity cards and the association helps in resolving issues of the workers in terms of health
& safety and wages.
 Bombay Gumasta Union: This union is working for the Gumastas (shop assistants) and
comes under the purview of Mumbai Labour Union.
In addition to the above mentioned associations, there are
other associations for Gujarati workers and diamond
workers as well in Zaveri bazaar.
1.4. Government initiatives
BMC Shops and Establishment department is the
concerned authority for ward C (Municipality ward) in
South Mumbai. The Senior Inspectors from MCD’ Shops
and Establishment Department visit the various zones in
their ward to keep a check on compliance. There is a list
that is followedby every inspector when they periodically
visit the shops and workshops (the picture of the list has
been attached along the text). During the interview of the
concerned government authorities it was brought forth
that maximum cases of violations are of following types:
 Shops not registered within the prescribed time.
 Non renewal of shops
 Not maintaining employment register
 Not maintaining minimum wage register
Recognised cases or complaints are registered with police
and presented to court. The in-charge inspectors are
called ‘Shops and Establishment Inspector’. It is worth
mentioning that the License under Shops and
Establishment Act is called ‘Gumasta’ licence in Mumbai. Gumasta licence is issued by BMC
wherein shops are registered for 5 years11. Occupational hazards and other living conditions are
looked upon by other department of BMC
10 Accordingto the interview with the organization representative
11 Accordingto the interview with Shops and Establishmentdepartment representative

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CHAPTER 2: LEGAL-INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS ON FORCED
LABOUR
2.1. ILO Conventions on Forced Labour
Forced labour has been defined by ILO under convention no 29 as “all work or service which is
exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person
has not offered himself voluntarily”12. One of the handbooks by ILO further simplifies the
meaning of forced labour in the following ways13:
“all work or service” covers all types of work, service and employment regardless of the
industry or sector (including legal and formal employment as well as illegal and informal
employment).
“any person” refers to adults as well as children regardless of the country of their origin.
“menace of any penalty” can refer to any criminal sanctions and other forms of coercion like
threat, violence, confinement, non-payment of wages, retention of identity documents and loss
of rights or privileges.
“voluntary” means that worker has consented to enter the employment and the worker has the
freedom to leave the job any time with reasonable notice according to the national law.
12 http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:312174
13 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---
declaration/documents/publication/wcms_101171.pdf

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2.2. Acts prevalent in Zaveri bazaar
The shops, workshops and units in Zaveri bazaar fall under the following acts:
 The Bombay Shops and Establishment Act. 194814
This Act is social piece of legislation of the state government enacted to prevent sweat
labourers of unorganised sector. It regulates the condition of work and employment and
therefore to secure maximum benefits to the employees working in different categories of
establishments. It makes a compulsion for all the establishments to be registered and renew
the registration periodically. The gold shops and workshops come under the ‘shop’ category
of this Act.
 No shop shall be opened before 7 a.m. (except the ones dealing wholly in milk,
vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, bread) and closed later than 8:30 p.m.
 No employee shall be required or allowed to work for more than nine hours in any
day and forty eight hours in any week.
 Work of an employee shall be fixed that no period for continuous work shall exceed
five hours and employee shall not be allowed to work for more than five hours
before he has had an interval of rest for at least one hour.
 An employee in any establishment to which this Act applies who is required to work
in excess of limit of hours of work, shall be entitled, in respect of the overtime work,
wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages
 Every shop shall remain closed on one day of the week.
 No child shall be allowed or required to work in any establishment
 No young person or woman shall be allowed or required to work before 6 a.m.
young person and woman shall not be allowed or required to work after 7 p.m. and
8:30 p.m. respectively.
 every employee who has been employed for not less than three months in any year,
shall for every 60 days on which he has worked during the year be allowed leave,
consecutive or otherwise, for a period of not more than five days
 Every employee shall be paid for the period of his leave at a rate equivalent to the
daily average of his wages for the days on which he actually worked during the
preceding three months, exclusive of any earnings in respect of overtime.
 The premises of every establishment shall be kept clean and free from harmful
odour
 The payment of Wages Act. 193615
This Act was brought into being to regulate the date of payment of wages and to regulate the
deductions from wages whether as fine or otherwise. This Act is applicable in gold
workshops in Zaveri bazaar.
 Wages include any remuneration: payable under any award or settlement between
the parties; over time work or holiday or any leave period; any additional
remuneration under the terms of employment.
14 http://www.sharpfacility.com/Labour%20Laws/General/BARE%20ACT/Shop%20and%20Establishment.pdf
15 http://www.ilo.org/dyn/travail/docs/625/Payment%20of%20Wages%20Act%201936.pdf

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 The wages of every person employed is paid. When less than 1000 persons are
employed shall be paid before the expiry of the 7th day of the following month.
 This Act covers employees who draw upto Rs 6500 per month on an average.
 If ten or more persons are absent without reasonable cause, deduction of wages
upto 8 days can be done.
 For default or negligence of any employee resulting into loss, show cause notice has
to be given to the employee.
 Deduction from wages can be done when the employee accept services, in case of
recovery of advance, for recovery of loans, for payment to cooperative societies and
insurance schemes.
 The Minimum Wages Act. 194816
This objective of this Act is to secure the welfare of the workers in a competitive market by
fixing the minimum rates of wages in certain employments.
 Minimum wage for jewellery artisans (skilled worker) in Mumbai is 6,560 INR as per
the information provided by the Deputy Senior Inspector, BMC, Mumbai.
 8 hrs are normal working hours in a day and the excess hours worked will be
treated as overtime.
 The wage period fixed is: by the hour, by the day, by the month and by such larger
wage period as may be prescribed.
16
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/ActsandRules/LawsRelatedtoWages/The%20Minimum%20Wage
s%20Act,%201948.pdf

