mm&P

India’s Childhood in the "Pits"

A Report on the Impacts of Mining
on Children in India
ii

Published by:
Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and Children-Samata, Visakhapatnam
HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, New Delhi

In partnership with: mines, minerals & PEOPLE

Supported by: Terre des Hommes Germany, AEI & ASTM Luxembourg

March 2010

ISBN Number: 978-81-906548-4-5

Any part of this report can be reproduced with permission from the following:

Dhaatri - Samata,
14-37-9, Krishna Nagar,
Maharanipet, Visakhapatnam-530002
Andhra Pradesh
Email: [email protected]

HAQ:Centre for Child Rights

B1/2 Malviya Nagar
New Delhi-110017
Email: [email protected]
www.haqcrc.org

Credits:
Research Coordination: Bhanumathi Kalluri, Enakshi Ganguly Thukral
Field Investigators: Vinayak Pawar, Kusha Garada
Documentation Support: Riya Mitra, G.Ravi Sankar, Parul Thukral

Report: Part 1- Enakshi Ganguly Thukral and Emily

Part 2- Bhanu Kalluri, Seema Mundoli, Sushila Marar, Emily

Design and Printing: Aspire Design

 iii

Acknowledgements

This report, called, India’s Childhood in the ‘Pits’: The Impacts of Mining on Children in India, had its beginnings in the
fact-finding exercise that the organisations involved in this research had undertaken in April 2005. Had it not been for the
children we met then, we would never have known how deeply affected they are by mining. We thank the children of Bellary
for opening our eyes to the problems of mining affected children.

The core focus of this report is the primary data and information gathered from the mine sites and communities affected by
mining. The organisations that directly helped us are Santulan (Maharashtra), Sakhi (Karnataka), Mine Labour Protection
Campaign (Rajasthan), Pathar Khadaan Majdoor Sangh (Madhya Pradesh), Ankuran (Orissa), Gangpur Adivasi Forum
for Socio-Cultural Awakening (Orissa), Swaraj Foundation ( Jharkhand), Jan Chetna (Chhattisgarh) and Grameena Vikasa
Saradhi & MASS (Andhra Pradesh). Additionally, organisations including READS (Karnataka), SEEDS (Karnataka),
Don Bosco (Karnataka) and Lutheran World Service (Orissa) provided extra support with data collection. Individually,
we received help for organising our field visits or in accompanying us to the field from friends and activists like Mr. Kumar
(Kolar), Mr. Dayanidhi Marandi, Mr. Santosh Kumar Das, Mr. Niladri Mishra, Mr. Samit Carr, Mr.Vijay Kumar, Mr.
Kishore Kujur and Mr. Naveen Naik. We thank all the member organisations of mm&P alliance that helped us with
undertaking field research in the eight states that were covered for the case studies.

This report would not have been possible without the financial support of Terre des Hommes (tdh) Germany, AEI &
ASTM Luxembourg. We thank them for giving priority to this issue despite several constraints. We particularly appreciate
the support from Ravi and George Chira of tdh, Germany during the process of the study and for their inputs in review and
finalisation of the report.

This report is dedicated to all the children of India — dalit, adivasi and marginalised children driven out of their lands, child
mine workers working in the most hazardous conditions, all children living around mine sites braving bulldozers and coping
with the inhuman conditions they are pitted against in order for India to compete as a global contender for economic and
political power.

Most of all, we wish to thank the research team and the administrative teams of Samata and HAQ for their highly motivated
work all through the study.

We thank Rukmini Sekhar for her yeo-woman support in copyediting the national report in such a short time. Nishant
Singh and Sukvinder Singh for not saying NO even as it seemed impossible to design and print the report in the time we
gave them.

We hope this report will help put the “mining child” on the national agenda and ensure that some attention is paid to
them.

Bhanumathi Kalluri Enakshi Ganguly Thukral

Dhaatri-Samata HAQ:Centre for Child Rights
iv

List of Abbreviations
AEI – Aide à l’Enfance de l’Inde MCL – Mahanadi Coalfields Limited
ANM – Auxiliary Nurse cum Midwife MDGs – Millennium Development Goals
ARI – Acute Respiratory Illness MLPC – Mine Labour Protection Campaign.
ASER – Annual Status of Education Report mm&P – mines mineral and PEOPLE
ASTM – Action Solidarite Tiers Monde MMDR Act – Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
AWC – Anganwadi Centre Act
BCCL – Bharat Cooking Coal Limited MP – Madhya Pradesh
BGML – Bharat Gold Mines Limited MW – Megawatt
BHEL – Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited NACO – National AIDS Control Organisation
BIFR – Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction NALCO – National Aluminum Company
BPL – Below Poverty Line NCLP – National Child Labour Project
BPO – Business Process Outsourcing NCRB – National Crime Records Bureau
BRC – Block Resource Coordinator NFHS – National Family Health Survey
BSL – Bisra Stone Lime Company Limited NGO – Non–Governmental Organisation
CCL – Central Coalfields Limited NIOH – National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety
CHC – Community Health Centre NMDC – National Mineral Development Corporation
CICL – Child in Conflict with Law NREGA – National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
CMPDI – Central Mine Planning and Design Institute NSSO – National Sample Survey Organisation
CNCP – Child in Need of Care and Protection OBC – Other Backward Classes
CSE – Centre for Science and Environment PAP – Project Affected Persons
CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility PDS – Public Distribution System
Cu m – cubic metres PHC – Primary Health Centre
CWSN – Children With Special Needs PIO – Public Information Officer
DISE – District Information System for Education PKMS – Pathar Khadan Mazdoor Sangh
DP camp – Displaced Persons’ Camp POSCO – Pohang Iron and Steel Company
ECL – Eastern Coalfield Limited PSSP – Prakrutiko Sampado Surakshya Parishad
EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment READS – Rural Education Action Development Society
FDI – Foreign Direct Investment R&R – Rehabilitation and Resettlement
FIR – First Information Report Rs – Rupees
FPIC – Free Prior and Informed Consent RTI – Right to Information
GAFSCA – Gangpur Adivasi Forum for Social and Cultural SAIL – Steel Authority of India Limited
Awakening SCCL– Singareni Collieries Company Limited
GDP – Gross Domestic Product SC – Scheduled Caste
GSDP – Gross State Domestic Product SDP – State Domestic Product
Ha – hectare SEEDS – Social Economical Educational Development Society
HAL – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SEZ – Special Economic Zone
HDI – Human Development Index SGVS – Society of Gram Vikasa Saradhi
HIV/AIDS – Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired SHG – Self Help Group
Immuno Deficiency Syndrome SOP – Superintendent of Planning and Implementation
ICDS – Integrated Child Development Scheme Sq km – square kilometres
IIPS – International Institute for Population Sciences STD – Sexually Transmitted Disease
ILO – International Labour Organization ST – Scheduled Tribe
IMR – Infant Mortality Rate TB – Tuberculosis
IPEC – International Programme on the Elimination of Child TDH – Terre des Hommes
Labour UAIL – Utkal Alumina International Limited
IT – Information Technology UCIL – Uranium Corporation of India Limited
KGF – Kolar Gold Fields USA – United States of America
KMMI – Karignur Mineral Mining Industry VRDS – Vennela Rural Development Society
LWSI – Lutheran World Service India VRS – Voluntary Retirement Schemes
MASS – Mitra Association for Social Service
Table of Contents

About the Study 3

Mining Children — Intoroduction and Overview 5

Part I 13
National Overview

Part II 45
State Reports
1. Karnataka 47
2. Maharashtra 65
3. Rajasthan 79
4. Madhya Pradesh 93
5. Chhattisgarh 103
6. Jharkhand 115
7. Orissa 127
8. Andhra Pradesh 165

Part III 177

Summary and Recommendations

Part IV 189
Appendix- Our Experience with Right to Information Act

Annexures
a) Tables 199
b) Glossary of Terms 203
 3

About the Study

This study has been conducted jointly by HAQ: Centre minor and major minerals, were covered as well as a wide
for Child Rights and Samata in close partnership with the geographic space. One of the most important factors was
national alliance, mines, minerals and People (mm&P) the presence of a local organisation or an mm&P partner.
network and Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and This was a priority for two reasons, to secure local support
Children, and supported by Terre des Hommes Germany with the research, and to ensure that local groups will
(tdh), AEI & ASTM Luxembourg. The work follows on take the campaign forward and use the study as a basis for
from an earlier fact-finding mission that was carried out in mobilisation and advocacy in their states.
the iron ore mines of Bellary district, Karnataka. As well as
being the first study to cover these issues in a comprehensive Not all background data was available through Census
way, the study aims to form the basis for mobilisation statistics or in other public domains. Therefore, the decision
and advocacy on this issue. We hope that, along with the was made to use the Right to Information (RTI) Act to
mm&P network, we will be able to take forward this work gather missing information. RTIs were sent to a number
and to campaign to bring real improvements in the lives of of government departments, including state-owned mining
children affected by mining in India. companies, to find out the number of children working in
mines, the number of people displaced by projects, various
This report aims to cover the three phases of mining — pre- health statistics for people living in these districts and other
mining areas (where projects are being proposed and land information that is not readily available. (See end of Part 2
needs to be attained), current mining areas (where mining is for responses to RTIs filed).
already taking place) and post-mining areas (where mining
operations were significant but have now ceased).
The main methodology used for field case studies was
Field research was carried out in eight states to cover a to understand the overall development indicators of the
range of different mining situations, as well as a range of children living around the mines while also identifying the
minerals being mined in India today. The states covered children working in the mines, the nature of their work and
were: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya working conditions and how their social life is impacted
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In due to the external influences of the complex ad hoc
Orissa we undertook case studies in a number of different communities of workers, truckers, contractors, traders and
sites as Orissa is a state most impacted by mining and has other players who form an amorphous and unscrupulous
been the focus of further mineral expansion. floating population around the mines. This was done through
visits to villages, schools, anganwadi centres, primary health
centres, orphanages, company run schools and hospitals,
Methodology meetings with panchayat leaders, village elders, women’s
groups, workers’ unions, local officials and NGOs, as well as
This report is compiled from a combination of information visits to the mine sites.
gathered in the field and from secondary data. The sites for
fieldwork were chosen to ensure a range of minerals, both
4

List of states and districts visited provide tangible data with respect to children as impacts and
problems are not directly visible on children. Although
• Pune and Nashik districts, Maharashtra, June 2009 local groups are knowledgeable about the presence of child
(follow up in September 2009) labour and other issues, threats from mining and political
powers make it dangerous for them to directly confront the
• Koraput and Rayagada districts, Orissa, June 2009 state on issues concerning children.
(follow up in October 2009 and in January-February
2009) Mining operations are politically sensitive and highly
• Kolar and Bellary districts, Karnataka, June 2009 politicised making it difficult to collect information related
(follow up in Bellary in December 2009) to children and mining because of the sensitive nature of this
issue. People were nervous to talk, as they feared negative
• Keonjhar district, Orissa, July 2009 (follow up in
consequences. In terms of direct access, it is always difficult
February 2009)
to get the opportunity to talk to children first-hand and
• Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer districts, July 2009 this is certainly the case with regard to mining. Researchers
(follow up in Jodhpur in October 2009) were cautious to approach children at mine sites, in case of
• Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, August 2009 repercussions for these children. When communities were
interviewed in their villages, it tended to be the elders who
• Chittoor, Cuddapah, Visakhapatnam districts, Andhra were most vocal in answering questions. In addition to this,
Pradesh, June, August and October 2009 primary health centres were unable to provide quantitative
• Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, August 2009 data on illnesses or diseases. Schools, where they existed,
as in many other parts of the country were often without
• Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, September 2009 teachers present at the time of the fieldwork. Therefore, the
• Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, November 2009 difficulty in collecting quantitative data and figures meant
that we only managed to get indicative information about
• Sundergarh district, Orissa, November 2009
the impacts of mining on children.

Challenges Non-availability of secondary information was yet another

challenge. Applications under the Right to Information Act
Over the course of the research, the study team faced a were filed to get relevant information. However this did not
number of challenges. prove easy. To be able to get information under the RTI
Act, 2005, it is critical to send the application to the right
The first challenge was the choice of sites. A first list of person. Interestingly this experience itself proved to provide
sites based on choice of minerals, location and presence of important learning in the context of the study.
an mm&P partner organisation was made. However, some
of these sites had to be later dropped, either due to a lack of
adequate information or lack of capacity of the partner to
About this report
provide the necessary support.
This report combines both secondary data as well as
primary data. It has been presented in two parts. Part I is the
This was a time-bound research project. That meant
national overview which aims to provide a summary of the
that the project period coincided with the monsoons,
huge quantity of data obtained during field research. Part II
which rendered some of the mining sites originally chosen
consists of state reports based on both secondary information
inaccessible.
about the state and its mining activities as well as case studies
from mining sites where field work was undertaken. Part III
Despite seeing the overall impact of mining on their lives,
is summary and detail reccommendation and Part IV is the
communities were not always able to identify those that
appendix that details our experience with using the Right to
directly impacted children only. Since this study focussed
Information Act for this study.
on the impacts on children, this proved a major challenge
for the team. It is difficult even for local organisations
campaigning on rights of mining affected communities to
 5

Mining Children —
Introduction and Overview
India is endowed with significant mineral resources. The minerals (such as building stones). Mining for fuel, metallic
constant endeavour of humans to mine more and more and non-metallic industrial minerals is currently undertaken
resources from the earth has been going on for centuries. in almost half of India’s districts.1 Coal and metallic reserves
Metals, stones, oil, gas and even sand are all mined. Indeed, are spread across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
steel, aluminium and other plants have come to be a symbol Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Iron ore deposits
of progress and industrial growth, while fossil fuels and coal are located in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in the
are mined for our ever-increasing need for energy. Every time north, and Goa and Karnataka in the south. Limestone is
a mining operation begins, it is with promises of growth and found in Himachal Pradesh in the north, to Andhra Pradesh
development, yet these promises are rarely delivered. in the south and from Gujarat in the west to Meghalaya in
the east. In terms of mineral deposits, Jharkhand, Orissa and
Mining has, throughout history, been a symbol of the Chhattisgarh are the top three mineral bearing states.2
struggle between human need and human greed; the
human need to dig into the earth and take control over its The contribution of the mining and quarrying sector to
resources. Industry, infrastructure and investments have been India’s GDP in 2008-09 was Rs. 648.91 billion — a mere
decisively stated as basic vehicles to drive India into this race, 1.94 per cent of the total GDP.3 However, the demand
which automatically translates into mineral extraction and for metals and minerals in India and in other developing
processing being of utmost importance to implement this countries has led to a steady growth in the country’s mineral
dream. Further, development visions are based on certain industry.4 Mining grew by 4.7 per cent in 2008-09 over the
premises built into public thought processes. The first of these preceding period and with the global recession hitting India,
premises is that mining brings economic prosperity at all the mining and quarrying industry was the only segment of
levels of the country — national and local. It has been based the economy not to experience steep deceleration of growth
on the principle that the high revenues generated by mining rates.5 However, what needs to be remembered is that in
activities will convert poverty stricken and marginalised terms of the galloping Indian economy, mining makes
communities and workforce into economically grounded only a marginal contribution.
communities with positive developments in employment
generation, health, education, local infrastructure and the In the 2008 National Mineral Policy, the government
creation of a diversified opportunity base. recognises that:
“As a major resource for development, the extraction and
Overview on Mining management of minerals has to be integrated into the overall
strategy of the country’s economic development. The exploitation
India currently produces 89 minerals out of which 4 are of minerals has to be guided by long-term national goals and
fuel minerals, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor perspectives.”

1. Centre for Science and Environment, “Rich Lands, Poor People,” State of India’s Environment: 6, 2008, pp. 3,
2. Ibid.
3. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report, 2008-2009, pp. 10.
4. U.S. Geological Survey, 2007 Minerals Yearbook: India, pp. 11.1.
5. Rediff.com, India’s GDP falls to 6.7 per cent in FY09, http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/may/29/bcrisis-indias-gdp-falls.htm, 29 May, 2009.
6

However, closer observation of the current mining sector the mining administration is not legally responsible for
reveals that mineral production is being viewed by both ensuring most of the rights and development needs of
the central and state governments as a means of short-term children. The mess that is created in the lives of children as
revenue generation and to fuel current economic growth a result of mining is now addressed by other departments
rates, as opposed to being considered holistically as part like child welfare, education, tribal welfare, labour and
of the country’s wider, more long-term development goals, others, which makes for an inter-departmental conflict
human development indicators and preservation of the of interest and leaves ample room for ambiguities in state
environment and other natural resources such as water. accountability. In this process, the child is being forgotten.
Hence, the glaring heart-rending impacts of mining on
With the new economic policy in India, there have been children have technically few legal redressal mechanisms to
a number of changes in the mining sector. Although bring the multiple players to account.
traditionally in the hands of the public sector, there has been
increasing privatisation since the early 1990s, and more While there is some documentation and research available
and more mines are now privately owned. Foreign direct on the impact of mining on communities in general, apart
investment has been a thrust area for the sector, with both from scattered and anecdotal information, very little
the central and state governments pushing for liberalisation information is available on the impact of mining on children
and deregulation in not only the Coal Nationalisation Act in all its dimensions. Research on mining and children has
and labour laws, but also in other related areas such as the tended to focus solely on the aspect of child labour, which
environment. It has also impacted employment due to the again is restricted to minerals that are normally exported
enforcement of Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS) on and have the potential to shock the western consumer. The
mine workers. The Fifth Scheduled Areas, areas which are multitude of other ways in which children are impacted
constitutionally demarcated for tribal populations, are by mining have been completely neglected. Needless to
being opened up for foreign direct investment and private say, neither the groups and campaigns that focus on mining
industries, primarily mining, leading to deforestation issues, nor those working with children, have paid this issue
and displacement of tribals. Most alarmingly, there has the attention it deserves.
been a huge increase in the informal sector mining activities
through sub-contracting mining and quarrying. This report provides but a glimpse into the lives of children
living, working, affected by and exploited by mining in India.
But mining is not the subject of this study. This study We hope that the microcosm of children we touched through
is about the relationship between children’s rights and this report evokes a national reflection on what could be the
mining. It attempts to address the question — what is plight of millions of children affected by mining in India.
the impact of mining on children? According to the most
recent Indian Census carried out in 2001, children constitute It is hoped that this report will yet again bring to national
over 40 per cent of India’s population, many of whom live in debate the paradox of “India’s inclusive growth” that still
mining areas. These we refer to as “Mining Children” in this ignores the majority of children. When national sentiments
report. are stirred by the rhetoric of children being the future of our
nation, it is important to assess for ourselves whether our
A fact-finding study in 2005 in the iron ore mines of development models are actually geared towards creating a
Hospet in Bellary District, Karnataka, for the first time, future for India’s children, or are instead, providing a nation
brought home to the organisations involved in this study, with little present or future for the majority of our children.
the immense impact mining has on the lives of children. It It therefore asks the question, “How do we as a nation want
became imperative to follow that fact-finding study with a to measure ourselves as achieving human development?”
more systematic research to gain a better understanding.
This study shows how the development aspirations created
India boasts of several legal protections for children, with by our policy makers and political leadership create a strong
the Right to Education being the latest fundamental right. likelihood for future divides between the children of this
These laws are strengthened by positive schemes to bring country, furthering both the socio-economic divide and the
children out of poverty and marginalisation. The paradox urban-rural divide. Among the adivasi and dalit children,
of mining lies in the fact that the mining industry or the displacement, impoverishment and indebtedness caused
 7

by mining and its ancilliary activities shows a dearth of

opportunities for them to access even basic rights such as
What is the Definition of a
primary education and healthcare. That they are being forced “Child”?
to take on adult economic roles in the most exploitative
conditions in order to help their families survive, is certainly A key challenge for child rights work in India is the confusion
not an indicator that sets us on track to achieve the around the definition of a child in terms of age. The UN
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) goals emphasised Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted
in the 11th Five Year Plan especially for these social groups. in 1989 and ratified by India in 1992, defines a child as
This paves the route to socio-economic disparities in India’s “every human being below the age of 18.” Indian legislation
children. also makes 18 years the general age of majority in India.6
However, other laws passed in India cause confusion in
This study also shows that children and their communities this area, with many laws defining childhood as only up till
are not part of the growth and development that mining 14 years of age. For example, although children have been
promises. For example, it is over 30 years since the NALCO banned from working in hazardous occupations, which
mining project, a public sector undertaking in the Koraput includes mining and quarrying, for this purpose, a child is
District of Orissa began. In these 30 years, the data from the only considered as a person up to 14 years — for children
case study reveals that there has been little upward mobility between 15 and 18, there is no applicable regulation.7
for the children of affected families, either educationally or
economically. This is the fate of those affected by a public This has also been witnessed with the passing of the
sector project where social responsibility is intended to recent Right to Education Act in 2009, which guarantees
be the principal agenda. There does not appear to be a all children between 6-14 years the right to education,
single mining project that has fulfilled the rehabilitation but no such guarantee exists for children 15 and above.
promises in a manner that has improved the life of affected As organisations committed to the rights of all children
communities nor have they set a precedent for best practices in India, in this study, HAQ and Samata will consider
that the government can set as a pre-condition to private the impacts of mining on children up to the age of 18
mining companies. Moreover, there has been no assessment years. However, there are serious limitations in terms of
or stock taking of the status of rehabilitation especially with statistics, as the majority of statistics, such as the Census
regard to the status of children. 2001, only calculates the number of working children up till
the age of 14.
The findings from this study provide a strong reason for an
urgent comprehensive assessment of the status of children
in mining areas — children of mine workers as well as of Law And Policy
local communities, child labour engaged in mining and the
status of the institutional structures for them. It also calls
for addressing the glaring loopholes in the law, policy and
International Standards
implementation related to mining in general, and private
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child includes the
and small scale/rat hole mining in particular that are related
rights for children to be protected from hazardous work.
to children, to develop guidelines for migrant labour and the
Children have the right to be protected from economic
un-organised sector and pre-conditions that need to be fixed
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to
before mining leases are granted. Foremost is the need for
be hazardous or interfering with the child’s education, or to
strengthening protection mechanisms for children and
be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual,
campaigns against child labour in these regions.
moral or social development. The Convention also recognises
the right of the child to education and requests State Parties
to take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools
and the reduction of dropout rates, which is a frequent
problem among working children.

