Belgian-based stone wholesaler Beltrami, with a UK depot in Halesowen, West Midlands, its associated stone importing operation of Stoneasy, and hard landscaping stone specialist London Stone are helping to keep children out of the sandstone quarries of India.

The companies are already signed up to TFT's Responsible Stone Programme and are now involved in the 'No Child Left Behind' project, a ground-breaking initiative in Budhpura, India, that aims to create Child Labour Free Zones (CLFZs).

The project’s vision is a world where every child has the right to an education and to enjoy their childhood. Behind the project are a collective of NGOs – Manjari, India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN) and Stop Child Labour – supported by European stone companies Beltrami, Stoneasy and London Stone.

The uncomfortable truth is that children are still involved in the stone quarrying industry in India, particularly, but not exclusively, in the production of cobbles.
Located at the heart of the sandstone quarry belt in Rajasthan, Budhpura is a major source of sandstone cobbles and particularly vulnerable to child labour. The reasons for the prevalence of child labour in the stone industry are many and varied. The core principle in the approach of the No Child Left Behind project is that the whole community must be involved in bringing about change. All stakeholders, including parents, children, teachers, local authorities and stone companies must work together to keep children out of work and in school.

Last year, with the help of Stop Child Labour, the project was extended into four additional villages in Budhpura, meaning that more children can be reached.

While the real work on the ground is being done by Manjari (with guidance and funding of ICN and Stop Child Labour), the European stone companies involved are able to support the project through funding and by leveraging their supply chains.

This multi-faceted approach means that throughout the whole supply chain and extended throughout the communities in sandstone production areas, children are being taken out of work and enrolled in education.

To find out more, visit www.nochildleftbehind.co.uk or follow developments on Twitter @Children4school.