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CHAPTER 3: ABOUT THE RESEARCH
3.1. Research objectives
The research on existence of forced labour in Indian gold jewellery manufacturing was
conducted with the following objectives:
 To find out existence of forced labour based on parameters of forced labour set by ILO
 To understand root causes for forced labour
 To understand government action to control forced labour
3.2. Scope of work
Research timing and locale
ASK conducted the field research for primary data collection from 9th December to 18th
December, 2013. Prior to the field study for data collection, a comprehensive desk research for
secondary data collection was conducted for a few days. Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ were chosen
to be the field of study in Mumbai because Mumbai accounts for maximum gold jewellery
production in India. Major areas for data collection in Mumbai were Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ
and both these areas were visited by the research team on different days in the time period of
10 days.
3.3. Research rationale
Gold jewellery manufacturing has been a traditional and cultural vocation of the Indian society
for many decades. “Sunar” is a clear indication of the depth and importance of the gold
jewellery making in Indian society and culture. Sunar is a Hindu caste in India referring to
community of people who work as goldsmiths17. A typical Indian wedding is incomplete
without gold jewellery and gold has an equal importance in the other religious festivities and
rituals in India. Indian festivities, ceremonies, rituals and celebrations have been interwoven
with gold jewellery and articles since the time immemorial.
Gold jewellery making has been passing down to generations in India and children take it as
their profession at a very young and tender age. This has led to poor formal (school) education,
limited skills and exposure in other fields and inability to enter any other profession in future.
Because of its traditional nature as a vocation and occupation, the gold jewellery manufacturing
has developed into an unorganised sector where now the huge amount or workforce is
employed informally. India is home to about 450,000 goldsmiths and 100,000 gold jewellers18.
India has always faced varied forms of labour issues in terms of slavery or bonded labour and to
control these various laws and act came into effect like the Bonded Labour System (abolition)
Act 1976, Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, Factories Act 1948 etc. In addition to
that ILO also has set guidelines to identify forced labour practices, which was ratified by India as
well.
17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunar
18 http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/traditional-goldsmiths-on-their-
way-out/article2852792.ece

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However, much uncertainty remains about the situations in which forced labour arises, hence
there is a pressing need for more research to address the issues of forced labour in various
sectors in India, one of which is gold jewellery industry in India as this industry existed without
any permission till 1991 (as after 1991 they had to get them registered under shops and
commercial establishment act, 1961). Before 1991 many workshops were open in residential
houses and continued to work in such settings. There is a need to have a clear understanding on
forced labour as many times forced labour is confused with slavery like conditions.
This research has been conducted to find out if there are any direct or indirect examples of
forced labour in gold jewellery manufacturing in India. It is believed that gold jewellery artisans
in India are an integral part of the culture and cannot be neglected or overlooked in the time of
change. Any type of human rights or labour rights violations with the gold artisans can lead to
discouragement and demotivation and thus the research findings may help in contributing to
making a better work and living environment for the gold jewellery artisans of India.
3.4. Research methodology
3.4.1. Tools and methods
The methodology used by ASK for the research was qualitative in nature, where data was
collected from various stakeholders with help of the following tools:
 Interview: one-on-one interview
 Observations
 Focus Group Discussions
3.4.2. Sample covered
As discussed above, various stakeholders were contacted for data collection and following is the
list of the approximate number of respondents met in the process:
 workers:
Tools Zaveri bazaar SEEPZ
One-on-one interview 15 25
Focus Group Discussion 7 FGDs (covering 32 artisans) 3 FGDs (covering 20 workers)
Total 47 artisans 45 workers
 SEEPZ contractors: 8
 Government officials: 3
 Association representatives: 5
 Academician: 1
3.5. Stakeholders
Data was collected from the following stakeholders or respondents:
 Artisans/workers
 Head artisan/karigar (seth)
 Contractors in SEEPZ

15 | P a g e
 Shop owners (retailers)
 Worker welfare association heads: Bengali Association, Mumbai Suwarnkar Sangh,
Bombay Gumasta union
 President of Municipal Mazdoor Union, Mumbai
 Bombay Bullian Association secretary
 Bombay Gumasta union Secretary
 Labour rights academician (Tata Institute of Social Sciences)
3.6. Research team
The research team was comprised of two researchers from ASK, both of who have previous
experience of conducting researches in India in the social sector and are bilingual (Hindi and
English). ASK is a capacity building organization working with Grassroot Communities, NGOs,
the Government, and Corporate towards achieving equitable development and social justice. It
has experience of conducting extensive researches and studies that are specific to labour
conditions, challenges in working conditions, issues of child labour, minimum wages, and social
security.