6. Ministry for Women and Child Development, Definition of the Child, http://wcd.nic.in/crcpdf/CRC-2.PDF, uploaded: 10 August 2009.
7. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
8

In addition, almost all work performed by children in mining leads to conflict of interest between departments, in which
and quarrying is hazardous and considered to be one of the the child falls between the cracks.
worst forms of child labour, defined by the Worst Forms of
Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).8 India has not In the laws that deal with mining, many do not address
ratified this convention, and indeed activists and campaigns the needs and rights of children, or even human beings in
against child labour too are not in favour of ratifying a general. For example, there are several laws and policies
convention that distinguishes between hazardous and non- that govern mining in the country,10 which include central
hazardous forms of labour. Their argument is that all forms as well as state laws and policies. There are also policies
of labour or indeed, work that denies children their basic and laws that deal with rehabilitation and resettlement of
rights, is exploitative and hence hazardous, and hence must those displaced by the mining project,11 as well as polices
be banned. for specific minerals such as coal.12 Although people are the
most affected, directly or indirectly, when mining operations
Mining leads to forced evictions. General Comment 7 take place, most of these laws and policies that deal with
adopted by the UN Committee for Economic Cultural and mining mention little or nothing about people except as
Social Rights on Forced Evictions encourages State Parties labour.
to ensure that “legislative and other measures are adequate to
prevent and if appropriate, punish forced evictions carried out Not surprisingly, children find absolutely no mention,
without appropriate safeguards by private persons or bodies.” 9 although they may lose access to education, healthcare
and other facilities; be affected by pollution and other
environmental impacts; be pushed into joining the labour
National Laws and Policy force and end up unskilled and illiterate forever as a result
of mining.
The Constitution of India, along with a whole host of laws
and policies, recognise and protect the rights of all children Child labour is one of the most vicious impacts of mining
in India. The National Child Policy of 1974 and the more that one sees. However, laws to address the employment of
recent National Plan of Action for Children 2005, along children in such hazardous conditions are weak. The Child
with the Eleventh Five Year Plan, lay down the roadmap for Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits
the implementation of these rights. These include the rights the employment of children below the age of 14 in mines
to be protected from exploitation and abuse and the right to (underground and underwater) and collieries (Schedule
free and compulsory education. These laws are strengthened Part A). It also prohibits employment of children in certain
by positive schemes to bring children out of poverty and mining related processes listed in Schedule B.13 This is a
marginalisation. But then these are for all children. Very few huge gap in the law because it does not unilaterally ban
laws provide any protection or relief to mining children employment of children in all mining, thereby leaving them
in particular or address their specific situation. This vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Even while prohibiting
is because the principal job of the Ministry of Mines is the employment of children in mines, the Mines Act leaves
to mine. Hence, many of the violations and human rights open a window of opportunity for exploitation. While the
abuses that result from mining, especially with respect Mines Act, 1952, and the Mines (Amendment) Act, 1983,
to children, are not the mandate of the mines ministry to lay down that no person below 18 years of age shall be
address. The responsibility lies elsewhere, and therefore allowed to work in any mine or part thereof (Section 40) or

8. The worst forms of child labour comprises, inter alia, work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health,
safety and morals of children.
9. For more information see A Handbook on UN Basic Principles and Guidelines based on Development–based Evictions and Displacement by Amnesty International
India, Housing and Land Rights Network and Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action. http://www.hic-sarp.org/UN%20Handbook.pdf
10. Such as the Mines Act, 1952 (Amendment Act 1983); Mines And Minerals (Development And Regulation) Act, 1957 (As Amended Up To 20th December, 1999);
Government Of India Ministry Of Mines National Mineral Policy, 2008 (For Non - Fuel And Non - Coal Minerals); as well as state polices such as Karnataka
Mineral Policy 2008.
11. National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2007.
12. There are a number of acts and policies which specifically govern the coal industry in India. For further details, see: http://coal.nic.in/acts.htm, and http://
policies.gov.in/department.asp?id=76.
13. Mica-cutting and splitting; manufacture of slate pencils (including packing); manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances, such as
lead, mercury; fabrication workshops (ferrous and non-ferrous); gem cutting and polishing; handling chromite and manganese ores; lime kilns and lime
manufacturing; stone breaking and crushing; etc.
 9

in any operation connected with or incidental to any mining some of the following social impacts and accountability,
operation being carried on (Section 45), it simultaneously particularly, with regard to children, are incorporated within
allows for children of 16 years to be apprentices and trainees. the Act and the Mine Plan, violation of children’s rights will
It also leaves it to the discretion of the Inspector to determine continue in mining areas.
whether the person is a worker or apprentice/trainee and
fit to work (Section 43.1). The National Mineral Policy has The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2009 was passed
one line under its section on infrastructure development by the Lok Sabha on February 25, 2009. However, it has
(section 7.7) that indirectly deals with children when it says since lapsed and not become an Act. As with all generic
that “a much greater thrust will be given to development of laws and policies, there is no special recognition accorded
health, education, drinking water, road and other related to children except to mention educational institutions as
facilities…”, failing to mention who will do it and how. part of social impact assessment and orphans in the list of
vulnerable persons.14 It says that while undertaking a social
The law that can be most effective in dealing with child impact assessment under sub-section 4(2), the appropriate
labour in mining as well as any other form of vulnerability government shall take into consideration facilities such as
arising out of mining, is the Juvenile Justice (Care and health care, schools and educational or training facilities,
Protection) Act 2000, Amended 2006, which defines anganwadis, children’s parks15 etc. and this report has to be
children as persons up to the age of 18 and deals with two submitted to an expert group in government, which must
categories of children — the Child in Need of Care and include “the Secretary of the departments of the appropriate
Protection (CNCP) and the Child in Conflict with Law government concerned with the welfare of women and
(CICL). Section 2d defines a child in need of care and children, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or his
protection as one who is exploited or abused or one who is nominee, ex officio.” 5(2b). In a letter to the Minister for Rural
vulnerable to being abused or exploited. It includes children Development, the Chairperson of the National Commission
already or vulnerable to displacement and homelessness, for Protection of Child Rights had pointed out that a review
trafficking, labour etc. of the status of children in areas of displacement due to
development programmes as well as disaster and conflicts,
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) shows that most rehabilitation programmes do not take into
(MMDR) Act, 1957, is an Act stated to undertake mining account the impacts on children. Because displacement can
and use of minerals in a “scientific” manner. This is the primary lead to a violation of rights of children in relation to their
Act, which is slated for amendment, concerned with mining access to nutrition, education, health and other facilities, it
in India under the National Mineral Policy framework. calls for an impact assessment on children and their access
The rules laid under this Act mainly relate to mine planning, to entitlements. This has to be gender and age specific. 16
processes of mining, the nature of technology, procedures
and eligibility criteria for obtaining mining leases and all The National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy
aspects related to mines. It does not give any reference to neglects to mention children as affected persons and
the manner in which mining is to take place, from the therefore fails to recognise or acknowledge the ways in
social context, except for some broad guidelines in terms which children are specifically impacted by displacement
of environment, rehabilitation and social impacts. Given for any project including mining. Impacts on children are
the huge negative impacts of mining on children, specific different from those on adults. Yet no mention is made in
pre-conditions should be clearly laid out prior to granting this policy of the effect this displacement will have on their
of mining leases, where mining companies have to indicate access to food, education and healthcare, as well as their
concrete actions for the development and protection of overall development.
children. In order to undertake responsible mining, unless

14. In Section 21(2-iii and iv) it states that vulnerable persons such as the disabled, destitute, orphans, widows, unmarried girls will be included in the survey
as also families belonging to Scheduled Castes and Tribes
15. 4 (2) “While undertaking a social impact assessment under sub-section (1), the the appropriate government shall, inter alia, take into consideration the
impact that the project will have on public and community properties, assets and infrastructure; particularly, roads, public transport, drainage, sanitation,
sources of drinking water, sources of water for cattle, community ponds, grazing land, plantations, public utilities, such as post offices, fair price shops, food
storage godowns, electricity supply, health care facilities, schools and educational or training facilities, anganwadis, children’s parks, places of worship, land
for traditional tribal institutions, burial and cremation grounds.”
16. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Infocus, Volume 1.No. 4
10

Impacts life, then why is this not visible in the lives of local people
– men women and children – whose lands are being
mined, or who have been brought there as labour to mine
Children are affected directly and indirectly by mining.
the lands?
Among the direct impacts are, the loss of lands leading
to displacement and dislocation, increased morbidity
due to pollution and environmental damage, consistent “MINING HAPPINESS FOR THE PEOPLE OF ORISSA”
degeneration of quality of life after mining starts, increase in promises one mining company. “STEEL IN EVERY STEP,
school dropouts and children entering the workforce. SONG IN EVERY HEART” promises another. Yet why then
are people affected by mining asking, “the government
The indirect impacts of mining, often visible only after a is telling us that this mining is going to be profitable to
period of time, include a fall in nutrition levels leading to the country and that this is for India’s development...
malnutrition, an increase in diseases due to contamination of But if this is India’s development, are we not a part of
water, soil and air, and increased migration due to unstable India? Why is the government not considering us?”
work opportunities for their parents.
Sources: 1. Mining company signboards in Orissa.
2. Person about to be displaced for lignite mining project, Barmer
It is paradoxical that while mining is touted as heralding district, Rajasthan, July 2009.
prosperity and growth and if it is meant to bring in a better

Direct and Indirect Impacts of Mining on Children

1. Increased morbidity and illnesses: Mining children are faced with increased morbidity. Children are prone to illness
because they live in mining areas and work in mines.

2. Increased food insecurity and malnutrition: While almost 50 per cent of children in many states across the country are
malnourished, mining areas are even more vulnerable to child malnutrition, hunger and food insecurity.

3. Increased vulnerability to exploitation and abuse: Displaced, homeless or living in inadequate housing conditions,
forced to drop out of schools, children become vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and being recruited for illegal activities
by mafia and even trafficking.

4. Violation of Right to Education: India is walking backwards in the mining affected areas with respect to its goal
of education for all. Mining children are unable to access schools or are forced to drop out of schools because of
circumstances arising from mining.

5. Increase in child labour: Mining regions have large numbers of children working in the most hazardous activities.

6. Further marginalisation of adivasi and dalit children: Large-scale mining projects are mainly in adivasi areas and the
adivasi child is fast losing his/her Constitutional rights under the Fifth Schedule, due to displacement, land alienation
and migration by mining projects. As with adivasi children, it is the mining dalit children who are displaced, forced out
of school and employed in the mines.

7. Migrant children are the nowhere children: The mining sector is largely dependent on migrant populations where
children have no security of life and where children are also found to be working in the mines or other labour as a result
of mining.

8. Mining children fall through the gaps: Children are not the responsibility of the Ministry of Mines that is responsible
for their situation and the violation of their rights. The mess that is created in the lives of children as a result of mining
has to be addressed by other departments like child welfare, education, tribal welfare, labour, environment and others.
Without convergence between various departments and agencies, the mining child falls through the gaps. All laws and
policies related to mining and related processes do not address specific rights and entitlements of mining children.
 11

Recommendations • Immediately address the high levels of malnourishment,

hunger and food insecurity in mining areas, as has been
found in this study and in keeping with the Supreme
Specific for children Court Orders in the Right to Food Case18 through stock
• The government must recognise that children are taking and implementation of ICDS projects in mining
impacted by mining in a number of ways, and these areas.
impacts must be considered and addressed at all stages of • Given their especially marginalised situation, ensure that
the mining cycle pre-mining, mining and post- mining migrant, adivasi and dalit mining children receive special
• This concern for mining children must find reflection attention.
in all laws and policies on mining- National Mineral • Given the additional vulnerability to exploitation and
Policy 2008; the Mines and Minerals (Development abuse that mining brings to children, the government
and Regulation) (MMDR); Mines (Amendment) Act, must prioritise the implementation of its flagship scheme
1983. on child protection called the Integrated Child protection
• Recognising that children concerns in the present Scheme (ICPS) on vulnerable areas such as the mining
governance structure are the responsibility of several areas. The aim of the scheme is to reduce vulnerability as
departments in the State and Ministries in the Centre, it much as to provide protection to children who fall out of
is essential to ensure convergence both in law and policy the social security and safety net.
level, as well of services to ensure justice to the mining
• It is essential to implement the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
child.
to address the condition of the children in the mining
• There is a need for linking the existing child protection areas in a manner relevant to their specific situations
institutions the National Commission for Protection through the provision and strengthening of protection,
of Child Rights as well as the State Commissions monitoring and grievance redressal mechanisms or
for Protection of Child rights with children affected support structures for protection of mining children
by mining and the establishment of a state level and such as the Child Welfare Committees.
district level monitoring committee consisting of all
the concerned departments that have responsibilities to • There is need for extending the support (in a more focussed
protect the child responsible for monitoring as well as way) by the Juvenile Justice Boards, the Child Welfare
grievance redressal. Committees (CWCs) and the State Juvenile Police
Units to adivasi children in areas where displacement
• The governments and society must no longer live in
and landlessness has led to their exploitation or brought
denial regarding the existence of children in labour
them in conflict with law.
in mines and amend the laws accordingly. Given the
extreme hazardous nature of the activity, the Mines Act, • Guaranteeing all mining children their right to Free
1952 and the Mines (Amendment) Act, 1983 must be and Universal Compulsory Elementary Education is
amended to ensure that children below 18 years of age a right for all children through the targeted provision
are not working in the mines as trainees and apprentices of accessible and quality education, the same as that
from the age of sixteen. The lacunae in the Child Labour available to the children of the mining officials. Number,
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 with respect quality and reach of primary and elementary schools,
to children working in mines must be addressed by including infrastructure and pedagogic inputs, have to
amending the law to include all mining operations in be adequately scaled up.
Schedule A of Prohibited Occupations.17
• The National Child Labour Programme (NCLP) must
• It is essential to mainstream child rights concerns into be extended to all children working in mines, which
policies, amendments to the existing laws on mining means it must be upgraded substantially in terms of
and those that are being proposed by the respective numbers, financial allocations and quality of delivery
ministries, whether with regard to the Rehabilitation as well as monitoring and ensure mainstreaming of all
Bill, the Social Security Bill, the Land Acquisition Bill, children attending NCLP schools into regular schools
to name a few.
17. At present mining and collieries are the only forms of mining included in Schedule A.
18. For details see- http://www.righttofoodindia.org/icds/icds_orders.html (accessed on 13 March 2010)Interviews with mining-affected communities, Kasipur
district, Orissa, June 2009.
12

is mandatory and this must be ensured from children caused to children and their environment in the existing
rescued from labour in mines. mines with a clear time frame which will be scrutinised
• There must be a comprehensive assessment of the by the independent committee at regular intervals as
health impacts on children living and working in mining agreed upon. The clean up should also state the budget
areas and considering the high levels of environmental allocated by each company for this purpose and provide
pollution and occupational diseases as a result of details of expenditure incurred, to the committee.
mining the Ministry needs to have delivery services • A benefit sharing mechanism must be immediately
that will address critical child health and mortality established so that it is not restricted to immediate
issues, especially related to pollution, contamination, short term monetary relief, but should show long
toxicity, disappearance of resources like water bodies term sustainability of the communities and workers,
that have affected the nutrition and food security of the including post-mining land reclamation and livelihood
communities, etc. programmes that have measurable outputs. A share
• Rehabilitation must be an integral part of the lease from the taxes or profits shared by the companies should
agreement and the Rehabilitation Plan should clearly be ploughed into institutions for children.
specify the impacts on and plans for children which must • New mine leases should not be granted unless significant
begin before the mining project begins in a time-bound clean up and institutional mechanisms are in place. No
manner. This includes decent and adequate housing with private mining leases should be granted in the Scheduled
toilet and Potable drinking water, good quality schools Areas and the Samatha Judgement should be respected
within the rehabilitation/resettlement colony, electricity, in its true spirit.
anganwadi centre with supplementary nutrition to • The National Commission for the Unorganised
pregnant women and single mothers, colleges, health Sector which is proposing the new Social Security
institutions, roads and transport. Bill should take into cognizance, the above legal and
• Violation of any of these impacting children should policy recommendations, particularly with respect to
result in the cancellation of the lease. Penalties should be the migrant mine workers and include adequate social
defined for non-implementation of rehabilitation as per security benefits that directly support development and
projected plans and assessments with recommendations protection of children.
made by the monitoring committee.

Overarching Recommendations
• The Ministry of Mines has to evolve regional plans with
appropriate local governance institutions (district, block)
and the community with clarity in terms of quantity and
quality of ore that will be extracted, the extent of area
involved, demographic profile of this region, economic
planning for extraction that includes number of workers
required, nature of workers (local, migrant), type of
technology, social cost including wages, estimate of
workers and assured work period, providing (in the case
of migrant workers) residential facilities like housing,
basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, early
childhood care facilities, quality of education, toilet, PDS
facility and other requirements for a basic quality of life.
The resources for these must not be drawn upon from
public exchequer but recovered from the promoter.
• The public sector companies should set an example to
first clean up the situation and redress the destruction
 13

Part I
National Overview
 15

National Overview

Mining has impacts on people at different stages in its its own distinct problems. Mining companies very rarely
development. By its very nature it is fundamentally develop adequate closure plans, to put in place mechanisms
unsustainable, as all natural resources are finite and will to protect the community once mining ceases. Mining and
eventually run out. Mining obviously has the most impacts quarry sites are often simply abandoned by companies once
on people working in the sites, but the local community is the minerals have dried up, and this land is generally useless,
also impacted in terms of health problems and other negative as it cannot be easily transformed back into agricultural
influences the activity may introduce or exacerbate in the land. Therefore the local community is often left landless
region. In the pre-mining phase, communities are displaced and jobless.
for mining activities and they may lose their farmland or
even their homes. Working conditions are very different in the formal and
informal mining sectors. The average daily wage for workers
The length of the active mining phase depends on the in the formal sector in India in 2007 was Rs.444.21.19 They
quantity of minerals available in the area. But eventually all will often receive other benefits, such as paid holidays and
mines have to be closed. The post-mining phase also poses sometimes healthcare and education for their families.

