Did the Indian government hold consultations on child labour before the WTO meet?
No, nothing of that sort! The government only met people from the CII and FICCI (apex business chambers) but did not meet anyone concerning child labour. The Indian government has always lacked a serious political will to tackle the problem of child labour. It is extremely hypocritical that the Indian government is keen to welcome foreign investors, their money and technology, but refuses to hear them talk about child labour. There were many protests against child labour involved in making things like Nike shoes. How important are these protests that involve consumers? Consumer awareness is perhaps the key to fighting child labour, as mentioned earlier. It was the protest by our partners against the use of child labour in the making of Nike and Reebok shoes in factories in the developing countries that raised consumer awareness worldwide and forced these huge MNCs to change their practices. The same thing happened in the case of woolen garments. We began a system whereby all garments m