16 | P a g e
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
The following sections will present the indicators which have a potential of leading directly or
indirectly to practices of forced labour. These practices may become the route or the source to
forced labour and may also be the means of keeping the workers as forced labour. The
indicators have been recognised on the basis of the parameters set by ILO which have been
discussed in chapter 2. Further, during the desk research it was brought forward that in
Mumbai the gold jewellery production is majorly happening in Zaveri bazaar (for domestic
market purpose) and in SEEPZ (only for exportmarket purpose). Since the data collection has
been done from two different set ups in Mumbai, therefore the forth coming findings have been
mentioned according to the unorganised set up (Zaveri bazaar) and organised factory set up
(SEEPZ).
4.1. Work Engagement
Zaveri bazaar
During the worker interviews and stakeholder discussions it was brought forth that there is no
defined chain or system to recruit and hire a worker. In Zaveri bazaar maximum workers
(artisans) are from West Bengal and are hired on the basis of trust. During the entire field
study it was clearly brought forward that the workers are influenced by their relatives, friends
and village acquaintances to work in Mumbai gold jewellery market. These workers hail from
various districts of West Bengal and migrate to Mumbai in order to earn money. In the process
they are helped and supported by the concerned person (person who inform and influence
them about the job) and they are placed in the various workshops where either the concerned
person is already working or in the workshops where the concerned person knows the head
karigar (artisan) or the owner. Depending on the skills and learning ability of the worker he is
placed as learner/ apprentice or the main karigar (artisan). In other words, a karigar is given
work majorly on reference basis and if he has past experience (jewellery making).
During hiring no identity documents are sought from the workers. Very interestingly, it was also
seen that none of the workers have been provided with any type of employment
documents, which would be a proof of their employment with a certain employer. There are no
agreed terms of employment or any employment contract of any sort during the hiring of
workers. Working without clear agreed terms of employment can be an indicator of
leading to a situation where the work done is not according to the free will of workers.
There is also no age screening process to avoid any child labour or young workers.
SEEPZ
In SEEPZ, workers are hired in three ways: daily contract, short period contract, permanent. The
workers are required to submit photocopy of their identity documents. The short period
contract workers and permanent workers are provided with employment document like a
worker identity card (which serves as gate pass). It has been seen that majority of the workers
in SEEPZ have been hired through contractors and permanent workers are lesser in number.
However, there are no agreed terms of employment or any employment contract of any sort
during the hiring of workers.

17 | P a g e
4.2. Living Conditions and Arrangements
Zaveri bazaar
While the team was visiting the workers for interviews it was expected that the team would be
visiting the living spaces (accommodation) of the workers but it was surprising to see that all
the Bengali karigars (migrant workers) live in the workshops. The workshops are serving as
work place in the day hours and night hours workers use them as their living space, wherein
one corner of the unit is used for cooking food as well. The research team observed that the
space is cramped and over-crowded with 6-8 workers living in 10x8 square feet space, which
was infested with bed bugs. The workshops are poorly ventilated and in most of the places no
ventilation was seen. Lighting conditions were not good and did not suffice for the nature of
work being done. The sanitation facilities were almost non-existing and the existing ones were
the source of unbearable odour and infections.
During the interviews and discussions with respondents it was brought into notice that the
workers are not being forced by anyone to stay in such inhumane conditions. However,
although they are willing to stay in the workshops not by choice but mainly because first, they
cannot afford the cost of living in Mumbai with the amount of wages they get and second, they
want to save money from their wages in order to send it to their family. Also the working hours
are so excessive that they need to to stay at the workplace itself. Therefore, it can be said that
even if workers are staying there voluntarily, they are not doing it by choice but the
circumstances and conditions are forcing them to live in the workshops.
4.3. Modes of payment, rate of payment and payment cycle
Zaveri bazaar
Payment of wages is done in cash to the workers and on a monthly rate i.e. the wages are paid
according to the monthly work but in some cases like setting and polishing, it is also paid on
piece rate. Majorly, in Zaveri bazaar payment is done on the monthly rate but the payment or
the pagaar is not fixed and is as varied as between 2,000-15,000 INR19. Even though the salary
19 Accordingto the interview with workers

18 | P a g e
is decided on the monthly basis but the amount varies from owner to owner. Further, the
payment cycle is not defined. From the interviews it was revealed that the Bengali workers
take weekly money, or whenever required, from the owner as advances for their day-to-day
expenses but they are handed their actual salary (calculated on monthly rate) only when they go
home once or twice in a year. The money or the total salary is thus with the shop owner
which might have a potential of forced work due to ‘withholding of wages or non
payment of wages’. While this is the most common practice in Zaveri bazaar, there are few
others who follow monthly payment cycle.
Ways of keeping a worker as forced labour
Exclusion from future employment: In SEEEPZ if
workers retaliate for not working over time, he is
asked to leave the job (“kal se kaam par mat aana”.
The worker is being forced to work overtime with his
willingness. Without being paid the legally required
double payment for Overtime
Deprivation of food, shelter or other necessities:
The livingconditions of the worker are pathetic in
Zaveri bazaar. In such situation the worker is
working, living and eating in the same space. It is
clear that the worker is not doing it happily but they
are helpless and they are left with no option to move
away or to change the livingconditions. Other
necessities like sanitation are also severely hampered
in living spaces and the minimal requirement is also
missing in most of the places.
Practices which can become the root cause of
forced labour
Psychological compulsion: The workers have
brought forward that when they came from West
Bengal they did not want to staybecause of the
unfavourable conditions of work and living and
wanted to go back home but because everyone back
in the family had expectation from them (dependent
on them) so they had to stay back. They had no choice
but to stay back in order to earn money.
Undefined payment cycle and wages: As discussed
in the findings section, the wages are not defined and
vary from person to person. Further, undefined
payment cycle; where the workers are being given
total salary only when they are going home (once or
twice in a year); has potential of worker exploitation
and might lead to forced work due to withholding of
wages.
Working hours: It is clear from the findings that on
an average a worker is working beyond 8 hours in a
day (10-12 hrs in lean season), which he does not
want to do voluntarily. In peak seasons worker works
for 16-18 hours. It must be noted that neither is the
working volunteering to work for such long hours
and nor can he stop working. The conditions are such
that the worker is being forced to work for extended
hours but the exploitation of not paying the over
times wages in Zaveri bazaar is clearly visible.

