Primark Misses Its Mark.

So by now all of you (all of you who read newspapers that is) must've heard about the whole BBC expose/Primark fiasco. The BBC did this expose on how Primark's (a UK based garment retailer) outsourcing arm in India sublets to minors. This caused Primark to act "responsibly" and immediately withdraw all work outsourced to India.

I take great umbrage at the word "responsible".

Firstly there is nothing responsible or logical about depriving a whole lot of people from their daily bread. Secondly, taking back the work will not automatically solve the problem of child labour, it will only force the children to work in less regulated sectors, making them more susceptible to abuse. And finally, Primark missed turning this blot on their reputation into a superlative oppurtunity to not only recover, but emerge winners.

Granted that sub-contracting is not exactly legal, but like many things in India, it cannot be classified as black or white. It falls in this vague "grey" void that most things in India fall it, which means it is neither completely right nor completely wrong.

In India the child labour situation is extremely comlex. Definately there is a small percentage of whom have been forced into it, but most child labourers are working because the supposed "adults" of the family who are supposed to be earning are afflicted with some sort of addiction/illness or just couldn't be bothered. They are their family's only hope and take their responsibility seriously. A lot of them are runaways who have escaped sexual, physical or other abuse and are just looking to make their way in life. Being able to afford to go to school is as preposterous an idea for these children, as not working is!!!

A more sensible solution to this problem would be if Primark could provide a few hours of informal "schooling" for the children and then pay them some sort of stipend. In this way, they not only get their job done for a lot less but can also count it as one of their corporate governance initiatives. Infact, a whole business model could be built around this idea which can be mutually beneficial as well as extremely cost efficient.

But this can only happen if we (in general) stop running away from the problem or stop pretending that the problem doesn't exist. Child labour in India isn't going to be eradicated anytime soon and the only hope that we can have is to make it more regulated and lessen any damaging impact is has on the victims who remain voiceless in these situations - the children themselves!!!