Table 1.1: Hazards and risks in the general mining environment

Hazards/ risks in the living environment Possible Consequences
• Exposure to: • deterioration of ethical value system
• subhuman living conditions (lacking sanitation, • injuries or death due to crime or violence
drinking water, extreme gegraphical and climatic • omission of schooling and education;
locations);
• vulnerability to diseases due to lack of hygiene and
• complicated dependency relations; sanitation
• degrading social environment (criminality, • exacerbation of injuries and illnesses due to lack of
prostitution); health services
• exposure to STD, AIDS, etc.;
• inequality between men and women (men
dispose of economic resources); erosion of family
and social structure;
• violent behaviour towards child workers;
• violent conflicts among miners and with
surrounding communities;
• lack of law and order
Source: International Programme in Elimination of Child Labour, International Labour Office, Eliminating Child Labour in mining and Quarrying - Background
Document, World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June,2005; pp 13

19. Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, Selected State-wise Average Daily Earnings of Workers in Mining Industries by Sex-Age in India, 2007.
16

However, the number of people employed in the formal This table clearly shows the huge number of illegal mines that
sector is relatively small — in 2005, this amounted to have been identified by the state governments. In Andhra
559,100.20 Instead, the majority of people working in Pradesh, for example, a staggering 13,478 illegal mines were
mining and quarrying in India are engaged in the informal found in 2008. However, no real action was taken following
sector, which is more labour intensive, less mechanised and their discovery — there was not a single First Information
less organised. Rather than being paid a daily wage for their Report (FIR) or court case filed. And in other states there
labour, their earnings are usually according to what they has been a noticeable increase in the number of illegal mines
produce. They often have no formal contracts and therefore in recent years, from 284 in Orissa in 2006, to 1,059 in
no employment rights. Many are migrant labourers living 2008.
in makeshift housing close to mine sites. Villagers in
Mariyammnahalli in Bellary district, Karnataka, explained
how there are no facilities provided for mine workers. All Mine closures
the facilities provided — such as schooling for their children,
houses, water and health facilities — are only available for Very little attention has been given to “post mining” situations
technical workers and officers in the large mining companies. and in particular, the ways in which local communities
Informal mineworkers are provided with nothing, and they are impacted when mines shut down. Most mine closure
are too afraid to join a union or complain about the situation plans do not address the impact of closure on workers or
in case they lose their jobs.21 The nature of the work is the communities dependent on mining activities for their
fundamentally unsustainable. survival. Attention is rarely paid to the rehabilitation of these
workers and communities. In Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan,
stone quarries have ceased operations in several localities
Illegal mining and with no alternative livelihoods, former mine workers are
forced to leave their villages and seek work in other states.24
Illegal mining is rampant across India. It is estimated that in
Maharashtra, at least 25% of the stone quarries are operating In the Kolar district of Karnataka, the closing down of gold
illegally.22 A similar situation was observed in all other states mining operations of the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) has left
visited — in some areas, almost 50 per cent of mines and a large community with no livelihood options. When the
quarries are either illegal, or illegal extraction of minerals company was closed down suddenly in 2002, the entire
is taking place there. For instance, in Jambunathahalli, a population of KGF fell into a crisis with no alternative
small village near Hospet, in Karnataka, the research team source of income or livelihood. Workers stated that although
found over 100 acres of land being used for small-scale their salaries were not very high, infrastructure and free
illegal mining. The researchers visited three sites where services provided to them by the company ensured that the
mainly migrant labour from other parts of the state were basic needs of health, education and public services were
working. The people reported that there were at least 40 met, but when the company shut down, not only were the
illegally operating mines here but the numbers reduced due salaries withdrawn but also all basic amenities. After the
to economic recession.23 According to the District Mining closure, the company withdrew all amenities to the workers.
Officer of Pune, there are 412 stone quarries, but the ground State institutions did not take over as workers were not in
reality reports show that there are double this number a position to pay for these services. Children of workers’
operating illegally. It was unofficially accepted that between families were the most affected by the company’s decision.
25 and 40 percent of all mines are illegal. Children’s education and social security faced the axe. As
education was no longer a free service, many of the workers
Table 1.2 shows an estimate of the number of illegal mines could not pay school fees during the period of the strike.
operating across the country as reported by the state Children faced humiliation at school and many of them had
governments. to drop out and take on the responsibility of sustaining their
families, forcing many of them to travel out to Bangalore in
20. Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, Selected State-Wise Average Daily Employment and Number of Reporting Mines in India, 2002 – 2005.
21. Interviews with mineworkers, Mariyammnahalli, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
22. Interview with Mr. Bastu Rege, Director, Santulan, September 2009.
23. Interviews carried out in Hospet area, Bellary, Karnataka, June 2009.
24. Interviews with residents of Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, July 2009.
 17

Table 1.2: Number of illegal mines detected in India, 2009

State Nos. of cases detected by state governments Action Taken by state sovernments
YEAR 2006 2007 2008 2009 Vehicle FIRs Lodged Court cases Fine
Up to June seized filed realised
2009

Andhra Pradesh 5385 9216 13478 7332 844 ---- ---- 2112.95
Chhattisgarh 2259 2352 1713 599 ---- ---- 2181 309.16
Gujarat 7435 6593 5492 3720 106 114 8 7085.67
Haryana 504 812 1209 416 103 138 2 133.33
Goa 313 13 159 2 322 ---- 15.68
Gujarat 7435 6593 5492 3720 106 114 8 7085.67
Haryana 504 812 1209 416 103 138 2 133.33
Himachal Pradesh 478 ---- 503 375 ---- ---- 464 21.04
Jharkhand 631 82 225 ---- 5592 202 39 108.41
Karnataka 3027 5180 2997 692 43585 931 771 3630.13
Kerala 1595 2593 2695 802 ---- ---- ---- 532.7
Madhya Pradesh 5050 4581 3895 2542 ---- 05 14831 1057.98
Maharashtra 4919 3868 5828 3285 15212 13 ---- 1129.01
Orissa 284 655 1059 365 1242+ 57 86 2309.36
75 cycles
Punjab 218 26 50 48 ---- ---- ---- .96
Rajasthan 2359 2265 2178 1130 368 441 59 413.49
Tamil Nadu 2140 1263 1573 98 18722 133 155 6369.96
Uttarakhand --- ---- 191 683 ---- ---- 38.50
West Bengal 80 426 315 51 3680 897 167 ----
Sources: Lok Sabha, State-wise Illegal Mines, written reply, 24 November 2009, http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=54493

search of employment. Each morning 7,000-12,000 young such as petty thefts and youth were getting hired by political
adults leave for work to Bangalore by these trains and return and criminal groups which operate in Bangalore, for violent
only late in the night. The study team saw packed crowds and criminal activities. However, people of KGF prefer not
leave at 6 in the morning and return by the last train that to have such news highlighted as it only sensationalises KGF
comes into KGF at 9.00 pm, and how adolescent girls form without actually addressing their core problems. One of the
a majority of these daily commuters. When interviewed, the glaring problems reported by the people themselves is theft.
young girls, who commute by these trains, admitted that they Young boys operate as petty criminals and steal parts of the
are vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse as the trains are company infrastructure like metal sheets from mine shafts,
overcrowded, but they brush it aside as unavoidable as they machinery and other scrap. (For more details see state report
have no other choice but to sustain their families. Some of on Karnataka in Part 2)
the women and young girls from the workers’ families turned
to prostitution to keep their families from starving. What
was more, young boys were getting into criminal activities
18

How do the mining districts Samatha Judgement

in India fare in terms of child The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India deals with
the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and of
development? Scheduled Tribes in these areas. It covers tribal areas in
ten states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat,
In order to examine the impact of mining on children in
Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya
India, it is relevant to look at some of the child-related
Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Sikkim. Essentially, the
development indicators in the key mining districts across
Schedule was intended to provide a guarantee to adivasi
the country. The Table 1.3 brings together some of these
people and protect the lands in the Scheduled Areas from
statistics for the 15 districts where field research has been
being transferred to persons other than tribal. However,
carried out during the course of this study, and for an
violations of this Schedule in Andhra Pradesh, when
additional nine districts, identified as being amongst the
lands in the scheduled area of Visakhapatnam district
most heavily mined areas of the country. The situation of
were transferred to Birla Periclase and 17 other mining
children will be discussed in more detail for the majority
companies, led the NGO Samatha to initiate a court case
of these districts in the state overview section of the case
in the Supreme Court against the state government for
studies. However, a cursory glance at the table reveals that
leasing out tribal lands to private mining companies. This
in many of the districts, mineral wealth is not leading to
led to the historic Samatha Judgement in July 1997, which
better development outcomes for children. In the districts
rendered all leases to mining companies in Scheduled Areas
more dependent on mining, the majority have a lower than
null and void and prohibited the future lease of lands in
national average literacy rate; more than 10 percent of
these areas to non-tribals.
children between 6-14 years are still out of school with a
high rate of child labour. In a national study on under five 77 districts, or parts of districts, have been identified as
mortality rates in India, these districts have also ranked Fifth Schedule Areas.25 The Fifth Schedule covers tribal
close to the bottom (see: Dantewada, Chhattisgarh; areas in ten states in India, and it guarantees prevention of
Panna, Madhya Pradesh; Koraput and Rayagada, Orissa). transfers in the form of mining leases to private companies.
In contrast, the districts which have more diversified However, violations of this constitutional safeguard are
economies and are less dependent on mining can be seen taking place by transfer of lands in the Scheduled Areas to
to have better development outcomes for children across persons other than the Scheduled Tribes, for which control
the board, for example, Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) and Pune the State is instrumental. It has allowed transfer of land
(Maharashtra). initially to public sector mining companies in the 1970s,
and more so, post the 1990s, to private and multinational
Who is affected by mining? mining companies, either as joint ventures with state
bodies holding the majority ownership (as was done with
Mining areas tend to be occupied by the poorest and most Rio Tinto and Orissa Mineral Development Corporation)
marginalised sections of society. Indeed, it is a twisted or as private joint ventures (as in Utkal Alumina Limited
irony that the poorest people live on the lands richest in Kasipur, Orissa) or directly to a private company (as in
with natural resources. This is because a vast majority of Vedanta/Sterlite in Lanjigarh, Orissa). By opening up more
mining in the country is taking place in tribal areas. Adivasi land for private mining companies, tribal communities
children lose their constitutional rights under the Fifth are facing forcible displacement.
Schedule over their lands and forests when their families
are displaced from their lands. A very conservative estimate indicates that in the last 50 years,
approximately 20.13 million people have been displaced
Despite the passing of the Samatha Judgement in 1997, in the country owing to big projects, such as mines and
which is intended to protect the rights of tribal people dams. Of these, at least 40 per cent are indigenous
to their lands, violations continue and over 10 million tribal people. Only one-fourth of these people have been
adivasis have lost their land in India. Across the country, resettled.26 Around 47.9 per cent of the population in the

25. Samata, Fifth Schedule Areas, http://www.mmpindia.org/Fifth_Schedule.htm, uploaded: 11 December 2009.

26. Shanti Sawaiyan, Forcible Displacement and Land Alienation is Unjust: Most of the Forcibly Displaced in Jharkhand are Adivasis, A paper for the III International
Women and Mining Conference, 2004.
 19

Table 1.3: Key indicators in mining districts

Number of child labour*

Under 5 mortality rate ^

% children 6-14 years #

Backward district~
Child population*

SC % to total *

ST % to total *

(ranking out of
NCLP district+
Literacy rate*

593 districts)
out of school

(0-14 years)
(0-14 years)

population

population
District / State

Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh 902,720 18.54 16.74 52.68 8.1 48,974 Yes 122 Yes
Bastar, Chhattisgarh 496,762 2.96 66.31 43.91 6.0 49,289 No 496 Yes

Dantewada, Chhattisgarh 283,002 3.36 78.52 30.17 N/A 30,121 Yes 578 Yes

Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 430,372 14.20 35.58 70.17 3.2 14,599 Yes 443 Yes

Sarguja, Chhattisgarh 763,783 4.81 54.60 54.79 7.3 55,788 Yes 393 Yes

Hazaribagh, Jharkhand 937,835 15.02 11.78 57.74 1.5 26,079 Yes 193 Yes

East Singhbhum, Jharkhand 644,316 4.75 27.85 68.79 4.6 14,781 No 189 Yes

West Singhbhum, Jharkhand 811,610 4.88 53.36 50.17 N/A 45,663 Yes 362 Yes

Bellary, Karnataka 749,227 18.46 17.99 57.40 14.1 66,897 Yes 380 No

Gulbarga, Karnataka 1,240,869 22.92 4.92 50.01 13.6 98,912 Yes 224 Yes

Kolar, Karnataka 803,954 26.49 8.11 62.84 0.7 44,354 No 117 No

Panna, Madhya Pradesh 349,322 20.00 15.39 61.36 1.5 13,113 No 587 Yes

Chandrapur, Maharashtra 646,241 14.34 18.12 73.17 1.6 10,259 No 311 Yes

Nashik, Maharashtra 1,737,036 8.62 50.19 64.86 1.9 55,927 Yes 87 No

Pune, Maharashtra 3,769,128 10.53 3.62 80.45 0.9 34,768 Yes 4 No

Yavatmal, Maharashtra 832,599 10.28 19.26 73.62 3.7 20,732 Yes 220 Yes

West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya 140,566 0.01 98.02 65.15 0.0 6,882 No 419 No

Keonjhar, Orissa 548,357 11.62 44.50 59.24 7.7 13,171 No 455 Yes

Koraput, Orissa 423,358 13.04 49.62 35.72 17.0 23,903 Yes 540 Yes

Rayagada, Orissa 303,760 13.92 55.76 36.16 17.7 16,893 Yes 565 Yes

Sundargarh, Orissa 611,228 8.62 50.19 64.86 4.8 19,537 No 372 Yes

Barmer, Rajasthan 847,335 15.73 6.04 58.99 11.4 58,320 Yes 407 No

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan 216,264 14.58 5.48 50.97 15.0 12,869 No 332 No

Jodhpur, Rajasthan 1,170,568 15.81 2.76 56.67 12.1 51,206 Yes 249 No

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu 655,105 27.76 0.52 71.01 0.8 11,961 No 104 Yes

Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh 618,672 41.92 0.03 49.22 6.5 16,418 Yes 460 Yes

India 363,610,812 16.2 8.2 61 - 12,666,377 - - -

Source: * Census 2001; # Pratham’s ASER 2008; + http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm;
^ Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh; ~ Planning Commission
20

area affected by the Vedanta project in Orissa are from discrimination in access to food and productive resources,
Scheduled Tribes.27 evictions from lands, and a lack of implementation of food
based schemes despite laws prohibiting discrimination
Coal is considered one of the most polluting mining and “untouchability.”31 Given that tribal children still face
activities and has serious implications on climate change enormous challenges in terms of access to food, education
concerns. Yet India’s agenda of coal expansion in the coming and healthcare, displacement by mining projects increases
decade — to ensure that 70 per cent of its energy demands their vulnerabilities further and renders their survival and
will be met from coal-based power — is bound to have development even more precarious. Displacement also has a
serious long term impacts on a large population of children, serious psychological impact on children, who need a degree
especially Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe children, of security and stability in their upbringing.
who live in the coal mining region of the central Indian
belt, which consist of some of the most backward states like One of the fundamental concerns with regard to
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West displacement of adivasi communities for mining projects
Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and parts of the North is the loss of constitutional protection for their children.
East like Meghalaya. The rehabilitation policy and the new tribal policy have
been diluted from the earlier position of land-for-land as
compensation, to a mere monetary compensation if there was
Specific situation of tribal no possibility of providing land. Further, the rehabilitation
children policy also specifies that no rehabilitation will be undertaken
in the Scheduled Areas where less than 250 families are
proposed to be affected. This, at one stroke, deprives the next
Even under usual circumstances, statistics show that tribal
generation of adivasi children of the land transfer regulations
children in India still struggle to access basic services such
under the Fifth Schedule, whose families are alienated from
as education and healthcare. According to the Ministry for
their lands for mining projects. As these families either
Human Resource Development, 9.54 per cent of Scheduled
Tribe children remain out of school.28 Continued exclusion
and discrimination within the education system have The situation of tribal children in the mining areas of
resulted in dropout rates remaining the highest amongst Jodhpur, Rajasthan, is a case in point. The residents
Scheduled Tribe children as compared to all other social of Bhat Basti had previously been nomadic, roaming
groups. Over 70 per cent of Scheduled Tribe children around the countryside with their livestock. However,
dropped out in 2003-04 between Classes I to VIII.29 lack of available land for animal grazing, as a result of
urbanisation and industrialisation, forced them to settle
The majority of health indicators show far poorer results for in one location almost 20 years ago, where all the adults
children from Scheduled Tribe populations as compared to and many of the children now work as daily wage labourers
the national average. The most recent National Family Health in the local stone quarries. None of the 200-odd children
Survey, published in 2007, revealed that infant and child in the village attended school and all were illiterate. They
mortality rates remain very high amongst tribals. Tribal lived in kachha housing, made of stones and covered
children are also still less likely to receive immunisation.30 with black tarpaulin sheets. There was no running water,
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Zielger, electricity or sanitation available in the village. The
in his report based on his mission to India in August 2005, children had received no vaccinations apart from polio and
wrote that most victims of starvation are women and all are malnourished. The research team met one severely
children of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, malnourished boy who was claimed to be two years old but
with their deaths mainly due to discrimination in the food looked like a baby of no more than nine months.
based schemes. According to his report, this was because of

27. Tata AIG Risk Management Services Ltd, Rapid environmental impact assessment report for bauxite mine proposed by Sterlite Industries Ltd near Lanjigarh,
Orissa, August 2002, p. 7 of the executive summary.
28. For a full overview on Scheduled Tribe children and education, see Status of Children in India: 2008, published by HAQ: Centre for Child Rights.
29. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Chapter on Elementary Education (SSA and Girls Education) for the XI th Plan Working Group Report, 2007, pp. 14.
30. For a full overview on Scheduled Tribe children and health, see Status of Children in India: 2008, published by HAQ: Centre for Child Rights.
31. Paradox of Hunger amidst Plenty. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, on his Mission to India (August 20-September 2, 2005.
Combat Law Volume 5 Issue 3. June-July 2006.
 21

migrate to plain areas or are converted to landless labourers Rehabilitation (R&R) packages and states that “Special
even if they continue to live in the Scheduled Areas, they care will be taken to protect the interest of host and
no longer enjoy the privilege of the Fifth Schedule as far as indigenous (tribal) populations through developing
land is concerned. This is a constitutional violation of the models of stakeholder interest based on international
rights of the adivasi child.32 best practice. Project affected persons will be protected
through comprehensive relief and rehabilitation packages
in line with the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Displacement Policy.” However, several problems with respect to the
R&R policy, such as under-estimation of project costs and
Mining areas are inhabited by people. Taking over land for losses, under-financing of R&R, non-consultation with
mining means displacing them. These forced evictions, when affected communities and improper implementation of the
land is taken over for extraction, or for setting up plants promised rehabilitation, are some of the glaring failures on
and factories, uproots and dislocates entire communities. the part of the state with respect to mining projects. This is
Children are forced out of schools, lose access to healthcare well reflected, for example, in the case study of the resettled
and other basic services and are forced to live in alien places. camps of NALCO in Orissa.37
Most often, there is little or no rehabilitation effort made
by the government. This has a long-term impact on the Despite the grand statements made in the National
displaced children. Mineral Policy, 2008, and the existence finally of a National
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, thousands of people
Across the world, tribal (or indigenous) populations are will continue to lose their land and end up in worse situations
being displaced for mining activities. Mining struggles in of poverty if the government continues to prioritise profits
indigenous communities have been witnessed in numerous from mining over the rights of communities to live on
countries, from Canada to the Philippines, and from Uganda their land. One recent example of this has been the struggle
to Papua New Guinea and to the USA, which massacred by the Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa to prevent a British
native Indians,33 first for the gold rush and later, for other mining company, Vedanta, from displacing them. The
minerals like coal and uranium. Mineral resources are groups have lived for many generations in this area and the
often found in places inhabited by indigenous populations. Niyamgiri mountain is considered by them to be a sacred
Therefore, when mining activity begins, these communities
are displaced from the hills and forests where they live. They Rajesh (name changed) is fifteen years old and comes
then lose access not only to their homes and land, but also to from the village of Janiguda. He works in a roadside
their traditional livelihoods.34 In most places, compensation restaurant at Dumuriput of Damanjodi. His family lost
has been wholly inadequate and tribal communities are forced all their land for the NALCO project, which converted his
into poverty. Their capacity for subsistence survival is often father, who did not get a job in the company, into an
destroyed — tribal symbols of prosperity in subsistence are alcoholic. Having spent all the compensation money on
not recognised as anything that have worth or value. Mines liquor, the father left the family on the streets. Rajesh
and factories have reduced self-reliant, self-respecting tribal dropped out of school and had to come to Damanjodi
families to living like refugees in ill-planned rehabilitation town in search of work to support his family. He earns
colonies, while rendering many others homeless.35 around Rs. 1,200 per month working in the hotel and
sends home around Rs. 1,000 every month. He says, “Work
The National Mineral Policy, 2008, recognises that in the hotel is difficult and there is no time for rest except
“Mining operations often involve acquisition of land held after 12 in the night every day.”
by individuals including those belonging to the weaker
Source: Interview carried out in Damanjodi, Orissa, 3 February 2010.
sections.”36 It highlights the need for suitable Relief and

32. Samatha, A Study on the Status and Problems of Tribal Children in Andhra Pradesh, 2007.
33. Carlos D. Da Rosa, James S. Lyon, Philip M. Hocker, Golden Dreams, Poisoned Streams, Published by Mineral Policy Center, August 1997.
34. Bhanumathi Kalluri, Ravi Rebbapragada, 2009, Displaced by Development - Confronting Marginalization and Gender Injustice - The Samatha Judgement -
Upholding the Rights of Adivasi Women, Sage Publications
35. Vidhya Das, Human Rights, Inhuman Wrongs – Plight of Tribals in Orissa, Published in Economic and Political Weekly, 14 March 1998.
36. Government of India, National Mineral Policy, 2008.
37. See case study report on NALCO project-affected community in Koraput, Orissa.
22

site. However, Vedanta has established an alumina refinery this land and received no compensation: “The way we were
on the top of the mountain, illegally encroaching forestlands living, we were self-sufficient, and we had lived like that for
without clearances from the Ministry of Environment and generations,” she says. “We could have lived like that for
Forests, in this area rich with the mineral, bauxite. Although many more generations too. Because of these people, we
the company claims that the refinery will bring “significant cannot. But we will still fight to continue the old ways.”42
employment and economic livelihood for the local people”38 The tribe fears that once mining starts, they will lose their
the reality is that local communities have lost their land livelihood completely. They say, “Once they start mining, the
and their most sacred place of worship and they are living mountain will be bulldozed and the rivers will dry up and
in a state of corporate intimidation affecting the life of the our livelihood will be lost. We will become fish out of water.
children and youth who are innocent victims of what has We don’t know how to adapt and survive and our way of
been allowed to happen by the state. Similar is the situation living is not available in the cities. We will be extinct.”43
of the adivasis in Kasipur who are caught in the midst of
daily conflict because of the tensions created by the mining Mining companies claim that they create jobs and raise
company. 39 the standard of living for the local population. However,
experience shows that this is not the case. In most of the
Neither the National Mineral Policy, 2008, nor the areas visited, the mining company jobs were not going to
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy mention children, local people, but instead staff were being brought in from
and therefore fail to recognise or acknowledge the ways in outside. In Jharkhand, with the Urimari coal-mining project,
which children are specifically impacted by displacement we found that none of the employees of the company were
for mining. There are also serious protection issues arising local tribal people. Instead, the local people work as casual
from the displacement of children. Studies have shown that labour, hired to carry out tasks such as loading and unloading
children who are displaced are more vulnerable to trafficking trucks. Many of the mineworkers are women, children and
and other forms of exploitation.40 youth from surrounding villages who have been displaced
from their land.44 In total, 14 villages with 95 per cent of the
Some people have been displaced in mining areas multiple population coming from Scheduled Tribes; are reported to
times, yet have received no compensation and critically no have been displaced by Central Coalfields Limited (CCL)
alternative livelihood provision. The World Bank has made for this project, and apart from monetary compensation,
a distinction between “resettlement” and “rehabilitation”. they have not received any other benefits. Although a school
Displaced people face impoverishment risks beyond merely has been set up, this is not functional, and medical facilities
the loss of property. Rehabilitation entails more than just are mainly provided to employees of the company and not to
compensation and relocation. It involves ensuring that the local community.45
people have income streams, livelihoods and social systems
restored and that affected people and their children become In Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, 3,316 families have been
better off as a result of the project.41 displaced for the Neyveli Lignite Corporation project. This
has had a serious impact on the livelihoods of a number
However, this has rarely been the case with mining-induced of families. People have lost agricultural land in the area
displacement in India. Members of the Dongria Kondh and are now struggling to find work. Those who had land
tribe explain how they have lost their self-sufficiency as argue that the compensation they received is not enough.
a result of Vedanta’s project in Orissa and now they are When they were displaced 20 years ago, they received only
struggling to survive. One woman says she used to grow Rs.3,500 per acre of land. However, the impacts have hit
crops on 7 hectares of common land, but now she has lost the Scheduled Caste population worst in the area — they