19 | P a g e
The worker interview brought forth that, on an average a skilled worker makes 10,000-12,000
INR every month as his salary and this salary is usually earned by someone with an experience
of 6-7 years and working on an average for 10-12 hours in a day. Workers are not paid any
extra wage for the Overtime work at all for the hours that they work beyond the 8 hours of
regular work.
SEEPZ
Modes of payment in SEEPZ is of two types in nature; money deposition in account and in cash.
The rate of payment is on hourly basis and a worker may get 40-55 INR for an hour of work. The
payment cycle for workers in SEEPZ is defined and the payment is made between 7th-12th day of
every month by contractor. The contractor usually takes 10-15% of the workers wage, which
counts to 5 INR/hour of worker’s wages from the worker.
4.4. Working hours
Zaveri bazaar
Normal working hours in Zaveri bazaar are from
10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. but mostly because the
artisans are migrant (Bengalis) and they live in
the workshops therefore it is normal for an
artisan to work for normally 10-12 hrs every day
in lean season and in peak season the working
hours stretch to 18 hrs20. Sunday is non-
working for the workers but most of the
workersworkonSunday for half day also. It is
clear from the research that the workers are working over-time almost on daily basis and
no compensation is being paid to them for the Overtime work at all. One of the workers
shared that since they live in the workshops so they work day and night specially during the
peak season. Peak season is between September to October and lean season is between
December to February. During the interview it was asked if they like to work over-time the
workers said that since they live in the workshops therefore they end up working for so many
hours due to the work pressure
SEEPZ
In SEEPZ also overtime was clearly visible but the workers are being paid for overtime work. It
must be noted that even though the workers are getting paid for overtime but the money is the
same aswhat they receivefor normal working hours and not the double amount of their
normal hourly wage, which has been decided by law. In SEEPZ workers usually work for 4
hrs overtime every day. The working hours in SEEPZ are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From the worker
interview it was brought forth that overtime is paid in cash to all type of workers; it is delayed
by 15 days usually and is paid 15 days after the actual salary payment. Further, it was observed
that deduction of lunch hour (half an hour) is done from the total working hours and therefore
20 Accordingto worker interview

20 | P a g e
in actual the worker has to work half an hour extra (8 and half hours the whole day) later in the
day. In other words, workers in SEEPZ are not being provided with paid lunch break.
Not paying wage for Overtime work or only partly paying Overtime wage for all the OT
work being done or not paying the due on time can be an indicators of work being done
involuntarily.
4.5. Threat and abuse
In SEEPZ majority of workers brought forth that if they raise voice against over-time, the
supervisors tell them to leave the job or not to come to work from the next day. If some worker
has urgent work at home and needs to leave on time then the worker is asked to leave the job.
Threats like these are forcing the workers to work without their wish. Therefore, sometimes
the workers are being forced to work in the fear of losing their jobs.
Dismay of a migrant artisan
The sparkling world of gold, silver and many other precious gems stones is alluring and hard to
resist but behind the bling exists the non glamorous world of many men and young workers
working and living in the jewellery workshops and units. For them the gold and sparkling gems
has lost its sparkle; as these artisans are trapped in a cycle of working and living in exploitative
conditions dependent on this metal to earn undeserving meagre wages.
These high skilled and calibre jewellery artisans are greatly exposed to dangerous methods of
gems making inflicting serious risks on their health; being most of the Bengali migrant workers
easily tricked for living in the unhygienic, filthy and tiny work stations; where life revolves
around the long working hours with no or little social life. The rising frustration level of the
workers asserts, ‘meeting families back home once in a year during festivities as a luxury in
life’.
The pride of being one of the gifted craftsmen in the jewellery industry has been shattered and
its hope of revival among the workers looks bleak; as they never want their coming generations
to fall in this trap.
4.6. Other issues
During the research some issues which may not be indicating at forced labour but were
concretely visible as some of the other labour issues existing have also been discussed briefly in
the following sections:
Health and safety
During the field visit in Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ (Subhash Nagar is the residential area which
the team visited) some major health and safety issues were surfacing easily and work
environment has always been an issue. In Zaveri bazaar, mostly food is cooked in the corridors
as the rooms are crowded with personal belongings, equipment and tools. The karigars mostly
sleep on lofts, which block ventilation in the already congested rooms. Absence of ventilation in
most of the workshops has made the entire place stuffy and hard to work in and live in. Fans are
either absent or only the table fans have been supplied in the workshops. The building owners
have used every inch of space to construct more and more rooms. Even areas under the flights

