Annual Report 2008-2009 7.17 Poverty, backwardness and agro-climatic conditions are considered to be three major factors responsible for employment of children in the State. This correlation is most pronounced in Sivakasi in Viruddhanagar district. The region remains arid due to low rainfall for more than 300 days in a year. Being a drought prone area, the percentage of cultivators depending fulltime on agriculture is very low. The bleak prospect of agriculture has led to a situation where cheap labour is available in abundance for doing any kind of work. Among them are also children in the age group of 5-14 having nimble fingers who become easy target and source of cheap labour by the unscrupulous employers for production of safety matches. These children work in deplorable conditions for 10 to 12 hours daily under tiring conditions, at times even more without any break for months together and at times without any payment. Many of these children start their day as early as 4 in the morning. At times, children are motivated to work for more than 14 hours a day for a paltry incentive of Rs. 5/-. Other than this, the employers typically played Tamil film songs to induce women and children to work faster. Long working hours coupled with unhygienic and unsafe surroundings, less than subsistence wages are the characteristic features of child labour scenario in Sivakasi match industry. The risk of fire looms large on these children as all the chemicals used in the manufacture of matches are highly inflammable. 7.18 In order to eliminate the problem of child labour from the State, the Government of Tamil Nadu has initiated a series of steps. These are : formulation of a State and district level action plans; creation of State and district level institutional mechanisms for supervision, coordination and monitoring; launching of National Child Labour Projects (NCLPs) in 12 child labour prone districts; launching of INDUS Child Labour Projects and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA); mobilizing and organizing parents into Self-Help Groups (SHGs), imparting vocational skills to SHG members, creating a revolving fund for them; and generating awareness among all sections of the society about the scourge of child labour. The resultant effect of all this has been that in Tamil Nadu today, Collectors/District Magistrates of various districts are vying with each other to declare their district totally free of child labour. Besides, the notification dated 10 October 2006 issued by the Ministry of Labour prohibiting employment of children as domestic servants; workers in dhabas (road side eateries), restaurants, hotels, motels, tea shops, resorts, spas or in other recreational centres has also played a positive role in curbing the menace of child labour in the State. 7.19 Inspection Committees have been formed in taluk and panchayat level consisting of officials from the Department of Revenue, Factories, Labour, Education, Police, Health, Rural Development and Local Administration. Officials and staff of SSA, NCLP and INDUS Project are also continuously inspecting the hazardous and non-hazardous units and their work is being overseen by the concerned Collector/District Magistrate periodically. During the course of interaction of Special Rapporteur with officials of the State Labour Department, it was reported that on the strength of instructions received from the Government of India and the State Labour Department, intensive raids were conducted on establishments from 14 - 30 November 2007. 98