38. Vedanta response to Survival International media statement, 20 August 2008, published in the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre website.
39. Samatha, People’s Struggle Against Utkal Alumina Plant in Kasipur, 2002.
40. Se UNICEF, Displaced Children, http://www.unicef.org/emerg/index_displacedchildren.html, uploaded: 10 February 2010.
41. Theodore E. Downing, Avoiding New Poverty: Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement, April 2002, pp. 14.
42. The Guardian, Gethin Chamberlain, Vedanta versus the villagers: the fight for the sacred mountain, 12 October 2009.
43. Ibid.
44. Interviews carried out in mining-affected communities in Urimari coal mining area, Jharkhand, September 2009.
45. Ibid.
 23

had no land to start with and worked as labourers on other displaced people is worsened by the stress and trauma of
people’s land, so they received no compensation at all and moving, leading to mental health problems, and problems
now lack employment opportunities.46 associated with communities gaining access to safe water
and sanitation create new health problems.51 Many displaced
Families in Mariyammnahalli, in Bellary district, Karnataka, communities have problems accessing clean water. Residents
have lost their agricultural land, and therefore their financial of the displaced camps surrounding the NALCO project in
security. They have now become daily wage labourers Koraput, Orissa told researchers how water scarcity is one
working in mine sites. Many of these former farmers are of the major challenges they now face. The mining company
now forced to send their children out to work as they can has allocated one bore well per at least 10 households in the
no longer afford to continue sending them to school.47 As camps in contrast to the 24-hour water supply provided to
well as working in mining, these children are sent to work the officers of the company.52
in other sectors, such as the garment industry. According to
the Child Rights Trust in Hospet, there are many children Increasing amounts of agricultural land being turned over
working in the garment industry in the district, which is to mining is having a particular impact in terms of food
famous for its jeans.48 security in a number of mining areas. Minerals tend to
be located in rich fertile lands — and this agricultural land
cannot be easily replaced. Although companies argue that
Impacts of displacement on educa- mining operations lead to jobs and economic development,
tion and health this loss of agricultural and grazing land is also leading to
increased hunger and malnutrition.
Displacement causes a significant disruption to education
and healthcare for children. Families may be forced to In Koraput district of Orissa, 597 families have been displaced
relocate to areas where infrastructure is poor or there is for the NALCO aluminium project. Much of the land that
a lack of basic services. Many displaced children rarely was lost to mining was agricultural and paddy land and the
have the opportunity to return to school after moving local population depended heavily on agricultural work for
locations. Because their parents lose their livelihoods and their survival.53 With this loss of land, the population can
end up as migrant daily wage labour, children of displaced no longer depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and
families are often forced to work in order to contribute occupation patterns have changed. People now work as
financially to their family’s survival.49 The education of girls, manual labour for companies or for government schemes
already a low priority in many communities, suffers further and struggle to find full time work. This has also had an
post displacement.50 Many of the villages visited in Koraput impact on their diet – whereas before they would grow their
and Rayagada districts in Orissa, where a large number of own vegetables, now they cannot, and for many families it
families have been displaced for mining projects, had no is too expensive to buy vegetables regularly from the local
schools, not even at the primary level. Parents cannot afford market.54
to send their children away to boarding schools, so the
children are unable to attend school and instead go out to In Thumbli village, Barmer district, Rajasthan, numerous
work. villagers explained how they used to grow their own
vegetables, but now they have lost their agricultural land to
The health of communities is found to deteriorate following lignite mines, vegetables no longer constitute a regular part
displacement. The already marginal health status of of their diet as these are too expensive for them to buy in

46. Interviews in mining-affected communities in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, August 2009.
47. Interviews with mineworkers, Mariyammnahalli, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
48. Interview with Child Rights Trust, Hospet, Karnataka, June 2009.
49. Bhanumathi Kalluri, Ravi Rebbapragada, 2009, Displaced by Development – Confronting Marginalisation and Gender Injustice – The Samatha Judgement –
Upholding the Rights of Adivasi Women, Sage Publications.
50. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Internal Displacement in India, November 2007, http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session1/IN/
IDMC_IND_UPR_S1_2008_InternalDiscplacementMonitoringCenter_uprsubmission.pdf; uploaded: 14 October 2009.
51. Theodore E. Downing, Avoiding New Poverty: Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement, April 2002, pp. 11.
52. Interviews in Damanjodi, Orissa, June 2009.
53. Interviews in mining-affected communities in Koraput district, Orissa, June 2009.
54. Ibid.
24

local markets.55 This has a severe impact on the nutrition to be working in hotels, restaurants, paan stalls, and other
status of children. They reported an increase in levels of small shops and it can be estimated that in total, around 500-
child malnutrition in their village. With the highest number 1,000 children of the project affected areas are working as
of malnourished children in the world — almost 50 percent labourers in the local area. Many youth are also reported to
of India’s children suffer from malnutrition — the loss of have migrated to the cities of Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad
vegetables and other essential food groups from their diets and other cities for livelihood.60 The rehabilitation of the
is extremely worrying. community displaced by NALCO, even after almost
three decades, still remains incomplete. There has been
Amongst the population displaced by coal mining in no impact assessment of the region undertaken during this
Urimari, Jharkhand, child malnutrition rates are high. The period and no stock taking of the rehabilitation process, or
anganwadi worker who was interviewed, explained that the review of the basic services provided. Particularly, there has
majority of children she visits are malnourished. Other been no assessment of the impact on children, even when
child health problems in the village include skin diseases, a high incidence of child labour, school dropout rate and
malaria and TB, but there is no medical facility there, hence malnourishment are visibly evident.
a lot of dependence on superstitions.56 Non-availability
or inaccessibility to health facilities in their new location
only further compounds the problem. The impacts fall Forced Migration
disproportionately on children, who are more vulnerable
to health problems and require access to health care and The nature of mining work means that migration becomes
regular check ups. an essential survival strategy for people engaged in this
sector. Climatic factors, market fluctuations and changes
In villages visited in Koraput district, child labour figures in demand for minerals mean that mining locations
are extremely high. According to the Census 2001, 5.67 per change regularly. With heavy monsoon rains affecting most
cent of the child population (0-14 years) are working in the parts of the country in the summer months, many mining
district.57 However, the latest Annual Survey of Education and quarrying operations are discontinued or slow down
(ASER) report, published by Pratham, found that 17 per during this time. Migrations tend to begin around October-
cent of children in Koraput are out of school, showing that November, with migrant families spending the next six to
the district has one of the highest numbers of out of school eight months at the sites before returning to their villages at
children in the country.58 There is a high incidence of child the next monsoon.
labour around the NALCO area, although there is no child
labour within the company premises. Interviews carried out
in seven villages in the area, with families who have been Living conditions at informal mine sites – case study
displaced by mining, revealed that a very large number of from Maharashtra
children are working in dhabas, tea stalls, pan stalls and as
“We have been staying here for 10 years because it is
domestic labour.59 People reported that school dropout rates
the nearest place to the quarry sites. The houses are very
had increased since they had been displaced, as children have
small (four feet by six feet). If anyone wants to enter
to earn money for the family’s survival. According to the
the house, they have to sit down and only then can they
Displaced Peoples’ Union, between 100-200 children in the
enter the house. We do not have any electricity and the
displaced peoples’ camps of Amalabadi and Champapadar
water is provided by the quarry owner – every day one
are working as casual labourers. As 131 families of the
tanker comes for the community. Now and then we fall
Displaced Peoples’ camp are headed by widows, most of the
sick from drinking this water.”
children of these families are working as manual labour in
mining and associated activities. Many of them were seen Source: Interview with residents at Moshi, Maharastra, September 2009.

55. Interviews in Thumbli village, Barmer district, Rajasthan, July 2009.

56. Interviews in mining-affected communities in Urimari coal mining area, Jharkhand, September 2009.
57. Census of India, 2001.
58. Pratham, Annual Status of Education, 2008.
59. Interviews in mining-affected communities in Koraput district, Orissa, June 2009.
60. Ibid.
 25

Although there is no data to show the extent of migration These mining communities live an almost parallel existence,
for mining and quarrying work in India, evidence suggests without access to services provided for the other villages in
that migration in general is increasing, and the number of their area, such as schools, health services and ration cards.
children involved below 14 years may be close to nine million.61 These people are not reached by the government services
These children are torn away from their education and social that they are entitled to, and are instead forced to survive
networks. Estimates suggest that somewhere between half a without any state support. Many migrant workers do not
million to 12 million migrant labourers work in small-scale possess Public Distribution System (PDS) ration cards
mines in India.62 Regular streams of new migrants leave the and hence are forced to buy food grains and kerosene at
tribal belts of Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and higher market prices. Most lack any form of identification
other states to seek work in the mines. Migrants comprise and thus find it difficult to access local services. They often
the most vulnerable sections of society, with the majority face difficulty accessing education and healthcare services in
coming from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. the areas where they settle. In some sites in Maharashtra,
the workers explained that even though they did own ration
Mining contractors often prefer to hire migrant labour, as cards, the mine owner kept hold of the cards (perhaps with
they are easier to control and less likely to organise. Migrant the intention of keeping them bonded and to stop them from
workers are not organised sufficiently to lobby and form a leaving). A sixty-year-old woman informed the team that she
pressure group.63 It also enables them to hire whole families, finally got her ration card four months ago, but the Public
as they may just officially employ the adult members of Distribution System dealer had asked her to come after six
the family, but the parents will bring the children along months as her name was not yet entered in his records.65 The
to work with them. This pattern of employment can mineworkers end up spending heavily on basic food supplies
be seen in unorganised mines and quarries across the and their consumption is usually far below the basic daily
country, from Rajasthan, to Maharashtra and Karnataka. intake required. The diet of mineworkers’ children consists
Children interviewed in the stone quarries in Pune district, of barely two meals of rotis (bread), chillies and rarely any
Maharashtra had come from Nepal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, vegetables or dal (lentils). Hence, most of the children are
West Bengal and Orissa.64 malnourished and anaemic.

Right to Housing as a human right

The requisite imperative of housing for personal security, privacy, health, safety, protection from the elements and many
other attributes of a shared humanity, has led the international community to recognise adequate housing as a basic and
fundamental human right.

While in the international context the right to adequate housing as enshrined in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Article 11(1) of the ICESCR provides that:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well being of himself [or herself] and his [or her]
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.”

and that,

“The States parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of this right, recognising to this effect the essential
importance of international cooperation based on free consent.”

Further, The CRC obliges state parties to provide, in cases of need, material assistance and support programmes to families
and children, particularly with regard to housing (Article27(3)).

61. Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity, Distress Seasonal Migration and its Impact on Children’s Education, May 2008, p. 1, 2.
62. Sudhershan Rao Sarde, Regional Representative, IMF-SARO, Migration in India: Trade Union Perspective in the Context of Neo-Liberal Globalisation, p. 2.
63. Ibid, p. 5.
64. Interviews with child mineworkers, Pune district, Maharashtra, September 2009.
65. Interviews in Moshi stone quarrying area, Maharashtra, September 2009.
26

Migrants live in the worst housing conditions, often without monsoon period — overlaps with six to seven months of
electricity, water or even basic sanitation. The most shocking the school calendar. This means that children who do enroll
living conditions seen in mining areas in the course of this can only attend school from June until October, after which
study were of migrant communities, who almost always live they usually drop out.68 These drop out rates are often
in makeshift accommodation close to the mining sites, or not captured by official education data, as the children get
even at the sites. Houses are temporary dwellings made of enrolled in schools for the first few months of the school
plastic sheets and quarry stones packed as walls. Up to 10 session, but then drop out for the remaining months of the
family members may share a house of 8x10 feet space, or academic year to accompany their parents to migration sites.
sometimes only 4x6 feet. Over time, the learning deficit gradually causes them to drop
out of school completely and work full-time.69
They also face the additional problems of resentment
and hostility from local communities, who see them as In Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, residents explained
outsiders and often refuse to allow them to integrate. that school dropout rates are high because of migration.
They may live for years around the mines, but not be Large numbers of the community are engaged in diamond
accepted or recognised as part of the local community. In mining work. However, this diamond work is seasonal and
Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, we met with a Scheduled Tribe only available six to eight months of the year, so during the
community who had been forced to relocate to the area in other months they migrate elsewhere in the country for
order to be close to the mining work. Despite living on this work. Locals complained that government schemes aimed at
land for almost 20 years now, they were still engaged in a enabling them to remain in the district all through the year,
battle with two local villages that wanted them to be moved such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme
off this land and had not been given pattas (title deeds) for (NREGA), were not being implemented effectively and thus
their properties.66 lack of available work was driving them to migrate.70 Instead,
under the NREGA scheme people were only getting maybe
Across the country, children of the migrant mineworkers 10 or 20 days work in a year, and there was a lot of corruption
were found scattered all over the mine sites around the involved in determining who managed to get job cards.71
shacks looking dirty and dusty. The mine site is their home,
playground and sleeping area. In all the nine sites visited in Similar problems were reported in the stone quarrying
Maharashtra, we saw children looking unhealthy, suffering districts visited in Maharashtra. In 2004-05, there were
from coughs, colds, leaking noses, fevers and skin infections.
The women said that diarrhea, jaundice and malaria are 13 year old Santosh (name changed) works in a stone
the most common child health problems as the water is quarry in Moshi village of Pune district. He had to migrate
contaminated and the cess–pools in the mine pits are a with his family from Nashik and has been working in the
breeding ground for mosquitoes. There is no sanitation quarry for more than a year now. He works from early
facility, so most of the infants and younger children are morning till late in the evening breaking stones and loading
seen defecating around the living quarters. For the women, them onto trucks. He has four siblings, one of whom is
sanitation is a huge problem as there are no toilets and no physically handicapped. He earns Rs. 70-90 per day, which
area for bathing.67 is desperately needed to keep the family from starvation.
When interviewed he said, “I always wanted to study but
Education for children of seasonal migrants has not been our family is not in a position to send us to school and now
on the radar screen of the government or development it is too late for me to dream about it. I want to work hard
agencies, despite the fact that it is a growing phenomenon so that I can use my wages to send my younger brothers to
in almost all arid parts of India. Children accompany their school.”
parents when they migrate, and as a result dropout rates
Source: Interview in Moshi quarry, Pune, Maharashtra, 16th September 2009.
increase. The seasonal migration cycle — based around the

66. Interviews with mineworkers, Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, July 2009.
67. Visits to mine sites, Maharashtra, September 2009.
68. Ibid, p. 2.
69. Ibid, p. 34.
70. Interviews with mining-affected communities, Panna, Madhya Pradesh, August 2009.
71. Ibid.
 27

2,055 children enrolled in Santulan’s Panshan Shala – and construction.75 Mining has long been known to cause
schools in the mining areas. However, in the same year, serious health problems in its workers. Until the early 20th
946 of these children migrated to other places with their century, coal miners in the United Kingdom and the United
family.72 In Bellary district, Karnataka, landless families States brought canaries into the mines as an early–warning
are also migrating to different parts of the area for work, signal for toxic gases such as methane and carbon monoxide.
which is resulting in children dropping out of school and The birds, being more sensitive to these toxic gases, would
discontinuing their education.73 become sick before the miners, thus giving them a chance
to escape or to put on protective respirators. Although this
A study carried out by CHILDLINE, in the limestone mines practice has been discontinued, mine workers still face serious
of Junagarh district, Gujarat, found that 78 per cent of the occupational health risks. There have been numerous media
out of school children who were interviewed cited migration and NGO reports documenting how exposure to harmful
as the major reason for dropping out. Most of the children dusts, gases and fumes causes respiratory diseases, and can
were registered in their local village school, but could not develop into tuberculosis (TB), silicosis, pulmonary fibrosis,
go to the school near the mines partially due to lack of asbestosis and emphysema after some years of exposure.76
transport, but also because they could not get admission in
the local school without valid documentation.74 The specific impacts of mining are diverse, depending
on the nature of the minerals extracted and the extent
As well as the migration cycle and consequent lack of of exploitation. Silica stone is known to cause silicosis
consistency, language barriers often prevent migrant in workers exposed to this dust. This fatal lung disease
children from accessing education and healthcare in India. is difficult to diagnose; it is frequently misdiagnosed as
When migrants cross a state border, they are often unable TB and is incurable. The symptoms are similar to TB
to speak the local language — at least up to a sufficient level and mine workers often get TB treatment instead, which
to study in it. Currently, only a few states, such as Andhra fails to combat this disease. In Shankargarh block of
Pradesh and Orissa, have initiated bilingual or multilingual Allahabad district, Uttar Pradesh, around one in three of
education strategies. the 25,000 quarry workers are suffering from what they
call “Shankargarh-wali TB” — many of these are probably
Impacts on Health actually suffering from silicosis, though they have not heard
of the disease. The average life span for a mine worker in
the area is 40 years.77 The Haryana-based group Prasar has
Health impacts are manifested in the lives of mining children
campaigned extensively on silicosis amongst quarry workers
in different ways. They are affected because their parents
in the state. They estimate that at one site, Lal Kuan in
working in the mines fall ill or because they themselves fall
Uttaranchal, 3,000 quarry workers have already died of
ill working in mines or because they live in areas where the
“TB.” Although the national average risk of TB infection
entire environment has been affected by mining.
is 1.5 per cent, in this area every second person is affected.
Surveys have revealed that a number of these TB cases are
Children carry the burden of parents’ indeed silicosis.78
illness
Hundreds of migrant adivasi workers from Madhya Pradesh
Children suffer because they are children of miners. have reportedly died of silicosis whilst working in the
According to the ILO, mining is one of the three most quartz crushing factories in central Gujarat.79 Studies by the
dangerous occupations to work in along with agriculture National Institute of Occupational Health and the Gujarat

72. Interview with Santulan, Maharashtra, September 2009.

73. Interviews with mineworkers, Bellary, Karnataka, June 2009.
74. CHILDLINE India Foundation, Living with Stones – Children of the mines, part of the Children at Risk report series, 2008.
75. ILO, Eliminating Child Labor in Mining and Quarrying: Background Document, 12 June 2005.
76. MLPC, Broken Hard, http://www.indianet.nl/steengroeven/factsheet/Brokenhard.pdf, uploaded: 11 February 2010.
77. Frontline, Annie Zaidi, Silent Victims of Silicosis, 4 November 2005, http://www.flonnet.com/fl2222/stories/20051104002009200.htm, uploaded: 19 October
2009.
78. Ibid.
79. Economic and Political Weekly, Amita Baviskar, Contract Killings: Silicosis among Adivasi Migrant Workers, 21 June 2008.
28