21 | P a g e
of stairs are rented out for workshops. Since the karigars work with valuable materials, the
rooms have doors of grill and wood. Gold jewellery work is very intricate and requires good
lighting in the rooms, which is rarely the case anywhere in Zaveri Bazaar.
The sanitation conditions for workers are in a deteriorated state where the harmful odour is
present in the entire building. The cleanliness and water supply in latrines and wash rooms is
below poor level.
Since the karigars' workplaces double as living quarters, cooking materials are kept alongside
sulphuric acid, nitric acid and other hazardous chemicals needed in jewellery-making. It was
seen, no safety measures are being taken and neither are the workers aware about the harmful
effects of such agents and equipments. Further, in some units machines are being used for
different processes and these machines are causing noise pollution and are supposed to be used
only in factories. Thus, the workersarebeingexposedto many health hazards every day in
the workshops. And all of these unhealthy work environments; the workers were completely
unaware of when they were being informed at their villages to come to Zaveri Bazaar for the
work. Also staying and working in these conditions is not by choice but merely a result of the
situation where the worker does not have many
alternatives.
Child labour
From the worker interviews it has been revealed
that most of them started working at around 15
years of age (according to the worker interview).
Though direct cases of child labour were not
visible during the field study but in many places
the research team found young artisans who were
working as apprentice or trainee. The trainees
have been trained to not reveal their actual age and during the visit in one of the workshops one
direct case of child labour was seen. The artisans and shop owners also admit to the fact that the
industry has been employing children because the skill of jewellery making is best learnt at
young age and that the fingers are nimble and soft to be trained for this profession. People in the
industry use sentences like “bachpan se nahhi seekhega to seekh nahi paayega” (if one does not
learn at childhood then he will not be able to learn).
The laws on child labour are very stringent in SEEPZ and therefore during the research the team
did not find any direct or indirect cases of child labour.
4.7. Team reflection: challenges and limitations
While conducting the research, research team faced few challenges which had the possibility of
affecting the research in terms of its objectives and findings. But the research team was able to
identify the challenges on time and work on alternatives during the process. Some of the
challenges have been discussed as follows:

22 | P a g e
 Inaccessibility to workers was one of the prime challenges that the team faced
initially. However, the team was able to recognise few stakeholders who provided help
in accessing the workers.. It is important to mention that the workers are dealing with
very expensive metal and the area has always been under various threats therefore the
area is highly secured and outsiders (non-consumers) are generally not entertained
inside the workshops.
 Even after the access to the workers in workshops, many workers were not able or
hesitating to participateininterviews and focussed group discussions because of
the presence of their supervisors and the head artisan/seth. One of the team members
then decided to interview or get in a discussion with the supervisor to take him away
and the other member of the research team conducted sessions with the workers for
them to answer without any hesitation and fear.
 The team further faced challenges in meeting the workers in their working hours (9
a.m. to 8:30 p.m.). To overcome this team started to visit the workshops in late evening
or in early hours when the workers were comparatively free and could participate in
discussions.
 In SEEPZ the research team was not allowed to enter the work premises or the
factories and therefore for data collection the team started to visit the home places
(Subhash Nagar) of the workers. Since the field research was being conducted during
the lean season (December), therefore most of the workers working on contractual basis
were available at home and were ready to give inputs.
 Inaccessibility to facts and figures on concerned areas and topics was one of the
challenges that the team faced. Even the government departments were not able to
provide the required information specifically on Zaveri bazaar. The team had to thus
work on the estimated number to conclude the findings.

23 | P a g e
CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION
The research was conducted with the prime objective to identify any indicators of forced labour
or the practices which may have the potential of leading to forced labour in the gold jewellery
manufacturing industry in India. 10 days of field visit (data collection) and secondary research
are prompting at few indicators which at present are not the direct cases of forced labour but
have the possibility of becoming the root cause or the ways to keep workers as forced labour. If
the indicators are to be pointed broadly, they would be: extended working hours for workers in
both Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ, psychological compulsions (to earn money and support the
family) to work involuntarily and to live in pitiable conditions, undefined payment cycle and
wages in Zaveri bazaar, threat of terminating the employment if the worker wants to leave on
actual time (6:00 p.m.) in SEEPZ and most of all the miserable living, eating and sanitation
facilities. These practices can be further explored or investigated in future to understand the
actual impact and their potential of leading to forced labour. From this research, it is can be said
that few prevalent practices in Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ in Mumbai have a potential of matching
the parameters set by ILO defining forced labour under Convention no. 29.
The government interventions and measures to control forced labour or to keep a check on the
practices are in alignment with the various acts prevalent in the country and state. However,
most of the times the government officials (inspectors) have not been able to take necessary
actions due to several political factors. From the whole research it is evident that even though
there are no direct cases of forced labour in Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ, there still are some
practices which have the potential of leading to forced labour in jewellery manufacturing in
Mumbai. Another picture which is equally evident is that with all the laws and rules in place in
Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ, highly skilled artisans are still becoming the target of various forms of
exploitation and manipulations.
Oct, 2013
to present
Program Officer, Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK) India
 Worked as compliance auditor focusing on labour laws and health and safety issues.
 Trainer for CMDRR, Result Based Management and Skill development for capacity
building of various agencies.
facilitatedtrainingsessionsforthe Internal Compliance teamsof LS&COat differentlocationworld
wide tobuildtheircapacityonthisskillful task.
She has beeninvolvedasaco – trainerand facilitatorina numberof trainingsconductedforTH
Internal Social Compliance AuditorsatHongKong andNew York.
HumanityUnited forgiving us the opportunity to conductthe research ‘RiskAnalysisand
vulnerabilitiesto ForcedLabourinIndianGoldJewelleryManufacturing’, inMumbai, India
Recentlyconductedexploratory research studytitled,‘RiskAnalysisandvulnerabilitiesto
ForcedLabourinIndian GoldJewelleryManufacturing’, inMumbai, India. This project

