Obama must not boycott Indian sandstone

The US Ministry of Commerce has written to the Indian government stating that the Obama administration is considering a ban on imports of granite and sandstone in the area. The reason given is that stone mines in Rajasthan are violating international labour standards.

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Let's be clear: child labour and appalling health and safety conditions are endemic in this part of Rajasthan, which in 2009 supplied around 136,000 tonnes of sandstone to the UK.

When I last visited India in January there was a quarry only five minutes walk from a quarry that supplies Marshalls, where a baby and two toddlers were being rocked in a makeshift cradle by a 5-year old girl, who was also looking after two other children while her parents worked in the quarry below.

In the same quarry I also came across a gang of children clearly under 14 years old working with sledgehammers. They were barefoot, and had no protective clothing. They were being ‘managed' by two adults, who quickly left when I approached them about what they were doing.

It's just wrong.

But imposing a blanket ban is not the solution.

When we started sourcing our stone from Rajasthan back in 2004 we did so with our eyes open. We took the decision to develop an exclusive partnership with one stone processing company, Stone Shippers India, which sources its stone from its own, plus a managed number of legal quarries, all of which we know.

Since then we have worked closely with Stone Shippers to continually improve conditions at Stone Shippers and at the quarries that supply them. This includes employing a full time social auditor who monitors conditions in the quarries on a daily basis. We're trying to lead by example - showing other companies that it makes good business sense to provide decent conditions.

And Stone Shippers are going above and beyond anything we have asked them to do to comply with our social standards. In December they took the initiative to organise a meeting of fellow stone exporters in Bundi to discuss the threat of a US ban, and how they would respond.

All agreed to a series of initiatives to further cement good working practices in their workplaces. These included displaying prominent signs about child labour, providing and maintaining first aid boxes on every site, with people trained to use them; routine medical camps, and work on improving health and safety.

We also work with the Jaipur-based NGO Hadoti Hast Shilp Sansthan to help improve the lives of vulnerable families, including providing regular health camps and funding schools for labourers' children.

In May, Hadodi's medical centres provided services to 1,026 mine workers suffering from a whole range of conditions, from malaria to skin diseases.

At last count, their six schools provide schooling for 246 children.

There is a momentum for change in Bundi.

Any ban on Indian stone exports would undermine the attempts that some stone quarries are making to improve conditions, and threaten the vital work that is being done by Hadoti.

Mr President, please don't throw a spanner into this good work.