Pollution Control Board have revealed that air quality as the difficult environment in which they live. A recent
is dangerously above what is safe for workers. Yet despite study has revealed that over 50 per cent of children working
stringent regulations specified for quartz crushing units by at a stone quarry in Moshi, Maharashtra have reduced lung
the Central Pollution Control Board, there is no system of function and all the symptoms of asthma. The study was
monitoring in place and no punitive action has been taken carried out by a local paediatric doctor with 70 children,
against factory owners.80 A survey of 21 villages in Jhabua over a period of two and a half years. The doctor found that
district, Madhya Pradesh, found that 489 people from 281 children who had been exposed to the dust for over five
households were exposed to silica dust. Of these, 158 have years were most affected, and most of these children had
died and 266 are ill with silicosis — meaning that 86 per cent been exposed to the dust right from their birth.85
are either dead or incurably ill following exposure. Ninety
four per cent of the deaths have occurred within three years Private doctors taking advantage of mineworkers
of exposure to silica dust.81 In Wagholi, Maharashtra, there are more than 60 private
doctors running clinics in the stone quarrying area. Often
Mining reduces life expectancy. Most mineworkers have a they misguide their patients by informing them that they
tragically short life span averaging between 45 to 55 years. need saline drips or injections in order to earn money
Children working in the industry from an early age are from them. These daily wage labourers are desperate — if
likely to burn themselves out by the time they reach 30 or they do not work, then they don’t get paid. Therefore they
35 years.82 Exposure to numerous health hazards at such a believe the doctors who can give them medicines to help
young age greatly lowers their longevity and quality of life. them to get through that day, rather than provide real
This increased morbidity among adults also forces their treatment for their ailments.
children to take over the economic burden of the family. In
Source: Interview with Santulan’s doctor, Maharashtra, September 2009.
Rajasthan, many workers interviewed explained that after
the age of 40, they were forced to take frequent absences
from work due to TB and silicosis and life expectancy The doctor working with Santulan in the Wagholi stone
amongst mine-workers is reported to be lower than average quarries in Maharashtra said that over 40 per cent of
in these areas.83 children in this area are suffering from anaemia, as their low
economic status does not allow families to access adequate
Again and again, communities across the country explained nutrition.86 He treats more than 200 stone quarry workers
how children were forced to drop out of school in order to every month for lung problems and bronchial diseases that
contribute financially to their family after their mineworker are very common among stone quarry workers. The first
parents had become sick with illnesses such as TB and stage of lung diseases is usually bronchitis, then it turns into
silicosis. In a village in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, a asthmatic bronchitis and finally into acute asthma. These
man explained how two of his sons (who are both below 18 diseases are caused by dust inhalation.87
years) work in the stone quarries and diamond mines because
he became ill with malaria and TB and can no longer work. A study carried out by the NGO Gravis in Rajasthan found
The boys have to work in order for the family to survive and that there were two major factors that adversely affected the
to enable them to purchase medicines.84 health of child miners: malnutrition and working in extremely
hazardous conditions.88 Interviews carried out by MLPC
Children living in mining sites are victims of both the poor in the Salumber Primary Health Centre in Morilla village,
socio-economic status of their parents and families, as well Udaipur district, revealed the same.89 “We do not know what

80. Economic and Political Weekly, Amita Baviskar, Contract Killings: Silicosis among Adivasi Migrant Workers, 21 June 2008.
81. Ibid.
82. Gravis, Tales of Woe: A Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Jodhpur and Makrana, March 2004, p. 12.
83. Interviews with mining-affected communities, Rajasthan, July 2009.
84. Interview with former mineworker, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, September 2009.
85. The Times of India, 50 per cent children at Moshi quarry have asthma, 18 November 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/50-children-at-
Moshi-quarry-have-asthma/articleshow/5241904.cms.
86. Ibid.
87. Interview with Santulan doctor, Wagholi, Maharasthra, September 2009.
88. Gravis, Tales of Woe: A Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Jodhpur and Makrana, March 2004, p. 20.
89. MLPC interview with Salumber PHC, Morilla village, Udaipur district, October 2009.
 29

we will eat tomorrow,” said a woman mine worker from the the study reported that they often became injured at work
Bhuri Beri mine who was interviewed during the course of and incidences of fatalities are alarmingly common.
this study. In several villages, women said their children had
never been weighed or measured. Very few of the children One PHC in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, reported that
interviewed ate vegetables regularly, and none of them had they treat at least 20 mine workers every day who have
fruit or dairy products. To be denied a balanced diet at such come in with injuries, mostly caused from blasting work.92
a critical age leads to chronic malnutrition and restricts their Every mine worker we spoke to in Rajasthan said that
growth and full mental development, as well as making them they had witnessed accidents at their place of work. In
highly susceptible to developing serious health problems in Dhirampuri mining area, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, we
the future.90 were told that seven to eight people die in mining accidents
there every year. A tribal man working in this area explained
According to people living in the iron ore mining communities how an iron rod fell down on his chest and almost killed
of Bellary, Karnataka, both adults and children are suffering him. As the contractors provide no help in the event of an
from breathing problems caused by exposure to the red dust. accident, he was taken to hospital by his brother who had
The most common diseases that people reported in the area been working alongside him. He spent around Rs.7,000
are asthma and TB.91 Similar stories were heard from mine on medical treatment and was not able to work for a long
communities across the country. period. As the workers are casual day labourers with no
employment rights, the contractors take no responsibility
for deaths or injuries caused in the workplace. In the event
Injuries and death due to accidents of death, families rarely receive compensation and injured
in mines persons are forced to take unpaid time off work and cover
their own medical costs.
Mine and quarry workers across the world are particularly
vulnerable to accidents. Although there have been no In Bellary district, Karnataka, the women mine workers
comprehensive studies to analyse the rate and incidence of interviewed said they had also witnessed accidents in the
accidents in the mining sector in India, there is no doubt iron ore mines. One woman had lost her newborn baby in
that accidents in informal mines and quarries are common. an accident at the site, whilst another had seen a 20-year-old
Workers from the eight states interviewed in the course of pregnant woman crushed to death by rocks.93

At the age of 12, Yellappa Chaugule was left orphaned when his parents lost their lives in a stone quarry accident. He was
sent to work in a quarry by his aunt to earn for his survival. However, five years back he was rescued from the quarry and
is now attending a Santulan-run school.

Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan Pashan Shala, 1997 – 2007

“My name is Mohit (name changed). My age is around 16-17 years, I am not sure. I am from the village of Salarapentha.
After my family lost our land for the mining company, my father became sick with tuberculosis after working for some
time in the mining company, and he died. The company initially promised all the affected that jobs will be provided to all
families, but so far no villager got a job. I am the highest qualified person from my village as I failed in matriculation. I
work in the mines as a daily wage worker and earn Rs. 60 per day. Sometimes I earn Rs. 1,800 per month when there is full
time work, but most often, work is irregular. We do not have access to drinking water, medical facilities or housing from
the company. I am married and I have a lot of tension to make my family survive. So I take mahua (a type of alcohol)
sometimes to beat the stress. My mother is also a victim of tuberculosis and it is very difficult to handle the expenditure
on medical costs and also buy food. I was very interested in going to college but I have to support my family.”

Source: Interview carried out in Keonjhar district, Orissa, 16 February 2010

90. Gravis, Tales of Woe: A Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Jodhpur and Makrana, March 2004, p. 20.
91. Interviews with mineworkers, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
92. Interview with nurse, Fidusar Chopar Primary Healthcare Centre, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, July 2009.
93. Interviews with mineworkers, Bellary district, Karnataka, August 2009.
30

Accidents from blasting activities are common in stone children injured each year in mining accidents in India.
quarries across India. In November 2009, a newspaper However, anecdotal evidence from the mining areas suggests
reported how five people were killed and six injured in a stone that accidents and injuries are common. According to a
quarry blast in a “freak explosion” triggered by a lightning flash register kept by Santulan in Maharashtra, they had records
in a stone quarry at Mathur village, 15 km from Chengalpattu, of 31 cases of major mining accidents, which had taken place
in Tamil Nadu.94 A local police officer explained how similar between 2004-07 in the Wagholi mining area, of which
accidents have occurred in at least two other quarries in the three cases were children. However, this data is incomplete
area. This shows how adequate safety mechanisms have not and therefore cannot be taken as an accurate reflection of
been put in place to protect people working in these quarries. the situation of mine accidents, as records are not being
Children are affected when the adults in the family die or maintained properly either by the mine workers, mine owners
are injured in mining accidents. or by local organisations. Most of the time, the mine owners
provide first aid and primary treatment but no long term
Because their bodies are growing and developing, children treatment or compensation, however serious the injury. In
working in mining are at even greater risk of being injured many cases, workers have been made permanently disabled
or falling ill than adult workers. Ill health problems may not and could not continue work, which pushes the burden of
become apparent until the child worker is an adult.95 Forced family survival on the children. A women’s group in Moshi,
to carry out work heavier than their bodies are designed to Maharashtra told the researchers that a 15-year-old boy had
cope with, children may suffer from severe back pain, spinal recently been killed in an accident whilst working in a stone
injuries and other musculo-skeletal disorders. Ill health quarry nearby.98 The CHILDLINE study in Gujarat found
problems may not become apparent until the child worker that 30 per cent of the children interviewed had experienced
is an adult. A study carried out amongst children working accidents whilst working in the mines, mostly from breaking
in mines in Nepal showed that the frequency of injury stones and blasting.99
there is very high, with 59 per cent of these child workers
explaining that they get injured very frequently, frequently or
occasionally.96 Children are also forced to work under direct Health impacts because of living
sunshine and are exposed to high temperatures, particularly near mines
in India where the mining and quarrying “boom” season takes
place just before the monsoon, when temperatures reach over Living close to the mining sites brings its own set of
40 degrees celsius in many parts of the country. health problems. The most well documented is the impact
of uranium mining, with the radiation known to cause
The CHILDLINE study of the limestone mines of Junagarh serious illnesses and diseases. Although the government
district, Gujarat, found that a large number of children insists that there is no threat of radiation to local people or
working in these mines were suffering from occupational health hazards from the uranium mining, local residents tell
health problems, such as frequent coughs and colds as a different story in Jaduguda, Jharkhand. The radioactivity
well as skin diseases. However, a lack of awareness in the associated with uranium and nuclear waste dumped in
community about the health hazards of mining meant that this area has been a cause of major health hazards, and
people were attributing these problems to the climate, or not severe deformities have been observed among the children
knowing what was causing them to fall sick. They were not of the area.100 Women living in close proximity to these
relating it to the work they were carrying out.97 uranium mines in Jaduguda, where radiation levels have
been scientifically proven to be above the permissive limits,
Of course, because the employment of children in mining have experienced a number of reproductive health problems
is banned, there are no records to show the number of with high rates of miscarriages and children being born

94. Express Buzz, Dennis Selvan, Five killed in stone quarry blast, 20 November 2009, http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Five+killed+in+sto
ne+quarry+blast&artid=8%7CXU1eGNYq8=.
95. ILO, Eliminating Child Labor in Mining and Quarrying: Background Document, 12 June 2005.
96. Ibid.
97. CHILDLINE India Foundation, Living with Stones – Children of the mines, part of the Children at Risk report series, 2008.
98. Interviews carried out in Moshi, Maharashtra, September 2009.
99. CHILDLINE India Foundation, Living with Stones – Children of the mines, part of the Children at Risk report series, 2008.
100. Ranjan K. Panda, Undermining Development, 2007, http://www.skillshare.org/skillshare_india_underminingdevelopment.html, uploaded: 20 October 2009.
 31

GURIA is a dark-eyed little girl, who lies on a rope bed in the shade of her
house, waiting for her daddy to come home. She grins as she sees him, and
those dark eyes light up. Her father returns his daughter's smile as he picks her
up in his arms. But his eyes are filled with tears. Guria can't speak. Nor can she
walk. She can't feed herself. Her hands — if you can call them hands — are
bent and quiver. Her legs are useless. But her eyes reach out. Guria is seven
years old.
A stone's throw from her house, another girl lies on another bed made of rope. She is 23. She is like Guria, save for the fact
she also seems to be in pain. She gasps for breath; her look is anguished. She is fully dressed in her outdoor clothes, but
she never goes anywhere, never has been anywhere. For 23 years this has been her life.
The parents of these girls aren't sure what's caused their daughters' plight. There are around 50 other children in the village
of Jaduguda in a similar condition. ….
But the critics of the mine say it is the children who survive, for however long, who are the most damning evidence of the
damage being done — children with skeletal distortions, partially formed skulls, swollen heads, missing eyes and ears,
fused fingers, blood disorders, and brain damage.
Source: Mark Whitekar, Jaduguda's hapless children, The Hindu, May 06, 2006

with physical and mental deformities.101 There are reports In Bellary district, Karnataka, the local population
of at least 50 severely deformed children living in Jaduguda. complained of breathing problems caused by dust pollution
Many of these children can neither speak nor walk and from the iron ore mines. Both adults and children also said
their parents remain uncertain about what has caused these they suffered hearing problems from the noisy blasting
problems.102 The Uranium Corporation of India Limited work.106
(UCIL) insists it is not to blame and has defended its health
and safety record in court. However, studies have found that In Sundergarh district of Orissa, where limestone and
congenital deformities in the area are far higher than the dolomite quarrying are taking place, local communities
national average, and symptoms synonymous with health complained of numerous health problems. According to the
problems caused by radioactive waste.103 medical officer of the Community Health Centre (CHC) in
Birmitrapur, occupational health problems are significantly
Health workers in the cities of Punjab like Bathinda and higher in the area and he reported that people suffered from
Faridkot have also observed a sharp increase in the number respiratory illnesses, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), filaria and
of children born with birth defects — physical and mental other water borne diseases mainly due to mining activities.
deformities and cancers among children. Scientific tests He also stated that there is a severe shortage of medicines in
carried out in 22 villages in the district found that uranium the PHC due to the high rate of illnesses, but the hospital
has contaminated milk, wheat, pulses and water.104 This does not get any help from the mining companies even as a
groundwater contamination could have been caused by social welfare cause.107 Reported cases of TB in the area have
granite found in Tusham hills in Bhiwani, Haryana, as increased from 228 in 2006, to 433 in 2009.108
granite contains radioactive metals like uranium. Tests also
revealed that the children had massive levels of uranium in In Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, the home of coal, iron ore,
their bodies — in one case more than 60 times the maximum dolomite and limestone mining, the most common illnesses
safe limit — which they believe to be caused by the power reported amongst the children were malaria, diarrhea,
stations located close by.105 pneumonia, skin ailments, bronchitis, gastroenteritis,
101. mines, minerals and People, Impacts of Mining on Women’s Health in India, 15 April 2003.
102. BBC News, Mark Whitaker, Living next to India’s uranium mine, 4 May 2006.
103. India Environment Portal, Aparna Pallavi, Uranium mine waste imperils villages in Jaduguda, 14 March 2008.
104. India Environment Portal, Savvy Soumya Misha, Uranium in food, water in Bathinda, 30 April 2009.
105. The Observer, India’s generation of children crippled by uranium waste, Gethin Chamberlain, 30 August 2009.
106. Interviews with mining-affected communities, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
107. Interviews with health officials, Sundergarh district, Orissa, November 2009.
108. Data provided by the CHC, Birmitrapur, Sundergarh, Orissa, November 2009.
32

abdominal pains, arthritis, jaundice and other respiratory utilising its fair share. Mining companies require water
ailments. Hydrocele is also reported to have increased in for both the extraction and processing of minerals. The
the last five years.109 Health officials working at the health mining operations, refineries and smelters all require large
centre in Korked, Raigarh, admitted that there are far more quantities of water. The resources for this are the dams that
patients approaching the centre now than before, and this is were originally built to provide water and irrigation for the
due to health problems created by mining.110 local populations living there. Now, mining companies are
diverting it for their own use.114
There are also health problems that are found in mining
areas that may not have any direct link with the mining What is worse, not only have the mining operations taken
process, but is related to the migration that takes place as a away access to water, in many places, local communities
result of mining. Amongst these are reports of a high level of are at the mercy of the mining companies for their water
sexually transmitted diseases, in particular HIV and AIDS requirements. In the Urimari mining area in Jharkhand,
in mining communities across the world. HIV is particularly some of the relocated villages are entirely dependent on the
prevalent in migrant workforces, such as mining labour, and company to provide drinking water, as the water sources in
the risks workers take in the mines on a daily basis means this area are too contaminated for consumption. The water
that unprotected sex is viewed as a minor hazard.111 trucks usually come around midnight, so women are forced
to wait around for hours at night for water to arrive.115
With communities becoming economically vulnerable,
children and women are found to become particularly Some of the villages like Milupara that are close to the mine
vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking, and sites suffer from both water and air pollution. The villagers
hence also sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and observed that water contamination is affecting reproductive
AIDS. In a recent survey carried out by the Jharkhand health as children are observed to be born either weak or
AIDS Control Society, findings reveal that mine workers with some abnormalities.116 Health officials at the health
are especially prone to AIDS. This is attributed to the centre in Korked, Raigarh, reported that fungal infections
low literacy rate and poor health facilities in these mining and hepatitis are on the rise, mainly due to infections from
areas.112 In Amalabadi village, in Koraput district, Orissa, polluted water.117
in a community that was displaced for mining activities,
residents reported an increase in the spread of HIV In Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, most of the bauxite is
and AIDS. They explained that they were particularly located on hilltops and the water supplies in these areas
vulnerable because of their status as migrant workers and are just below the deposits. This is bound to affect the
the prevalence of prostitution. There are between 100-200 health of children living in and around the mining sites.
HIV positive people in the village, which is considered the A similar story can be seen in Goa, in the iron-ore mining
highest infection rate in the district.113 areas. Despite its vast network of rivers and lakes, water is
becoming increasingly scarce in the state. Mining involves
pumping out ground water as mine pits get filled from the
Loss of Access to water aquifers below, thereby depleting the entire groundwater in
the region, as was witnessed in Shirgao village of Bicholim,
Mining impacts upon access to clean water because it in North Goa. The villages around this mine have been left
is an extremely water-intensive activity, and in several completely without water both for irrigation and drinking,
parts of India there have already been serious concerns and farmers complain that agriculture is seriously affected
relating to water shortages and the mining industry over- by this disturbance to the water table.118
109. Interviews with mining-affected communities, Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, November 2009.
110. Interviews with health officials, Korked, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, November 2010.
111. Stablum, A., Reuters, Is HIV a timebomb under the mining industry?, 18 July 2007.
112. Saboo, S., Telegraph India, Mineworkers ‘prone’ to AIDS, 29 July 2009.
113. Interviews in Amalabadi village, Koraput district, Orissa, June 2009.
114. Presentation by Ravi Rebbapragada, Samata, New Delhi, August 2008.
115. Interviews in mining-affected communities in Urimari coal mining area, Jharkhand, September 2009.
116. Ibid.
117. Interviews out with health officials, Korked, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, November 2010.
118. E. Bild, CorpWatch, Goa Cursed By Its Mineral Wealth, April 2009.
 33

Serious health problems have already been documented in Existing legal, policy or programme
some areas. The impacts of polluted and scarce water are
most severe on children, who suffer from living in unhygienic interventions on health
conditions and from inadequate water consumption. For
example, around the chromite mines in Orissa, a study The Mines Act, 1952, laid out guidelines for the safety of
revealed that chromium present in the water is causing workers. It prescribes the duty of the mine owner to manage
irritation of the respiratory tract, nasal septum ulcers and mine operations and health and safety in mines. It also lays
pneumonia. Children with sores all over their body are also out the number of working hours in mines, minimum wage
described as a common sight.119 In the mica mining areas of rates and other related issues. However, whilst it is possible
Andhra Pradesh, people as young as 20 are suffering from that this is being applied in some of the larger, formal
arthritis. And water contamination from the mica mines has sector mines, there is no evidence of its application in the
given rise to several health hazards such as nausea, vomiting small-scale mining sector, where the vast majority of mine
and diarrhoea.120 labourers currently work in India.