24 | P a g e
undertookamulti stakeholderapproachtogatherinformationandperspectivesandwas
successfullycompletedwithcomprehensivedocumentof the studyfindings.
ANNEXURE I
FRAMEWORK:
Objective Scope Methodology Sampling Tools
1 Existence of
forced
labour
based on
parameters
of forced
labour set
by ILO
a. Existence of
slave or
bonded
labour
1. Kidnappi
ng or
abductio
n
2. Sale of
worker
3. Debt
bondage
4. By birth
descende
d to
bonded
labour
b. Involuntary
Work
c. False
promises
about work
d. Withholding
and non
1. Interview
s from
worker.
2. Focus
Group
Discussio
n with
workers.
3. Officials
interview
from
 Lab
our
dep
art
men
t.
 Poli
ce.
4. Associatio
ns
5. Contracto
rs (if
exist)
1. Simple
random
sampling for
worker.
2. Key
informants
from
government
agencies.
3. Key
informant
from
contractor
and
associations
 Worker
Interview
form
 FGD
Checklist
 Governme
nt official
Interview
form
 Contracto
r Checklist
 Associatio
n
questionn
aire

25 | P a g e
payment of
wages/
financial
penalties
e. Retention of
ID cards and
other
valuable
items of
workers
f. Act of
violence/
Sexual
violence
against
workers,
workers
family and
close
associates
g. Freedom of
movement
h. Threat for
dismissal,
Denunciatio
n to
authorities
(police,
immigration,
etc.) and
deportation,
exclusion
from future
employment
,
supernatural
powers,
reduction in
social status.
i. Deprivation
from food
and other
living
conditions.
6. Secondary
Research.
2 Root causes
for forced
a. Understandi
ng of forced
1. Worker
interview
1. Simple
random
 Worker
Interview

26 | P a g e
labour labour
b. Identificatio
n of types of
forced
labour and
identificatio
n of reasons.
2. Governme
nt official
interviews
 Po
lic
e
an
d
la
bo
ur
de
pa
rt
m
en
t
3. Associatio
ns
4. Contracto
r (if exist)
5. Secondary
research
sampling for
workers
2. Key
informants
from the
government,
contractor
and
associations
form
 FGD
Checklist
 Governme
nt official
Interview
form
 Associatio
n
questionn
aire
 Contracto
r checklist
3 Government
action to
control
forced
labour
a. Scope of
government
officials
(laws
mandating
their
functioning).
b. Understandi
ng of
government
officials.
c. Challenges
in
implementat
ion of these
laws.
1. Governme
nt official
interviews
 Po
lic
e
an
d
la
bo
ur
de
pa
rt
m
en
t
2. Owner
Interview
3. Labour
interview
4. Associatio
ns
1. Key
informants
from the
government,
Contractor
and
associations
2. Simple
random
sampling of
owners
3. Simple
random
sampling for
workers
 Worker
Interview
form
 FGD
Checklist
 Governme
nt official
Interview
form
 Associatio
n
questionn
aire
 Contracto
r checklist

27 | P a g e
5. Secondary
Research.
ANNEXURE II
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE: GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
Name:
Designation:
Department:
1. What is the act applicable in gold and jewellery shop at Zaveri bazaar? Since when it is
applicable to them?
2. Is the Minimum Wage Act applicable in this industry? If yes, can you give us the details?
3. Can you please brief us on the history of Zaveri bazaar?
4. What kind of violations does labour department faces when it comes to jewellery shops at
Zaveri bazaar?
5. Do you find any issues of child labour, forced labour, bonded labour or violence against
labour from the employer? What is the mechanism put in place to handle this?
6. Is there a clear definition of victims of forced labour?
7. Can you please share some of your experience (or your department’s experience) where
workers are locked up in the places owned by shop owner, or cases of violence against
labour or forced to work extra or cases where they were not allowed to leave their jobs?
8. Can you share cases of stealing by the workers in shops and what actions were taken
against them?
9. Can you share a copy of charge sheet or report you have for the incident?
10. Can you share some of your experience and report where labour issues in this area were
investigated by your department?
11. Can you give us approximate percentage of the workers (according to their regions like
Bengal, Maharashtra, UP etc.)?
12. No of units or workshops (approximately) in Zaveri Bazaar?

28 | P a g e
13. What are the various measures that your Department is taking to control labour problems
in Zaveri Bazaar and SEEPZ?
14. Can you refer us to some shop owners who can help us with the study?
ANNEXURE III
CHECKLIST
FOR WORKERS/ARTISANS
 Demographic profile of the worker: age, native place, marital status, years of experience in
the sector, family structure etc.
 Age of joining the work
 Size or space inside the workshop
 Employment documents
 Reasons for coming to Mumbai and working in jewellery industry/zaveri bazaar
 Channel through which the worker came into the job: paper work or payment involved in
the process
 Peak seasons and lean seasons: Cases of job loss in case of less or no work, in peak seasons
where does the workers come from?
 Fluctuations in workforce throughout the year: On what basis do they select the workers
during such times?
 Any information provided on the work environment, living environment prior to
employment: any difference in the expectations
 Living arrangement: are worker’s living voluntary (on workers request), completely forced
by employer (involuntary)
 Sanitation and bathroom facilities, where do you get food from
 Schedule / work pattern / routine: locking the units/ sleeping time/ resting time/
 Are you able to choose if you wanted to work long day? Are you paid extra for working
overtime?
 Home visit during festivities/ emergency cases/ social obligations
 Freedom to leave job: terms and conditions

