Jogin : girl-child labour studies

This pioneering work of action oriented research is devoted to a study of exploitation of child labour in India, where out of an estimated 120 million child workers, at least 55 million lie in the danger zone of distress and drudgery of sweated labour. It however differs greatly from other similar studies on the subject. The focus is on the prevalence of an inhuman crime introduced by religion in the garb of a custom whereby the girl-child is abused both economically and sexually. It probes the Jogin system of Andhra Pradesh which, though banned, continues to flourish in some parts of the State. Numerous case-studies are cited to show how the Jogins-child-brides bonded forever eventually become a back breaking work force. There are nearly 50,000 of them in Telengana region alone!

The book examines the ramifications of this rural phenomenon, reviewing the efforts made to rehabilitate the Jogins, who mostly belong to the Scheduled Castes, by the Andhra Government and two voluntary agencies. The book is the outcome of a Plan Project of the National Labour Institute of which the author was the Dean during 1989-91, in the Government of India.