In Tamil Nadu, communities living close to the lignite The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,
mines in Cuddalore district explained how earlier, they had and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, state that air
no problems with their water supply. But now the lignite pollution due to fines, dust, smoke of gaseous emissions
mining has gone deeper and deeper, the water supply has during prospecting, mining, beneficiation or metallurgical
been affected and farmers are not getting enough water for operations and related activities shall be controlled
their agricultural land. The flow of water has also changed and kept within “permissable limits.” However, this
as this has been diverted for mining. Their drinking water is permissible limit is a highly debatable issue.124
now contaminated with dust, which the locals say is causing
an increase in stomach problems.121 Legislation to address child health problems in relation
to mining is completely absent. Basic health programmes
A woman interviewed in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, and services do not reach the children as the administrative
explained how water was so scarce in their village, that she machinery is not geared towards making local modifications
was unable to bathe her children. Her six daughters were to accommodate the peculiar situations of migrant and
covered in dust and grime, and when she was asked about mining affected children. The PHCs are also not equipped
their health and hygiene she explained how she had so to cope with the kind of diseases that the mining affected
little water, she could not afford to waste it on bathing her population are exposed to, such as silicosis. Even the barest
children, but instead had to save it for drinking purposes.122 support structures like the anganwadi centres that are
intended to reduce child malnutrition, have found to be not
In Dhanapur, in Bellary district, Karnataka, the majority functioning in many of these mining regions.
of the population was engaged in agriculture until private
companies purchased land from the government and started
mining there. Farmers complain that they no longer have Loss of Access to Education
access to water for cultivating their crops, as the mining
companies are using the water for their activities. Their crops
All children have the right to elementary education. However,
are also affected by the dust from mining. Many farmers
in mining areas across the world, children can be seen toiling
have been virtually put out of business and have been forced
away in mines and quarries as opposed to attending school.
to sell their land to mining companies.123
Poverty is not the only reason for this. The global economy
in which we live ensures that child labour suppresses wage
levels; children continue to be employed in this sector

119. mines, minerals and People, Impacts of Mining on Women’s Health in India, 15 April 2003..
120. Ibid.
121. Interviews in mining-affected communities, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, August 2009.
122. Interviews in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, October 2009.
123. Interviews with farmers in Dhanapur, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
124. Background Paper by mines, minerals and People (MMP) for the Indian Women and Mining seminar, Impacts of Mining on Women’s Health in India, April 2003.
34

because companies can pay them less than adults to carry out 741 of which 400 are below the age of 18. The village has
the same work. Privatisation and informalisation of labour two primary schools, one middle school and one anganwadi
has directly led to increase in child labour, particularly in the centre. While the infrastructure and teaching leave much to
mining industry which keeps the workers impoverished and be desired, the school set up by the Jindals is far away from
indebted in a vicious trap. A study carried out in a mining area the village and too expensive for the local people to send
in Tanzania revealed that children had been forced to drop their children. Only the children of employees of Jindals,
out of school due to a lack of resources. Primary schools in therefore, attend this school.
this area were characterised by poor facilities, such as a lack
of classrooms, textbooks and other teaching equipment. The In Khamariah village, a mining area in Chhattisgarh, there is
low success rate of progression from primary to secondary an AWC, but only around 10-15 children attend it regularly.
school meant that children ended up working in the mines This is because the AWC building is dilapidated and people
because of the lack of alternatives for further education and said it was too dangerous for children to sit inside as the
training.125 roof may collapse any time. The records say that there are 28
children enrolled, but on the day our team visited only two
“The main problem is the lack of education here. We children were present.127 Sometimes the mining companies
are telling the government that we will give land and a simply encroach into the school premises or bulldoze the
building, but please give us a decent school. The mines can schools if they hinder their mining activities like in the
close anytime but if our children are educated, they can case of Goa, and Andhra Pradesh where the school was
find a job elsewhere.” use as a store house by the Birla Periclase agents.128
Source: Mineworker, Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, July 2009.
With mines and quarries often located in remote areas, this is
The problem of children accessing education in mining also compounded by a lack of or difficult access to education,
areas begins right from their birth. Despite an increasing particularly secondary education. The headmaster of the
recognition of the importance of early childhood care and high school in Potanga village, Jharkhand, complained that
education, these facilities are not available in many mining mining activities are not good for children, as the quick
areas. A lack of crèche facilities and anganwadi centres in money that they can earn from mining encourages them
these districts means that mothers often have no alternative not to attend school.129
but to take their small children to work with them. As well
as missing out on essential education and development Education figures from the most heavily mined districts in
opportunities, a mining site is one of the most hazardous India tell a worrying story. According to the most recent
places for a young child to be spending their days. ASER ASER survey by Pratham, Koraput and Rayagada districts
data reveals that several of the most heavily mined districts in Orissa have some of the largest numbers of out of school
in the country also have some of the highest number of children in the country, with 17.0 percent and 17.7 percent
children aged between three to six years not enrolled in an respectively of children aged 6-14 years still out of school
anganwadi. In Orissa, 56.9 percent of children in Koraput in 2008.130 Similar statistics can be seen in other mining
and 48.3 percent of children in Rayagada are not enrolled districts across the country. In Bellary, Karnataka, 14.1
in an AWC. And in Rajasthan, 51.4 percent of children in percent of children remain out of school and in Jodhpur and
Jodhpur and 36.5 percent of children in Udaipur are not Udaipur districts of Rajasthan — where thousands of people
enrolled in an AWC.126 Among the mining communities are employed in small-scale stone quarries — 12.1 per cent
visited in these two states, many people reported a lack of and 10.0 per cent of children respectively are missing out
AWC facilities in their area. on an education completely. Mining is clearly not promoting
education and development in these districts and is instead
One of the main villages studied in Chhatisgarh was Gare creating a culture in which children work rather than go
village in Tamnar Block which has a total population of to school.
125. ILO, Eliminating Child Labor in Mining and Quarrying: Background Document, 12 June 2005.Pratham, Annual Survey of Education, 2008.
126. Pratham, Annual Survey of Education, 2008.
127. Interview with anganwadi worker, Khamariah village, Chhattisgarh, November 2009.
128. Bhanumathi Kalluri, Campaign Against Illegal Mining – Experience of Samatha and the Tribals of Anantagiri, 1997.
129. Interview with headmaster, Potanga village high school, Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, September 2009.
130. Pratham, Annual Survey of Education, 2008.
 35

In several districts of Rajasthan, mine workers explained how legislation will be implemented in the mining areas, where
they had made financial sacrifices to send their children to large numbers of children are still forced to work rather
school, but after several years of attending local government than attend school, and where issues of displacement and
schools, their children were still not able to read or write due migration impact greatly on the child’s right to education.
to the poor quality of the education provided and frequent
teacher absences. One village in Jaisalmer district — where Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the government’s flagship
90 per cent of residents work in mining — explained how education programme aimed at achieving the
they had now given up on their government school and had universalisation of elementary education in India. However,
set up their own private school in the village. However, not the programme remains flawed in a number of ways. For
all the parents were able to afford to send their children to example, the scheme’s policy of promoting parallel systems
this school. of education has meant that children across the country
are being denied equal opportunity to a quality education.
In the mining areas of Bellary district, Karnataka, many Although the scheme has achieved some success in terms
families explained how their economic situation was so of increasing enrollment figures, retention continues to be
poor that their children are forced to work rather than a huge problem, with as many as 31 per cent of children
attend school. With the decline in mining in the area due dropping out before class V. This is particularly true in rural
to the economic downturn, some children have started to backward areas where mines and quarries tend to be located.
leave the mines and go back to school, but many others are In addition to this, the programme has failed to yet bring real
simply forced to look for alternative sources of income for improvements to both the facilities and quality of education
their family. Some children continue to go to school in the provided in the majority of these mining areas.
morning and work in the afternoon, others are only seasonal
workers, whereas a large number continue to work as full- Whilst the government is still failing to provide quality
time employees.131 Girls were particularly likely to be out
education to all children in mining areas, there have been a
of school, as parents did not recognise the importance of
number of NGO initiatives aimed at children in these parts
educating them when “they will be married in a few years
of the country. In Maharasthra, the NGO Santulan has
anyway.”132 A number of families in Mariyammnahalli village
set up a number of Pashan Shala schools around the stone
have lost their farmland to mining. Therefore they have had
quarrying areas, which currently reaches 2,001 children
to take their children out of school and send them to work.
scattered across five districts in Maharashtra, mostly the
The Don Bosco Shelter in Hospet explained that parents in
children of stone quarry workers who would otherwise be
the mining areas are willing to send their children to school,
working alongside their parents. These schools have now
but their economic situation was so bad that they are forced
been recognised by the state government. In Rajasthan, the
to send their children to work in the mines just to fulfill
organisation MLPC has established a number of crèche
their basic need for food.133
facilities around the mining areas in Jodhpur district to
address the problem of mothers having to take their small
Existing legal, policy or programme children to work with them. These crèches currently have
interventions in education 650 children under 6 years of age enrolled.

In September 2009, 16 years after the idea was first mooted, Internationally, efforts to reduce child labour and promote
the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education education in mining areas have been limited or at least
Act, 2009 has finally been enacted by Parliament. This not widely documented. In Peru, a number of NGOs, the
provides for free and compulsory education for all children ILO, the Government of Peru and the U.S. Department
in India aged between 6 to 14 years. Other key features of of Labour joined forces to launch an education project to
the Act include mandated improvements to the quality of combat child labour in mining in the country. This project
education provided to all children. Whilst this is a positive aimed to remove children from gold mining and place them
step in the right direction, it remains unclear how this in quality school settings.134
131. Interviews with female mineworkers, Bellary district, Karnataka, August 2009.
132. Interviews with mineworkers, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
133. Interview with director, Don Bosco Shelter, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
134. Pamela Baldwin, The impact of education in Peru’s gold mining communities, 26 October 2006, http://ourworld.worldlearning.org/site/
News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8467, uploaded: 5 November 2009.
36

Increase in Child Labour serious risk to their health and well being, exposing them to
serious injury or even death on a daily basis.” 135
“The image of youngsters, blackened by coal
The global recession has led to an increase in small-scale
dust, lugging laden carts from tunnels deep
mining, and thus the use of child labour, in a number of
underground was one of the factors which stirred
countries across the world. In 2008-09, Zambia’s copper
the ILO membership to adopt conventions against
mining industry has been forced to downsize its operations.
child labour at the start of the 20th century.
With nowhere else to go, unemployed miners have been
Astonishingly, almost a hundred years later, that
forced into informal, artisanal mines (that were previously
very image can still be seen in small-scale mines of
unable to compete with the large mines when copper prices
Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even parts of
were high) operating outside the regulatory framework
Europe.”
with poor working conditions. As a growing number of
- ILO, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour,
households are feeling the effects of the recent slump in the
Mining and Quarrying
demand for copper, children are being forced into working
in these small-scale mines.136
Children as young as 5 years of age are working, in
horrendous conditions, in mines and quarries across
In India, the global recession has meant that demand for
the world. Child labour in the mining sector is prevalent
minerals has reduced, and in some parts of the country
in many parts of Africa, South America and Asia. The
mining activity has slowed down since 2008, following
majority are working in small scale “artisanal” mines, which
the “boom” years of the early 21st century. This further
tend to be unregulated and often located in remote, hard-to-
highlights the unsustainable nature of the work as many
reach areas. The International Labour Organization (ILO)
mine workers have suddenly found themselves unemployed.
defines child labour in mining as the “Worst Form of Child
Since they work as daily wage labourers, with no contracts
Labour,” stating that “While all forms of child labour are
or employment rights, they do not receive compensation or
harmful to children, those who work in the mining sector
even notice of their impending unemployment. In Bellary
are in particular danger, labouring in conditions that pose a
district, Karnataka, the local population reported that the
number of child labourers in the mining sector has decreased
Child labour in mining
Cold, dark and dangerous these "unofficial" and The life of a child miner
unregulated coal mines and gold mines are no places for Rani (name changed) is 10 years old and working in the
children. Due to extreme poverty and lack of access to sandstone mines in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. She earns Rs. 70
education, some feel they have little choice but to risk a day, cleaning mine waste from 9am till 5pm. She works
the dangers. In some mines, children work as far as 90 about 15 days a month because she gets tired and needs
metres beneath the ground with only a rope with which to rest, and sometimes can’t find work in the local mines.
to climb in and out, inadequate ventilation and only a She has been to school (an NGO-run crèche) for just two
flashlight or candle for light. In small-scale mining, child days in her life. She is already addicted to gutka and
workers dig and haul heavy loads of rock, dive into rivers fights with her mother to spend money on soap and gutka
and flooded tunnels in search of minerals, set explosives for herself.
for underground blasting and crawl through narrow
Source: Interview carried out in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan
tunnels only as wide as their bodies. In quarries, children
dig sand, rock and dirt, transport it on their heads or
“My father died of some illness and therefore I had to
backs, and spend hours pounding larger rocks into gravel
go with my mother to the quarry,” said a 12 year-old girl
using adult-sized tools to produce construction materials
in one of the mines in Maharahtra. She broke down when
for roads and buildings.
asked to describe her work.
Source:: ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Press release: Cold,
dark and dangerous – Asian children in mining, 9 June 2005. Source: Interview in a stone quarry in Pune District, Maharashtra

135. ILO, Digging for Survival: The Child Miners, 2005.

136. ILO, The global crisis and rising child labour in Zambia’s mining communities: Are we facing a downward decent work spiral?, 10 August 2009.
 37

due to reduced demand for iron and manganese since the

Table 1.4: Total number of children working in mining and
peak period of 2000-2005. Child labour is not being reduced
quarrying in India (main and marginal workers)
because of positive efforts to address the problem by the state
Total main and or the mining companies; instead it is because of the overall
marginal worker status of mining due to recession. Many of these children
State 5-14 5-19 have been forced to turn to other forms of work to generate
year year an income, as opposed to being able to access education,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 11 107 and child labour is bound to increase again once the market
Andhra Pradesh 11,660 37,586 improves and demand for the minerals increases.
Arunachal Pradesh 3 30
It is difficult to measure the number of children involved
Assam 591 3,101
in mining, because of the remoteness, informal character of
Bihar 689 2,906 the sector and mobility factors. However, the ILO estimates
Chandigarh 2 17 that more than one million children are involved in mining
Chhattishgarh 426 2,897 across the world.137 The actual figure, though, may be much
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 13 97 higher than this, particularly given that the ILO states that
Daman and Diu 2 18 250,000 children work in mines in Niger alone. Child labour
in the mining sector is prevalent in numerous countries
Delhi 939 3,208
across Africa, Asia and Latin America, where children can
Goa 196 1,198 be found working mostly in small-scale underground and
Gujarat 2,120 12,323 opencast mines and quarries. They work in the extraction
Haryana 886 4,473 and processing of various types of ore and minerals, including
Himachal Pradesh 20 453 goal, silver, iron, tin, emeralds, coal, chrome, marble and
Jammu and Kashmir 58 268 stone. The ILO describes how “Today’s child miners do not
work directly for big mining companies. They may work for
Jharkhand 2,862 13,346
a small local mining or quarrying concern or with their own
Karnataka 4,669 18,276
families on small concessions near bigger mines.”138
Kerala 239 3,487
Lakshadweep 0 0 It is impossible to give an accurate figure for the number
Madhya Pradesh 2,747 12,655 of children working in mining and quarrying in India.
Maharashtra 2,095 11,758 According to the Census 2001, there were 45,135 children
Manipur 5 36 between 5-14 years working in the mining sector (see table
1.4), which means that the mining sector employs nearly
Meghalaya 154 881
7 per cent of working children in India. Child labour
Mizoram 64 216 figures are only disaggregated in the census up to 14 years.
Nagaland 3 54 However, figures reveal that are huge numbers of 15-19
Orissa 2,257 11,203 year olds working in this sector — 161,585 according to
Puducherry 11 57 the Census — so there are likely to be very large numbers
Punjab 61 537 of children 15–18 years working in the mines. Field visits
to mining areas confirmed this to be the case — this age
Rajasthan 4,296 29,498
group of children is very visible in the mines and quarries
Sikkim 26 148
across the country as they are better able than younger to
Tamil Nadu 2,708 14,879 children to carry out physically demanding work.
Tripura 76 198
Uttarakhand 2,045 4,870 However, the figures provided by the Census grossly
Uttar Pradesh 1,094 6,309 underestimate the scale of the problem. Organisations
West Bengal 2,107 9,630 working on mining in Rajasthan estimate that around
India 45,135 206,720 137. ILO, Digging for Survival: The Child Miners, 2005.
Source: Census, 2001 138. Ibid.
38

team found 6 children working alongside their families. Four

“My name is Sudeep. I am working with my father here of the children were below 12 years of age and were helping
in the stone quarries since 3-4 years. Now I am 18 years their parents throw the soil away. The parents stated that the
old. I come from Panna village. There is no fixed rate of children are enrolled in school, but they work half the day in
payment for the work I do. For digging out one plate of the mines and then attend school in the afternoon.144
stone we get Rs. 70-120 per day. In a day we can take
out 5-6 plates of the stone, as a group. I can say that I In Mannor village, which has a child population of around
earn Rs.100-120 in one day. But I can only work for 12- 300, only 20 are reported to be attending school. When
15 days in a month as the work is very strenuous. I have children reach the age of 10 or 12, they join daily wage work
never been to school”. in the diamond mines. It is claimed that only 2 children have
Source:: Interview carried out in Purna panna stone and diamond quarries, 18 studied up to class V in this village.
August 2009

Cases of state and industry irresponsibility are seen even

375,000 children work in the mines and quarries across that
where a precious stone like diamond is concerned, children
state alone. In Karnataka, estimates suggest that there are
are working in Madhya Pradesh to find diamonds for local
at least a few lakh139 children engaged in mining there.140
contractors, where the stakes are extremely high but the
So the number of children working in mining in India is
trade routes are deliberately made elusive. The Obulapuram
,in fact, likely to be much closer to the one million that the
mines and the child labour in Bellary is another clear
ILO gives as the worldwide figure. The blurring of children
example of this. The local contractors who hire child labour
and women’s labour has been cited as one impediment
do not even make a pretention of hiding the facts. In Bellary
to accurate data on children working in mining in India,
they stated that they are immune from laws and regulations,
as often in reports and statistics women and children are
which they flout openly because “it is taken care of ” by the
lumped together.141
Obulapuram Mines. This reflects the arrogant defiance to
law as law-keepers can be easily purchased to the highest
In Kallali, in Bellary district, Karnataka, large numbers of
levels of power. In most of the areas we found that mining,
children from the Madiga community (a Scheduled Caste)
undoubtedly, was a dirty business with more illegal than
are engaged in stone crushing work, prescribed to be their
legal modes of operation.
traditional occupation. Over 20 percent of the children aged
between 8-14 years from the villages in this area are said to
Poverty is often presented as the only factor that explains
be working at the mining sites. According to the children
child labour in the mining sector. However, the actual
interviewed, there are over 100 crushing machines in the
picture is far more complex than this. A multitude of socio-
surrounding area, and at each crushing site at least 20-25
economic factors have led to a situation where, in the 21st
children are working, most of them girls, earning around
century, large numbers of children can still be seen toiling
Rs.100-110 per day for their labour.142
in our mines and quarries. The systemic and deliberate
reason is that child labour is cheap, and this cheap labour
In Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, locals explained how
is welcomed by contractors in the mining and quarrying
most of the boys and girls start working by the age of 10.
sector. Children are also compliant, easier to control and
In Bador village, the community elders said that there were
have no bargaining power. Children are often forced into
about 200 children in the village, of which around 100 attend
mining because of the low wages received by their parents.
the primary school. However, they drop out by fifth grade
They are pushed into the labour force in order to enable the
and join the mine labour. Parent explained that as future
family to survive, particularly in difficult times, such as that
breadwinners of families, they have to learn the work early
of family injury or illness.
in life.143 At a diamond mine in Panna district, the research

139. One lakh is equal to 100,000.

140. Fact-finding Team, Our Mining Children, April 2005. http://rimmrights.org/Documents/2005-India-Bellary%20fact%20finding%20report.pdf, uploaded: 10
February 2010.
141. K. Lahiri-Dutt, Digging to Survive: Women's Livelihoods in South Asia's Small Mines and Quarries, 2008.
142. Interviews with children, Kallali, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009.
143. Interviews with mining-affected community, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, September 2009.
144. Interviews at diamond mine, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, September 2009.
 39

Bearing in mind that many of the workers in the mining greater for girls, as these sub-standard wages often force
sector are migrant labourers, women also commonly migrate young girls into much more severe forms of exploitation,
with their families and therefore provide a family unit of such as prostitution.146
labour, which includes children.145 The lack of child-care and Again and again, research shows that where children are
schools in mining areas is another factor which explains the given viable options, they wish to attend school – and
presence of high numbers of children at mines and quarries parents equally want their children educated to give them
across in India. Women as new migrants move into small the opportunity of a better future.147 Mining is not viewed
mines of quarries with little or no support for looking after as a “desirable” form of livelihood and children working in
children, so they are forced to take their children with them mines are there as a last resort in terms of survival.
to the workplace.
As well as working in the mines and quarries, there is a
The continued abuse of bonded labour in the mining sector high incidence of other forms of child labour in the mining
also pushes children into the mines. In Rajasthan, the high areas across India — in all likelihood, due to low wages
incidence of injuries and illnesses amongst mineworkers, and and high rates of illness amongst adult mine workers. Field
the lack of any health care or insurance, means that adult observations in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan confirmed that
workers frequently get into debt, as they have to borrow although some children are employed in paid work — in
from the contractors during difficult times. They are then mines, agriculture or restaurants — a far greater number
forced to provide free labour whilst they pay off these debts. are involved in adult-releasing tasks or supplement adult
This form of bondage often becomes inter-generational, labour.148 Such activities include herding goats, fetching
with children working to pay off the debts of their parents water and firewood, looking after younger siblings and other
when they are unable to do so. domestic tasks.