29 | P a g e
 Payment pattern: advance or loan leading to any restrictions; target
 wages include food, stay or similar?
 Working days / pattern
 Occupational hazards: light, ventilation, space, body posture etc.
 Off days: if the workers want to take off, can they or not?
 Any NGOs working with you or association with any NGO?
 Association with welfare association (Suvarnkar Sangh, Bengali Association etc.)
 Any cases/ incidences when the worker had to pay for the loss from his own pocket / any
penalty for any mistake
 Any debt back at home
 Has your employer ever “saved” some of your payment, an identification document, or
object to give back to you when the contract ended?
 Any deductions in salary
 Could you earn what was needed to be able to pay your expenses and your debts?
 Are you able to earn what you hoped and thought you were going to earn: is it sufficing for
the expenses
 Does the market or fluctuation of prices of gold affect their ability to earn what they
needed to earn?
 Cases of abuse, harassment and threatening
 Health and medicine: Do you continue working when you were sick? Access to medical
services?
 On job accidents: What happened if you injured yourself at work? Did your employer pay
for medical care?
 Any discrimination at work: Are indigenous people, women, or migrant workers treated
differently?
 Job satisfaction
 Any movement/ job shift from here to SEEPZ?
 Who else could give us information or help us with the study?
FOR OWNER
 Are the registration requirements and arrangements being met: which Act is being applied
here?
 Types of processes in the unit
 How many workers are working in the unit?
 How long does the karigar work with the owner/ on an average what the time period?
 Age group of workers.
 Working hours of the shop: opening and closing time/ working hours for karigar?
 From where are most of the workers? Any source of recruitment
 On an average how long does a worker stays in this work / retention
 How is the worker employed? Native place/ acquaintance/ etc.: how is worker trusted to
work with such expensive material? Any security (money, property, paper etc.) from the
worker? Any other terms of recruitment?
 Are the family members of currently employed workers also recruited?
 What is period with maximum work for karigars?
 If the worker is not skilled are they trained by the owner or the head artisan?

30 | P a g e
 How long does it take for a person to be a master in this field?
 Worker accommodation: why do they prefer to stay here?
 In case of loss (may be due to negligence) from worker’s side what measures are taken?
Any example (personal or others) of what is done in such situations?
 How is the business affected with SEEPZ SEZ presence?
 Salary structure of the workers
 If the workers want to leave the job what do they do? What are the reasons for them to
leave?
 Is there lending of money? What is the rate of interest at which the loan is given
 How is the borrowed money paid back? What are the methods?
 What are the challenges in current gold jewellery making business (for owner and the
karigar)
FOR ASSOCIATION
Name of the association:
Name of member:
Designation in association:
 About the association: charity trust/labour union?
 Registration of the association? How many members are there in your association? How
many of them are owners?
 Number of workers in the association: owner membership or labour membership?
 From where are most of the workers? What is the percentage of karigar working according
to their native place?
 Are there any children involved in the sector?
 What is the source of recruitment?
 Does the association play any part in recruitment or does it refer workers to the employers?
 How do karigar help themselves in case of need for loans? Who provide them with loan?
 Does the organization play any part in grievance resolution for karigar? What kind of
grievances do karigar have?
 What all problems do karigars have here? Does the association have welfare scheme for
karigar as well? What role does it play in making a better work environment for the karigar?
 Have you ever dealt with cases of labour harassment? What are the most common types of
cases?
 Do you also play a role in compliance of rule & regulation or the Acts in the market?
 Which Acts are being followed in Zaveri Bazaar?
 What are the work hours normally for a karigar?
 What is their salary structure? Does it vary with experience?
 Any cases of punishment for losses or delayed delivery due to negligence of karigar?
 How is the business affected with SEEPZ presence?
 If the workers want to leave the job what do they do? What are the reasons for them to
leave?
 What are the challenges in current gold jewellery?
 Any inputs on supply chain

31 | P a g e
ANNEXURE IV
PRESENCE OFILO INDICATORS OF FORCED LABOR
Indicatorsofunfreerecruitment
StrongIndicatorsofInvoluntariness:
Tradition, birth
(birth/descent into
'slave' or bonded status)
Coercive recruitment
(abduction, confinement
during the recruitment
process)
Sale of the worker
Recruitment linked to
debt (advanceor loan)
Deception about the
nature of the work
MediumIndicatorsofInvoluntariness:
Deceptiverecruitment
(regarding working
conditions, content or
legality of employment
In Zaveri bazaar and SEEPZ majority of the workers(form West
Bengal) were employed on reference of their relatives or
acquaintances. Some of the workers said that before coming to
Mumbai they did not know that they were going to live in such

32 | P a g e
contract,housing and
living conditions, legal
documentation or
acquisition of legal
migrant status, job
location or employer,
wages/earnings)
bad conditions. Some of them even mentioned that when they
reached Mumbai, they were not happy looking at the conditions
but could not go back. Their referee did not give them the real
picture and explanation of the actual conditions in Mumbai.
Deceptiverecruitment
through promises of
marriage
StrongIndicatorsofMenaceofPenalty:
Denunciation to
authorities
In Zaveri bazaar, most of the workers live in the fear that they will
get reported to Policeor the concerned authorities if they happen
to lose any valuable item. Therefore, they always workunder a lot
of pressure.
Confiscation of identity
papers or travel
documents
Sexual violence
Physicalviolence
Other forms of
punishment
Removal of rights or
privileges (including
promotion)
Religious retribution
Withholding of assets
(cash or other)
Threats against family
members
MediumIndicatorsofMenace ofPenalty:
Exclusion fromfuture
employment
In SEEPZmany workers mentioned that if they do not want to do
over time workin factory and request to go home on time, then
the supervisors ask them to not cometo work fromthe next day.
Exclusion from
community and social

