5th February 2007

We leave the hotel early at 07:00 (so early that the chef is still in bed – obviously the exertion of making food at 10:00 pm has taken it out of him!) and head off into the Bundi District.

Our first stop is the main Stoneshippers India Quarry on the outskirts of Garrda. The last time I was here the staff facilities were still being completed and I am keen to see what progress has been made and if everything is in place.

The main work to equip the changing rooms and the eating areas is now completed and the first aid box is complete – and the first aider is trained and in place. This is really important as the nearest hospital is 1.5 hours away. This also means that proper health and safety practices are essential.

The quarry itself in now really benefiting from the new machinery and processes which are in stark contrast to the situation in surrounding quarries.

One of the issues in this area is the lack of demarcation of quarries, the few legal ones are surrounded by illegal ones and the spoil heaps of over-burden cover almost every spare piece of land.

In another nearby illegal quarry I see first hand why the work with Hadoti is going to be so important. At this point, it is becoming clear that we are attracting attention of the various quarry owners (even if they are illegal) and we leave the area.

We travel to Budhpura to spend a lot more time understanding how the trade in Setts is conducted and most importantly how the children involved. If we better understand how the children are in these situations, then we have a better chance of coming up with solutions and talking to Hadoti and other NGO’s with a more critical eye. We arrive at Budhpura at about 10:30 am.

The production of Sandstone Setts is a new one in India this type of smaller element paving is not used in the local market at all, they are all destined for the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. The product typically looks like this I have taken these photos from various UK websites. They are used for adding details to patios, pathways and driveways. The product is produced from the spoil heaps of the main large element paving production by the local villagers and a large number of migrant workers and children.

We could assume that, as this is recycling, that it is good but even a scant look at people and processes shows that this is not an acceptable. The best way to describe the process is like this:

The first place we stop at is the main collection point – these yards are the main packaging point for all of the Setts that are produced in the spoil heaps in the area.

The women and children in this yard are very shy and as soon as the camera is out they hide quickly – but you can see a young girl in the truck who is filling crates. The other children behind the truck all look younger than 14.

This yard and the many like it are where all the production of the area is taken to be sorted for size and colours. I am told that there is a set of up to 20 sizes that are required by the exporters, anything else will not be accepted.

Through the Stoneshippers India guys I try to ask the adults questions about the children, why aren’t they at school. The answer, it seems, is that they are sent here by their parents to earn money. This is normal in the village. Previous reports by the India Committee of the Netherlands indicate that this is due to the debts of the parents and that these children are in fact bonded to the yard owner.

It becomes clear from talking to the adults in this site that all of the production here and in all the other yards is destined for Europe and in particular the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. I am told that this area produces all of the regions Setts.

This means that if UK consumers buy Indian Sandstone Setts from any Non Marshalls source they will in all likelihood have been produced using child labour. It’s a very sobering thought, given the increasing popularity of these products for UK driveways and paths. From here I want to track back to where the actual Setts are produced. It doesn’t take long to discover the reality.

The boy with the hammer is 11; he has templates for the sizes he has to produce and is paid by the piece – he works all day until he has a large pile ready for the local collection tractor to come around and take the Setts to the sorting yards. He earns about 70 rupees a day; if he is lucky and finds the right sized waste material.

Here’s a close up of one of these girls. I could not get to her to ask how old she was, but she can’t be more than 10.

Across the valley I see the full scale of the spoil heap areas and the production of these products.

I could show hundreds of photos from this area all showing much the same scene.

I consider myself to be a capitalist, I have a degree in business studies, an MBA and I a track record of wealth generating business activities. But profiting from products produced in this area and in this way is a step far too far.

I strongly believe that the secret of business success is a sustainable balance of the social, the environmental and the economics – this is way out of balance. Hadoti must target this area as a priority for their work. We leave the area and head back into Kota.

In Kota I want to see the progress at the new Stoneshippers India calibration factory. This plant is also equipped with a sophisticated water processing and recycling system to ensure that the waste material from the calibration process is managed carefully and not just allowed to run into the local water course.

The site is still under construction but the water recycling is working. The rainwater harvesting is not yet functional but we are a couple of months off the monsoon season so the pressure is less. The loading areas show even more how different the Stoneshippers India operation is to the rest of the industry in Kota

All of the packaging for the Marshalls product now has a leaflet on it explaining the work that we are doing in India to help consumers understand the issues and the benefits of buying from an ethical source.

It’s now time to hit the road for the 4.5 hours drive back to Jaipur to catch the 20:15 plane to Mumbai and then the plane back to the UK.

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