Child labour perpetuates the cycle of poverty within An accurate analysis of child labour in the mining areas also
families. Forcing children to work below a subsistence needs to take these kinds of activities into account, as these
wage, in the unsustainable work that small-scale mining children are still missing out on their right to education and
and quarrying provides, greatly reduces the chance that the opportunity to attend school.
these children will ever be able to pull themselves out of
the poverty into which they were born. The risks are even
Working conditions
Shristhi (name changed) is 16 years old and works in The ILO classifies mining as one of the “worst forms of
a mine site. Her father, who was a mineworker, died of labour” because of the extent and severity of the hazards, and
an illness nearly 5 years back. She has one older sister the risks of death, injury and disease.149 Children work long
(married), a younger sister who is at home, three brothers hours without any form of protective equipment, clothing or
at school and one brother older than her who also works training. They are exposed to extreme temperatures with no
as a mine worker. Her mother too works in the mines. protection from the sun. As well as lung diseases caused by
Shristhi earns about Rs. 100/- a day working from 9.00 inhaling dusts and gases, child miners often suffer physical
am to 5.00 pm. She said that she had been working for strain, fatigue and muscular-skeletal disorders due to the
nearly 4 years now as they needed the money to run the heavy work involved. As their bodies are still growing and
house. Around two to three days in a month she does not developing, they face greater dangers and risk of damage
go to work as she rests at home. She suffers from leg and than adult labour in this sector. Many of the injuries and
backache. Shristhi has never been to school. health problems may result in permanent disability — and
Source:: Interviews in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, October 2009. these health problems may not become apparent until the
child worker is an adult.150

145. K. Lahiri-Dutt, Digging to Survive: Women's Livelihoods in South Asia's Small Mines and Quarries, 2008.
146. Gravis, Tales of Woe: A Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Jodhpur and Makrana, March 2004, p. 16.
147. Ibid; and field interviews in mining-affected communities across India, 2009.
148. MLPC, Broken Hard, http://www.indianet.nl/steengroeven/factsheet/Brokenhard.pdf, uploaded: 11 February 2010.
149. ILO, Eliminating Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying, 2005.
150. Ibid.
40

Working conditions in the informal mining sector across The government’s response to the situation has previously
the world are notoriously poor, and the situation in India been to argue that as it is illegal, child labour in the
is no different. The unorganised sector remains outside the mining sector is not a problem. And they continue to live
purview of legal protection in terms of labour conditions, so in denial. This is evident from the answers to the parliament
the majority of the labourers work in dangerous, unregulated raised on questions related to child labour in mining. This
conditions. Pay varies across the sector and across states, but happened when a question was raised in 2003,151 and has
is always low and generally lower than the minimum wage been the same later too. In 2005 the Minister of Labour
of that state. In addition to this, the casual nature of the and Employment was asked the Governments reaction to
work means that there are no employment benefits such as International Labour Organisation (ILO) observation
sick pay, paid holidays or health insurance, so workers often that there are one million children aged between 5 and 17
end up in debt during difficult times, such as periods of ill presently toiling in mines and quarries all over the world; if
health. so, what is the reaction of the Government in this regard;
whether the Government had ascertained the exact number
Conditions in small-scale mines and quarries are almost of children aged between 5 and 17 toiling in mines and
always extremely primitive. Mining contractors provide quarries in the country; if so, the details thereof; and the
nothing to make the workers lives more bearable. None efforts being made to remedy the situation?
of the sites visited in the course of the study had toilets
or drinking water. The lack of sanitation is particularly The Minister, Sri Chandra Shekhar Rao replied that
challenging for women and girls. No shade or shelter is there is no reference to India in the said report. He added
provided at the sites, meaning that children are forced to that mining occupations have already been prohibited
work in long hours with no protection at all from the sun. as hazardous occupation under the Child Labour
Despite the prevalence of accidents, we are yet to come across (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986. What is more he
a mine where the contractors provide anything in the wear replied that occupation-wise data of child labour in the
of protection, such as helmets or face-masks, to workers and country is not maintained. (This is surprising since the
the lack of first aid facilities at the site means that in the Census 2001 data quoted in Table 1.4 gives this information.)
event of an accident or illness, workers are often forced to He added that the Government is implementing the National
travel long distances to the nearest healthcare centre. Child Labour Project Scheme for the withdrawal and
rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations
and processes. The Scheme involves enrolling the working
Legal framework for children in special schools and providing them education,
Child Labour vocational training, nutrition, health care, stipend, etc. and
finally, mainstreaming them into regular schools.152
There is no blanket ban against child labour in India.
In the very same year, based on the fact finding in the iron
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
ore mines of Hospet and Bellary, that was a precursor to
prohibits the engagement of children in certain employments
the current effort, the Minister for Labour was once again
and regulates the conditions for work for children in
asked about whether several lakh children are still working
certain other employments. The list of hazardous forms of
in the mines throughout the country and a large number
employment has been added to on several occasions since
of them starting from the age of five, working in the most
the Act was passed in 1986, but mining and collieries are the
hazardous conditions and leading a horrible existence as
only forms of mining included on the original list. Article
(reported in the Hindu dated May 16, 2005) and whether
24 of the Constitution of India, drafted in 1950, states that:
the school dropout rate is high in mining regions of the
“No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work
country; and whether there is a demand to conduct an
in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous
enquiry in all the mines in the country and to come up with
employment.” Despite this, 60 years after the Constitution
a comprehensive report on child labour. The honourable
came into effect, thousands of children across India continue
Minister replied saying that it is not true that several lakh
to work in mines and quarries.

151. Fact-finding Team, Our Mining Children, April 2005. http://rimmrights.org/Documents/2005-India-Bellary%20fact%20finding%20report.pdf, uploaded: 10
February 2010.
152. Lok Sabha starred question No.19 answered on 25.07.2005
 41

children are working in mines in Karnataka as reported in Rs.100 a month, as well as nutrition, vocational training and
The Hindu dated May 16, 2005. regular health check ups. The coverage of the NCLP scheme
increased to 250 districts during the Tenth Plan, and now
He further reiterated that the use of child labour working includes a number of areas where there is widespread mining,
in mines is prohibited under the Child Labour (Prohibition such as districts in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Rajasthan. The
& Regulation) Act, 1986 since working in mines has been NCLP scheme has been heavily criticised for its failure to
identified as a hazardous occupation and any employer reach the number of children necessary. Of the 150 districts
employing children below the age of 14 in mines is liable to sanctioned under the Tenth Plan, projects have still only
penal action which includes imprisonment. been sanctioned in 86 of these districts, and although the
scheme has now been officially increased to a total of 250
He said that instructions to enforce strictly the Child districts, this still only covers half the country.154 Whilst we
Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act in the entire know that there are huge numbers of children across the
country for all hazardous occupations including working country still engaged in hazardous forms of labour, as of
in mines for children has been conveyed to all the state May 2007, only 392,413 children have been mainstreamed
governments including the Government of Karnataka and through the NCLP scheme.155
that the government is very serious in effective enforcement
of the Act and in the implementation of the National Child It was a shocking discovery during the field visits that there
Labour Projects in the country. “Mining is a very widespread are hardly any NCLP schools operating in the areas where
activity in the country and it takes place both in the organised mining affected children live. In most places, it is the local
sector and in the unorganised sector. There is no evidence NGOs who are providing these facilities either in the case
to indicate that the school drop out rates amongst children of Pashan Shalas in Pune district of Maharashtra or in the
working in mines is higher than the general drop out rates in form of Tent schools run in Bellary and Sandur districts in
the other areas in the country” he added.153 Karnataka.

The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) is the oldest In addition to the national laws on child labour in the
scheme of the government to address child labour and was mining sector, there are several international conventions
initiated in 1988, to target children working in hazardous which relate to this form of labour. The guiding international
occupations in the child labour endemic districts. The framework for child rights is the Convention on the Rights
scheme involves establishing Special Schools for rescued of the Child, which was signed by India in 1992. Article 32
child labourers and provides children with a stipend of of the Convention states:

Ajit (name changed) hails from Dom Koral village of Tikiri. “States Parties recognise the right of the child to
He is 17 years old. As his father died five years ago, he be protected from economic exploitation and from
was forced to take on the entire burden of the family performing any work that is likely to be hazardous
and become the sole breadwinner. He works as a manual or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be
labourer under different contractors in mining activities harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental,
and earns around Rs.60 a day. He stated that the mining spiritual, moral or social development.” 156
work is erratic due to the community protests and strikes,
and hence his earnings are irregular. “I do odd jobs at the In spite of this agreement, children continue to be employed
mine site as there is construction work going on. Work in hazardous work in mines and quarries across the country.
is very tough and therefore, I have gradually become India has also ratified the ILO Convention C123 Minimum
addicted to liquor and gutka - I can’t help it”. Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965 in 1975, which
bans children under 16 years from working in underground
Source: Interview carried out in Dom Koral, Kasipur, Orissa, 13 June 2009.
mines.

153. Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 208. Answered on 8.08.2005

154. HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, Still Out of Focus: Status of India’s Children, 2008.
155. Information accessed on Indiastat.com; Compiled from the statistics released by Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3759, dated on 09.05.2007. and Lok
Sabha Unstarred Question No. 994, dated on 20.08.2007 and Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2415, dated on 03.12.2007.
156. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 32.
42

Efforts to address child labour in Increased vulnerability to

mining violence and abuse
Although some efforts have been made by NGOs and the The majority of mining areas are not safe environments
ILO to address the problem of child labour in the mining for a child to grow up in. There are many social problems
sector across the world, this continues to be a neglected area associated with mining operations. Numerous reports
— perhaps due to the lack of quantitative data on the scale across the world have documented how mining activity
of the problem. The ILO’s International Programme on the is often accompanied by the widespread availability and
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has adopted mining and consumption of alcohol, an increase in gambling and the
quarrying as one of its global areas of focus, due to the dangerous introduction or increase in prostitution. Violence, alcohol-
nature of the work. Pilot projects undertaken by ILO-IPEC in induced and domestic, may increase.160 Very difficult
Mongolia, Tanzania, Niger and the Andean countries of South
working and living conditions, and the uncertainties of life,
America have shown that the best way to assist child miners
can encourage excessive alcohol consumption habits amongst
is to work with the children’s own communities.157 The IPEC
quarry workers. Alcoholism is prevalent, particularly in male
programme explains how mining and quarrying communities
mineworkers, and in some cases leads to domestic violence
have been helped to organise co-operatives and to improve
and the ill-treatment of children.161 Amongst the population
their productivity by acquiring machinery, thus eliminating
displaced for the Urimari coal mining project in Jharkhand,
or reducing the need for child labour. However, the ILO
alcoholism has risen. One woman explained that alcoholism
recognises that while projects on the ground can assist child
has increased since the mining started and that 80 per cent
miners in a practical way, only worldwide awareness of the
of the family income is now spent on alcohol.162
problem can mobilise the international effort that is needed to
end the practice for good.158
Mining sites are rough places to live and work. Some
children become engaged in prostitution and they are
In India, the ILO–IPEC programme initiated a project in
also confronted by problems related to alcohol and drug
Andhra Pradesh to eliminate child labour in the state, and a
abuse, and violence.163 The ILO highlights how the
component of this was focused on reducing the number of
children working in slate mines and factories in the state.159 mining environment often becomes a degrading social
environment, with increasing levels of prostitution and
The National Child Labour Programme (NCLP) is the criminality, as well as an erosion of family and social
flagship programme of the government to eliminate child structures.164 Alcoholism amongst male workers has been
labour in hazardous situations. In the case of mining children identified as a major issue in Rajasthan. In Budhpura, Bundi
there are two problems related to this: 1) Since not all mining district, illicit alcohol is supplied to labourers at a subsidised
occupations are listed as hazardous, all child labour in mines rate, which promotes alcoholism.165
is not covered by this programme. 2) where they exist, they
do not tend to function effectively. As is now the practice, In Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, women mineworkers
most government programmes are run by NGOs. In this case explained that alcoholism is rampant among men and
they are run by NGOs with very small funds and so they are some women. Men, women and children are all addicted to
run badly and with little motivation. Since there is little or no chewing gutka (a chewable form of tobacco). The reasons
proactive motivation from government labour departments they give for this is to ease the physical tiredness and
to identify areas that have child labour, it all depends on the pain experienced after a hard day’s work.166 Consumption
motivation of the local NGO, if there is any. of alcohol, tobacco and drugs by child mineworkers is a

157. ILO, Digging for Survival: The Child Miners, 2005.

158. Ibid.
159. ILO, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/india/p2.htm, uploaded: 24 August 2009.
160. Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project, Breaking new ground: mining, minerals and sustainable development, 2002.
161. K. Lahiri-Dutt, Digging to Survive: Women’s Livelihoods in South Asia’s Small Mines and Quarries, South Asian Survey 15:2, 2008, p. 217 – 244.
162. Interviews carried out in mining-affected communities in Urimari coal mining area, Jharkhand, September 2009.
163. ILO, Eliminating Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying, 12 June 2005, p. 11.
164. Ibid, p. 16.
165. P. Madhavan and Dr Sanjay Raj, Budhpura ‘Ground Zero’ Sandstone quarrying in India, December 2005.
166. Interviews carried out with women mineworkers, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, October 2009.
 43

significant problem. A study carried out in Jodhpur and

Makrana in Rajasthan, found that 60 per cent of the child
Conclusion
labourers interviewed were dependent on ghutka, tobacco
The findings in this study paint a frightening picture of
and alcohol.167
children’s rights in mining areas across the country. Because
there is so little information available mining children live
Tikripada village in Keonjhar district, Orissa, consists of a
where they have no way of proving the number of stones
population of 1,200, mostly from Scheduled Tribes. Since
they break, the number of debts they repay, the number of
all the families in the village lost their agricultural land for
nights they starve, the numbers that have lost their parents
mining, and they are now forced to work as daily wage labour
or watch them dying each day with tuberculosis or silicosis,
for mining contractors, social problems have increased in
the numbers who are victims of the rape of their bodies and
the village. With the influx of external migrant populations,
the pain of their souls.
such as truck drivers, youth in the village have now become
vulnerable to addictions to alcohol and gutka, and crimes
Malnourished, denied access to education, and living and
such as theft have increased. A large increase in the number
working in dangerous conditions, India’s “mining children”
of liquor stores in the area since the introduction of mining
are leading horrendous lives. Previously unexplored, and
has meant that men, women and young children have all
therefore inevitably neglected, the links between children
become dependent on alcohol, which they claim is due to
and mining have not yet been taken seriously by either
heavy work load in the mines.168
policy-makers or activists. It is hoped that this report will
provide the basis for further action and advocacy work
Mining areas often coincide with the parts of the country
on these issues, to ensure that children’s rights no longer
most affected by child trafficking. One example is the
be violated by the mining sector. The report also provides
case of Sundergarh district in Orissa, which has a serious
evidence, once again, that profits from mining do not simply
problem in terms of trafficking, particularly of young girls.
‘trickle down’ and benefit the local community. Instead,
It was estimated by a survey conducted by the Rourkela
Social Service Society that every day there is trafficking
Key Findings
of at least 20 girls to cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. At
least 7,000 girls were trafficked each year from Sundergarh The significant findings from this national study point
district according to their survey. The main reasons for this to eight most critical areas of concern with respect to
high incidence of trafficking are stark poverty, indebtedness upholding the rights of India’s children vis-à-vis mining.
created by mining and other industries, and the non- These are:
implementation of developmental schemes in the areas. As 1. Increased morbidity and illness
industrialisation, in particular mining, has spread rapidly in 2. Increased food insecurity and malnutrition
the district, adivasis, who form a majority of the population
have become vulnerable to migration and trafficking. The 3. Increased vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.
district also has an alarming rate of unwed mothers and 4. Violation of Right to Education
prostitution. 5. Increase in child labour

In addition to these social problems and abuses, child 6. Further marginalisation adivasi and dalit children
mineworkers face violations in terms of their rights to 7. Migrant children are the nowhere children.
leisure and recreation. The United Nations Convention 8. Mining children fall through the gaps and there is
on the Rights of the Child clearly recognises the right of urgent need to amend laws, policies and programmes
every child to rest and leisure, and to engage in play and to address their specific rights and entitlement.
recreational activities.169 However, the concept of free
time and recreation is almost absent from the daily lives of
children working in mining and quarrying. 170

167. Gravis, Tales of Woe: A Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Jodhpur and Makrana, March 2004, p. 20.
168. Interviews carried out in Tikripada village, Keonjhar, Orissa, February 2010.
169. United Nations, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31.
170. ILO, Eliminating Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying, 12 June 2005, p. 17.
44

the situation of children living in the parts of the country The corporate induced conflicts and state of terror in these
wealthiest in natural resources is abysmal. The central regions, particularly in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand
government, state governments, mining companies and non- were visible all through the study where data collection
governmental organisations need to work together to ensure was interrupted several times due to strikes, bandhs, non
that these children are no longer denied their basic rights, cooperation of local communities due to fear of police and
and to ensure that the development, so promised by the industry repercussions, and the inability to travel without
government and the mining sector, becomes a reality for all. fear of violence.

Responsible mining and responsibility towards local A lot depends on the political will, public accountability and
communities is not visible in India. Therefore, the fear bureaucratic transparency. A lot also depends on a nation’s
that exists in the hearts of the communities and public is conscience. Unless the collective conscience of policy makers,
whether private companies can ever be made accountable if the mining companies and the general public is awakened
the public sector has no record of best practices. With India’s to the harsh reality of the lives of the mining children
thrust for the future being privatisation of mining projects, and the price they pay for the glamour, the glitter and the
there is little hope for sustainable mining to be implemented development and growth that mining brings, nothing will
with seriousness, in the absence of best practices from the change.
public sector and the looming gaps that exist in the law and
regulatory mechanisms.
 45

Part II
State Reports
1. Karnataka
2. Maharashtra
3. Rajasthan
4. Madhya Pradesh
5. Chhattisgarh
6. Jharkhand
7. Orissa
8. Andhra Pradesh
 47

Karnataka

State Overview
The population of Karnataka in 2001 was 52,850,562, of There are wide disparities in terms of income and living
which two-thirds live in rural areas.1 In 2007-08, the state standards across Karnataka’s districts. Around 25 per cent
had an estimated (Gross State Domestic Product) GSDP of of the total population live below the poverty line. This rises
Rs. 2,152.82 billion.2 Karnataka was the fastest growing state to 32.6 per cent in urban areas of the state. For Scheduled
over the past decade in terms of Gross Domestic Product Castes (SCs), over half (50.6 per cent) in urban areas live
(GDP) and per capita GDP. With GDP growth of 56.2 per below the poverty line. The overall literacy level in the state
cent and per capita growth of 43.9 per cent, Karnataka now is higher than the Indian average, at 67 per cent. However,
has the sixth highest per capita GDP growth of all states.3 literacy rates are much lower for the SC and Scheduled
Tribe (ST) populations. Only 33.32 per cent of rural ST
Since the 1980s, Karnataka became the Information women and 35.56 per cent of rural SC women are literate.5
Technology (IT) hub of India with more than 2,000 IT firms The northeast region of the state (also known as Hyderabad
operating out of the state. Karnataka is also the manufacturing Karnataka) which comprises five districts—Bellary, Bidar,
hub for some of the largest public sector industries in India, Koppal, Gulbarga and Raichur—and that has most of the
such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat mineral resources remains particularly backward.
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and is the headquarters
of many of India’s science and technology research centres. In terms of employment trends, there is a drop in overall
The major manufacturing industries in the state include sugar, employment rates within the organised sector in recent years,
paper, silk and cement. suggesting a greater dependency on the unorganised sector.
Employment rates have decreased in a number of sectors such
However, over half (56 per cent) of the workforce is engaged as agriculture, mining and utilities. The growth of marginal
in agriculture and related activities.4 Around 64.6 per cent of workers increased at a rate of 161.5 per cent between 1991
the state’s total area is cultivated and 19 per cent of the state is and 2001 indicating that increasing numbers of people have
covered by forest. The main crops grown in the state include become part of the unorganised and marginalised workforce.
rice, maize, pulses, chillies, sugarcane and tobacco. Karnataka
is the largest producer of coarse cereals, coffee and raw silk in The state is also facing major challenges in terms of basic
India. The agricultural sector has slowed down in recent years health. Whilst Karnataka is now emerging as a destination for
though in the state, largely due to continuous droughts and ‘health tourism’, with its state-of-the-art speciality hospitals
less priority given to it. in Bengaluru (earlier known as Bangalore), the provision of

1 Census of India, 2001.

2 Finance Department, Government of Karnataka, Highlights of Karnataka Budget 2008-09.
3 The Hindu, In terms of per capita GDP – Karnataka, Bengal fastest growing states, 9 June 2005.
4 Planning Commission, Government of India, Karnataka Human Development Report 2005.
5 Census of India, 2001.
48

basic healthcare to its population remains uneven. The 2005 19 years and under working in the state.11 However, official
Karnataka Human Development Report recognises that statistics for the number of children employed in hazardous
inaccessibility of healthcare and the inability to spend on occupations are completely unrealistic with only 1,634 officially
healthcare increases the vulnerability of ‘sub-populations’ such engaged in this kind of work.12 In mining and quarrying alone,
as the poor, women, SCs and STs, all of whom are at greatest there were 4,669 children 14 years and under, and 18,276
risk of ill-health.6 Malnutrition amongst pregnant women and in the 19 years and under category employed in this sector,
infants also remains extremely common, and rates of HIV according to the Census.13 The actual number of children
infection are a cause of great concern in the state. The rapid working in the unorganised mining and quarrying sector in
increase of HIV cases in Karnataka has been alarming; during the state is far higher than these statistics with one fact-finding
2002-03, the rate of infection increased by 106 per cent.7 mission discovering ‘at least a few lakh’ children working in
According to the most recent National Family Health Survey the iron ore mines in Bellary district.14 A total of 17 districts
(NFHS) report (NFHS-3), Karnataka is in the top five states in the state are currently covered by National Child Labour
in the country in terms of HIV prevalence, with an estimated Project (NCLP) and up until May 2007 11,589 children had
1.25 per cent of the population infected.8 apparently been rehabilitated under this scheme.15

There are wide variations in terms of child health across the

Status of Children state. The 2005 Karnataka Human Development Report
observed that rural-urban disparities have actually intensified
There are 16,845,601 children aged 14 years and under, and in the state; the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is 64 (per
22,227,273 children aged 19 years and under in Karnataka; 1,000 live births) in rural areas, as compared to 24 in urban
these children constitute almost 40 per cent of the total areas.16 Again, IMR is higher in the Hyderabad Karnataka
population in the state. According to official statistics, there region. Only 55 per cent of children aged between 12 and 23
were 72,967 children between six to 14 years who are out of months had received all their basic vaccinations in Karnataka
school in the state in 2008.9 However, Pratham’s Assessment as compared to the neighbouring states of Kerala, where 75.3
Survey Evaluation Report (ASER) 2008 survey estimates per cent had received all vaccinations, and Tamil Nadu where
that the actual number of children out of school in the state is 80.9 per cent had received them.17 This shows that despite its
higher than this and amounts to 3.6 per cent of the total child rapid economic growth, huge challenges remain in terms of
population. There are wide geographical disparities across the child health in the state.
state in terms of the number of children out of school. Whilst
in Bengaluru rural, only 0.2 per cent of children are estimated
to be out of school, this rises to 14.1 per cent in Bellary district Mining in Karnataka
and 13.6 per cent in Gulbarga district, showing that the state
needs to urgently address access to education issues in the The value of mineral production in Karnataka during 2007-
Hyderabad Karnataka region.10 08 was Rs. 44.95 billion.18 This was an increase of 23 per cent
from the previous year. However, the number of reporting
According to the Census 2001, there were 822,615 child mines in the state fell from 231 to 218 during the same period.
labourers (aged 14 years and under) and 2,952,545 children Karnataka is the main gold producing state in the country. It