33 | P a g e
life
Financial penalties
Informing family,
community, or public
about worker'scurrent
situation (blackmail)
Indicatorsofworkandlifeunderduress
Strongindicatorsofinvoluntariness:
Forced overtime
(beyond legal limits)
In both SEEPZand Zaveri bazaar, workers are doing overtime
workduring peak (16-18 hours) as wellas lean (10-12 hours of
work)periods of the year. Most of the workersalso mentioned
that they workovernight to complete the order (piece of
jewellery).Most of the workers in Zaveri bazaar workovertime
in normally also.
In Zaveri bazaar, none of the workers are paid extra wage for the
overtime that they do beyond the accepted 8 hours of work. In
SEEPZ,workersare receiving the overtime payment but it’s the
same as what they receive for normal working hours.
Forced to workon call
(day and night)
Limited freedom of
movement and
communication
Degrading living
conditions
In Zaveri bazaar most of the workers are living in a very
cramped space, whichis infested withbed bugs. The living
rooms are over-crowdedwith6-8 workersliving in 10x8 square
feet space. Further, the space serves as working station in day
time and living space at night time. There is no ventilation in
most of the places.
Most of the workers cooktheir food in the workplaces,where
their foodgets exposed to many chemicals.
Some units also have machines whichare supposed to be used in
factory setup and these machines emit heat and create noise
whichmakes the wholeenvironment very unfavorable forthe
workerhealth.
Sanitation facilities are almost non-existing in most of the units.
Most of the buildings where workshopsare located are filled

34 | P a g e
with bad stench of the open toilets.
Mediumindicatorsofinvoluntariness:
Forced engagement in
illegal activities
Forced to workfor
employer's private
home or family
Induced addiction to
illegal substances
Induced or inflated
indebtedness (by
falsificationof accounts,
inflated prices for
goods/services
purchased, reduced
value of goods/services
produced, excessive
interest rates on loans,
etc.)
Multiple dependency on
employer (jobs for
relatives, housing, etc.)
In Zaveri bazaar, the workers are dependent on their
employer/seth fortheir foodand living because costof living in
Mumbai is very high therefore, they have no other option but to
love be dependent on their employer for basic necessities.
Pre-existence of
dependency
relationship with
employer
Being under the
influence of employer or
people related to
employer for non-work
life.
Strongindicatorsofpenalty(ormenaceofpenalty):
Denunciation to
authorities
Confiscation of identity
papers or travel

35 | P a g e
documents
Confiscation of mobile
phones
Further deterioration in
working conditions
Isolation
Lockedin workplaceor
living quarters
In Zaveri bazaar due to security reasons most of the workers
themselves lockthe units from the inside but they admitted that
they have been instructed to do so by their head artisan.
Sexual violence
Physicalviolence
Other forms of
punishment
(deprivation of food,
water, sleep, etc.)
Violence against worker
in front of other worker
Removal or rights or
privileges (including
promotion)
Constant surveillance During the interview, the workers admitted that they are under
constant and strict surveillance of their supervisors and the head
artisan/seth.
(cash or other)
Withholding of wages
members
Mediumindicatorsofpenalty(ormenaceofpenalty):
Dismissal
employment

36 | P a g e
Indicatorsofimpossibilityofleaving employer
Strongindicatorsofinvoluntariness:
Reduced freedom to
terminate labor contract
after training or other
benefit paid by
employer
No freedom to resign in
accordancewith legal
requirements
Forced to stay longer
than agreed while
waiting for wages due
Forced to workfor
indeterminate period to
repay outstanding debt
or wage advance
Strongindicatorsofpenalty(ormenaceofpenalty):
Denunciation to
authorities
Confiscation of identify
paper or travel
documents
Imposition of worse
Exclusion from
life
Extra workfor
breaching labor
discipline
Financial penalties
Informing family,
community or public

37 | P a g e
working conditions
Lockedin workor living
quarters
Sexual violence
Physicalviolence
Other forms of
punishment
(deprivation of food,
water, sleep, etc.)
Removal of rights or
benefits (including
promotion)
Under constant
surveillance
Violence imposed on
other workers in front
of all workers
(cash or other)
Withholding of wages In Zaveri bazaar, the payment cycleis not defined. Majority of
the workers (fromWest Bengal) receive some amount of their
salary for monthly expenditure but they receive the total salary
only when they are visiting their hometown once or twicein a
year.
In Zaveri bazaar, salary of the workers varies from employer to
employer and there is no fixed amount in the market.
Further, in Zaveri bazaar majority of the apprentices and
trainers are not receiving any salary or wages fortheir work,
while the head artisan (main employer) is bearing their living
expenses.

38 | P a g e
members (violenceor
loss of jobs)
Mediumindicatorsofpenaltyormenaceorpenalty:
Dismissal
employment
Exclusion from
life
Extra workfor
breaching discipline
Financial penalties Few workersin Zaveri bazaar said that sometimes if there is any
loss in the workthen the loss is compensated from worker’s
salary.
Informing family,
community or public

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