6 Planning Commission, Government of India, Karnataka Human Development Report 2005.

7 Ibid.
8 NFHS-3, Chapter 12-HIV Prevalence, 2007.
9 Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008, State-Wise Number of Out of School Children in India, as on 31 March 2008.
10 Statistics taken from Pratham, ASER 2008 survey, pp. 112.
11 Census of India, 2001.
12 Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2691, dated 9.8.2000.
13 Census of India, 2001.
14 Our Mining Children, 2005.
15 Accessed from indiastat.com, Compiled from the statistics released by: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3759, dated on 09.05.2007. and Lok Sabha
Unstarred Question No. 994, dated on 20.08.2007 and Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2415, dated on 03.12.2007, Selected State-wise Number of Child
Mainstreamed under National Child Labour Projects (NCLP) in India, till May 2007.
16 Planning Commission, Government of India, Karnataka Human Development Report 2005
17 NFHS-3, Chapter 9 – Child Health, 2007.
 49

population of Bellary continues to live in extreme conditions

of poverty, in spite of the manganese and iron ore mining there.
The district is ranked 17 in the state’s Human Development
Index (HDI), clearly indicating that the income generated
from mining in the district has not translated into improved
living conditions for the majority of the population. Iron ore
mining has caused serious environmental problems, with mine
waste and dust preventing the cultivation of crops in the area.
Large-scale limestone mining in Gulbarga has also encroached
upon agricultural land in the district.23

Child labour is recognised as a serious problem in the mining

Iron ore mining in Hospet (Photo- June 2009) sector in Karnataka. Iron ore mining in Bellary is infamous
for its large number of child labourers involved, with at least
is also the sole producer of felsite and the leading producer
200,000 boys and girls working in the iron mines in this
of iron ore, chromite and dunite. The state hosts 78 per
district.24 Children as young as 3 years old can be seen at the
cent of India’s vanadium ore, 74 per cent of iron ore, 42 per
mine sites, accompanying their parents to work. By the age of
cent of tungsten ore, 38 per cent of asbestos, 33 per cent of
seven or eight they start performing a number of jobs at these
titaniferous magnetite and 30 per cent of limestone, as well as
sites, including hammering away through piles of iron stock
less significant proportions of a number of other minerals.19
and carrying heavy loads on their head. They are employed
by mine owners and contractors for digging, breaking stones,
According to statistics provided by the Directorate of
sieving, loading, dumping, and transporting and processing
Economics and Statistics, Government of Karnataka, mining
iron ore with no safety equipment.25 Accidents and injuries
and quarrying has increased as a percentage of the total
are common in these mines.
contribution to the state’s GDP but only marginally—from
a 0.5 per cent share in 1999 to a one per cent share in 2007-
Illegal mining is also recognised as a serious problem in the
08.20 This shows that despite the amount of land that has been
state. In 2008, the Central Empowerment Committee and
turned over to mining (which totalled over 11,046 ha between
Lokayukta for the state Santosh Hegde submitted a report
1980 and 2008)21 and the number of people affected by mining
calling for the Karnataka state government to urgently tackle
and quarrying in the state, its contribution to the state’s GDP
still remains marginal. In terms of employees, around 14,200 illegal mining in the state, in the interests of the country. There
people were officially employed in 199 reporting mines in have been a number of complaints about politically influential
2005—a slight increase from 13,200 in 2002.22 mine owners and politicians with high stakes in the mining
industry, using the bureaucracy to carry out illegal mining.26
Mining is generating little wealth for the majority of the rural Many small mines in the state operate without permits and
population of Karnataka, many of whom continue to live in do not pay taxes.
poverty. The districts of Bellary and Gulbarga are particularly
poor, despite the fact that mining has been prevalent in these The Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), located in Kolar district, was
districts for some time now. An estimated 45 per cent of the closed in 2003. No longer the ‘golden land’ of India, what was

18 Ministry of Mines, Government of India, Annual Report, 2008-09.

19 Ibid.
20 Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Karnataka, Table 1 – Gross State Domestic Product, http://des.kar.nic.in/mainpage.asp?option=5,
uploaded: 30 November 2009.
21 Accessed at Indiatstats.com, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 234, dated 20.10.2008. Selected State-wise Forest Land Diverted for Mining by Ministry of
Environment and Forests in India (25.10.1980 to 30.09.2008).
22 Accessed at Indiastats.com, Compiled from the statistics released by Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, Selected State-wise Average
Daily Employment and Number of Reporting Mines in India (2002 to 2005).
23 CSE, State of India’s Environment – Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 200.
24 Our Mining Children, 2005; and CSE, State of India’s Environment – Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 194.
25 Our Mining Children, 2005.
26 The Hindu, State should act against illegal mining: Jethmalani, 24 November 2009.
50

Kolar district: Key facts

Total population: 2,536,069 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 803,954 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 62.84 per cent
Male 73.17 per cent
Female 52.23 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children(6–14 years): 0.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in anganwadi centre (AWC)
or pre-school (3–4 years): 94.8 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 44,098 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 117 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Bellary district: Key facts

Total population: 2,027,140 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 749,227 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 57.4 per cent
Male 69.2 per cent
Female 45.28 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 14.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 89.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 66,767 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 380 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

once a thriving gold mining area has been abandoned, with site of the ‘red Indian children’, and Kolar that speaks of
unemployment rates high amongst the local population. a journey of the lost youth, the refugees of a ‘golden’ past.
One can be found at almost every mine site breaking iron
with their fragile hands, while the other disappears every
Situation in Mining-affected morning and is chugged back into the mining township late
Communities of Bellary and after sunrise. One works along with the adults to supplement
the meagre wages; the other is the sole supporter of the
Kolar Districts retrenched adult. One has lost its childhood, the other its
youth. These case studies clearly show all the three cycles of
Karnataka, which means ‘where one’s ears want to wander’ has mining—proposed areas, existing mines and closed mines—
a story that makes neither the ears nor the eyes of the nation and how during all the three cycles children are cruelly
wish to wander, as the red dust camouflages the sordid state made vulnerable to the unaccounted costs of mining.The
of children living in the iron ore mines of Bellary and where Karnataka state overview of child development is presented
the gold can no longer offer its glitter to the young generation here within which context the status of children affected by
of Kolar. The two stories presented here are that of Bellary, a mining is juxtaposed.
 51

Kolar Gold Fields: The Golden Grave

With the Golden Handshake
“We are angry that the government has not
bothered to give us an alternative livelihood. When
there is so much of land and infrastructure readily
available here and so many of us youth waiting for
employment, why doesn’t the government set up
some industry or Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
here to give us employment, instead of forcing
farmers elsewhere to give up their agriculture for
industries?” Closed BGML (Photo June 2009)
Source: Group discussion with youth in Kolar township, Kolar, June 2009
The company provided a township for its employees with
The largest gold mine in India and the first public sector residential facilities for all levels of workers, basic amenities
mining company to face closure, Bharat Gold Mines Limited of drinking water, electricity, sanitation, roads, schools and
(BGML), better known as KGF, is a story of abandonment. medical facilities. The BGML hospital was located within the
It is a testimony of irresponsibility and lack of accountability township where workers had access to free medical services.
on the part of the mining company as well as of the state when There were 17 schools, a degree college, a dental college and a
mining was abruptly shut down and workers faced overnight nursing college.
retrenchment. It is a testimony of how such abandonment of
mining activities orphans the children of mine workers. What
was seen in KGF was a whole generation of children and Social and Economic Background
youth rudely thrown into the streets to rescue their families
from the golden graves of the ghost town called Kolar, which Due to the legacy of the British establishment, KGF has a
was once the proud producer of the glittering metal for the distinct culture of English and Christian influence. A large
country. section of the employees originally hail from the neighbouring
states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala (Palakkad
district). Interestingly, although located in Karnataka, there
History of Bharat Gold Mines were few workers from within the state. At the time of the
Limited study the township had the third generation of mine workers’
families living in KGF. The township has an abundance of
Based in Kolar district of Karnataka, BGML was a churches and temples and the workers are proud of their
Government of India public sector undertaking, spread multi-cultural background, social tolerance and a strong
over an area of 13,000 acres. Established by the British in sense of identity as a mining community. The workers stated
1905, it became BGML in 1972 under the Government that this distinct culture has come from the history of being
of India, Ministry of Mines, and was primarily engaged together and facing the dangers of working underground, of
in the extraction of gold till the year 2002 when it faced having to face mine accidents and fatalities and yet having
a sudden closure on grounds of financial losses. The the security of the township and its employment. For almost
company extracted 514.17 kg gold in 1997, and in 1998 all the workers’ families for the last three generations, life
the revised target was 550 kg of gold but actually only revolved around mining alone as they had never lived outside
404.1 kg could be extracted; between January and March of the township.
of 1999 145 kg was extracted by the company. At the time
of closure the company had on its payrolls, a total of 4,345 The children of this mining town had the privilege of
employees of whom 2,336 were technical and 2,009 were educational facilities from the company, the Christian
non-technical staff.27 missionary institutions and some of the vernacular schools.
Hence most children attended English medium schools

27 http://mines.nic.in/arbgml.html
52

and pursued higher education. The presence of professional brought upon the community by the mine closure. Neither
colleges in the township is evidence of the high importance the company nor the government have paid attention to the
given to education. long term impacts of the closure on the social and economic
life of the workers and washed their hands off with mere
However, when the company was closed down suddenly in monetary compensation. The vast area of land, infrastructure,
2002, the entire population of KGF fell into a crisis with manpower are all lying wasted in despair.
no alternative source of income or livelihood. The workers
stated that although the salaries were not very high, yet the
infrastructure and free services provided to them by the How Kolar Gold Fields Has Betrayed
company ensured that the basic needs of health, education Its Youth
and public services were met. However, when the company
shut down, not only were the salaries withdrawn but so also The children of the workers’ families were the most affected
were all the basic amenities. Since then the fate of the 4,345 by the company’s decision. Children’s education and social
families has been a tragic struggle for survival. The 17 odd security faced the axe. As education was no longer a free service,
workers’ unions contested the company’s decision which took many of the workers could not pay school fees during the
advantage of the divisions among them and to this day, there period of the strike. Children faced humiliation at school and
is no concrete solution that has emerged either through the many of them had to drop out. It was mainly the adolescent
Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), the girls and boys who were in high school who dropped out of
Supreme Court or by the central government. school and were forced to take the responsibility of sustaining
their families. Many of the workers felt humiliated to shift
For six long years the workers’ families held on to their agitation to other petty jobs like working as watchmen, electricians,
and KGF witnessed a tumultuous struggle of a community security guards or petty vendors, and preferred to remain idle
from a life of dignity to one of desperation, impoverishment and starving.
and collapse of a morale that is the pride of miners. The shock
of having no sustenance and the forced idleness of able-bodied This immediately shifted the responsibility of supporting the
men who were used to laborious work, led to serious anxiety families on teenage children. However, as KGF offers no job
related illnesses, alcoholism and crime. This also resulted in opportunities, they have to travel out to the city of Bengaluru
domestic violence, behavioural disorders and, more than 149 approximately 120 km away, in search of employment. The
suicides and stress related deaths. When interviewed by the workers sardonically comment on the government’s generosity
study team, the Medical Officer of the government Primary to the BGML employees when they speak about the railway
Health Centre (PHC) at KGF also confirmed this, although line and the trains that were introduced as compensation
he was reluctant to give the case records officially. for the mine closure. Every morning between 7,000 to
12,000 youth and young adults leave for work to Bengaluru
After the closure, the company withdrew all amenities to the by these trains and return only late in the night. The study
workers, and state institutions did not take over as workers team saw packed crowds leaving at 6.00 am in the morning
were not in a position to pay for these services. Hence for
several years, KGF remained without public services like
drinking water, electricity, sanitation and other amenities.
Unable to sustain their families any longer, the workers
reported that they accepted the monetary compensation
offered by the government, which amounted to approximately,
Rs.150,000 for workers and about Rs.700,000 for officers.
The only concession was that all the workers were allowed
to retain the housing quarters by purchasing them from
the company at nominal prices. Therefore, KGF today is a
mining town of mine workers without any mining activity or
any other forms of economic opportunities. The houses of the
workers, with their bare furniture and sparse kitchens hidden
The morning train that leaves from Kolar carries thousands of young boys and
behind occasional festivities, are evidence of the poverty girls to work in Bengaluru (photo June 2009)
 53

and returning by the last train that comes into KGF at 9.00 When the youth of KGF were interviewed they expressed
pm, and, how adolescent girls form a majority of these daily their anger and frustration at the government, and about how
commuters. When interviewed, the young girls who commute the company betrayed their families and left them to suffer
by these trains admitted that they are vulnerable to physical the indignity of poverty without providing any alternatives.
and sexual abuse as the trains are overcrowded, but they A majority of them stated that they were ready to go
brush it aside as unavoidable as they have no other choice but underground and keen to have the mining back or demanded
to work to sustain their families. A few of the girls stated that that the government should set up other industries in KGF.
they have learnt to deal with these problems over the years by They questioned the irrationality of the government, which is
choosing to travel in groups. However, they stated that the trying to forcibly acquire large areas of rich agricultural lands
main problem was while returning home as sometimes their from farmers in other places for setting up SEZs, whereas
employers make them work extra hours, which means they KGF has 13,000 acres of land, the right infrastructure and
cannot take the regular train back home. This creates tension manpower that can readily service different industries.
for the girls when they have to travel back alone as incidents of
assault are common around the railway track in KGF. Some of the girls interviewed spoke bitterly about their lost
opportunities as they were meritorious students and had
The only fortune that these young people of KGF have is their gained admission to professional courses like engineering but
English education. They are therefore offered lower-end jobs had to forego their studies due to the financial crises suffered
in corporate offices, business process outsourcing (BPO), by their families. All through the field visit the study team
banks and other private firms that require English speaking got the impression that workers, officers and the youth were
skills. A majority of the girls work as contract labour in the all living in hopeful anticipation of the mine being opened
garment industries in the suburbs of Bengaluru while most once again and the families getting back to the golden days
of the boys work as electricians, masons, carpenters, security of BGML.
guards, plumbers and the like. The study team could not find
any young people in the township during the weekdays and, Therefore, most of the families have remained in KGF awaiting
during the weekends girls are normally busy with household the revival of the mines or hoping that the government will
chores. come to their rescue with other industries. The workers’
unions claim that they are now under a united federation and
KGF has gained notoriety of having youth hired by political confident of negotiating with the government for a revival
and criminal groups, which operate in Bengaluru, for violent and are preparing the youth to be the next generation of
and criminal activities. It was also reported that some of the mine workers. However, differences were visible; the political
women and young girls from the workers’ families turned to environment of the unions and the government stance makes
prostitution to keep their families from starving. However, it seem that it is unlikely that a constructive alternative for
people of KGF prefer not to have such news highlighted as the youth is possible in the immediate future. The youth have
it only sensationalises KGF without actually addressing their paid a heavy price for the political dead-end created by the
core problems. KGF mine closure.

One of the glaring problems reported by the people themselves

is theft. Young boys operate as petty criminals and steal parts Health Impacts
of the company infrastructure like metal sheets from mine
shafts, machinery and other scrap. The team found many of The two most glaring problems that were identified were the
the properties of BGML with broken doors and windows, occupational illnesses related to gold mining and the social
walls stripped of cupboards, fencing material ripped away and ills related to closure. The workers interviewed admitted that
similar scenes around the township. When the study team almost all of them who worked underground suffered from
visited KGF, a critically injured mine worker was admitted to silicosis and tuberculosis. Earlier they were treated in the
the PHC and it was reported that some youth had brutally company hospital and they reported that death due to silicosis
assaulted him on the railway track and robbed him. People was experienced quite frequently. However, after the mine
were bitter that these crimes were committed under the closed down and so also the hospital, the ex-workers suffering
guidance of the local police who thrive on the new violence from these illnesses today do not have medical facilities. The
erupting from the youth. government PHC in KGF is unable to meet the medical
54

has created a peculiar aesthetics for tourism and the film

industry, the workers and the Medical Officer interviewed,
were suspicious that some of the health problems could be
related to radiation or dust pollution associated with the mine
tailing or the cyanide hill. While media reports in the past
indicate probable health problems, there has been no scientific
study done to take any safety precautions or protection of the
environment and water bodies.

Access to Water
Water scarcity is one of the most serious problems reported
Closed BGML Hospital in Kolar township which provided free medical services
for workers and their famililes (Photo June 2009) by the people who state that while they live above gallons
of accumulated groundwater from the aquifers ruptured by
requirements of the township as well as the general public of the mining activity, they do not have access to safe drinking
the taluka as it is highly understaffed. The Medical Officer water. Water shortage is felt round the year and as they have
reported that the workers mainly suffer from respiratory to pay for the water supplied to them, the sanitation and
illnesses, chronic bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis (TB) and hygiene of the township is of serious concern.
silicosis although the latter is not an officially confirmed
diagnosis as most silicosis patients, to the convenience of
the state and the industry, are diagnosed with tuberculosis. Conclusions
The health problems of the children, as reported by the
Medical Officer relate to respiratory illnesses, skin diseases, KGF was a public sector mining company, yet it could
bronchitis and malaria. The Medical Officer also stated that not set any practice for a comprehensive mine closure.
there were cases of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted The government simply walked away from the problem
Diseases (STD) but it was hard to state whether they were with justified grounds of lack of unity among the unions.
from the township or outside as the workers do not have a Mining is a sector with high economic stakes and with
separate hospital now. The workers’ families are unable to the strongest risk to democracy as decisions are made
meet the medical expenses, so some of the workers’ unions are on the basis of muscle power rather than on behalf of
voluntarily helping the families in accessing medical facilities. the good of the majority, whether during the course of
Therefore the burden of supporting the families has fallen on mining or post-mining. KGF is a standing example of
the youth again. this fix. Although there is no other community living here
other than the workers’ community, no definitive future
The mine tailings or the cyanide hill as it is popularly known plan has emerged so far that the government can set as a
is located in the center of the township. Ironically, while it precedent for private companies to follow. As India rushes
into public-private partnerships and privatisation of the
mining sector, accountability from mining companies
during or after a mining project, its specific impacts on
children and youth, has little demands, expectations,
regulations or monitoring that can ensure socio-economic
viability post-mining.

(Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership

with Sakhi, Hospet, and Mr.Kumar, freelance journalist of
Kolar who together organised the field visits to KGF. We
thank them for accompanying us to the KGF township and
helping with the field interviews.)
Cyanide heap in the middle of Kolar township–the controversial hill that is
supposed to be causing radiation (Photo June 2009)
 55

Bellary: Children Behind the Iron

Curtain-Too Many Irons in the Fire to
Save Them
“Red people, red dust, red water, red trees, red
animals and the village itself has turned into a red
village”. In the morning we wake up with dust, we
eat dust, drink dust and sleep with dust, our life is
only about red dust”
Source: Complaint from people interviewed in Kallali village, Hospet,
June 2009
Migrant workers live in small plastic tents no larger than 3–5 sq ft in size, at
the mine site, Sandur. (Photo December 2009)
Hospet is a small town in Bellary district known for its large
reserves of iron ore and manganese. It is a haven for illegal For instance, in Jambunathagudda, a small village near
mining and is a standing example of how the power of the Hospet, we found over 100 acres of land being used for small-
mining mafia has reached uncontrollable limits inspite of scale illegal mining. We visited three sites here where mainly
wide media exposes, political imbroglios and human rights migrant labour from Koppal, Chitradurg and Gulbarga were
campaigns. The open opulence of mine owners most boastfully working. The people reported that there were atleast 40
described through the number of helicopters owned in this illegally operating mines here but the numbers had reduced
region stares arrogantly against the stark poverty, hunger,
due to the economic recession. All the 20-odd migrant families
destroyed lands, ruined agriculture and mangled social fabric.
live in makeshift tents made of plastic sheets, provided by the
Most of all it stares unrepentantly at the terrified child,
contractor. They have no electricity, drinking water or basic
who breaks the iron ore stones across miles of illegal mines,
amenities. Their ration cards are of their native village, hence
ruthlessly obscured by the impenetrable nexus of the mining
they can only purchase from the private shops. None of the
industry and the politician whose influence over governance
children here attend school, but they help their parents in the
and administration is known to be beyond just the Bellary
mines. Each family earns Rs.1,500 per week.
district or even that of Karnataka.

Bellary, Sandur and Hospet taluks have, over the last few Child Labour
decades, changed the ecology and economy of the region
by setting up iron ore mining extraction and refining It is difficult to give an exact figure for child labour, but one
projects. These are, to a large extent, serviced by migrant has to only visit Hospet and spend a whole day walking
populations who come from Chitradurg, Raichur and Koppal through the mines, and it is obvious that there are a large
in Karnataka and from the neighbouring state of Andhra
Pradesh. The areas visited for the field survey were Kallali,
Danapur, Sankalapuram, Kariganuru, Jambunathagudda,
Mariyammanahalli, PK halli, Rajapura, Sultanpura,
Torangallu and Bellary. We found several violations on the
rights of the children living and working in the mining sites,
slums and villages here.

The companies are mainly private operators with a few public

sector companies like the National Mineral Development
Corporation (NMDC). However, there are more illegal
mines than legal ones operating in the district. The mining
boom led to a scramble for mining with small contractors and
even farmers themselves converting vast areas of agricultural
lands into mine pits in a very erratic, uncontrolled and Children of migrant families work at crushing site, This one is in a crushing
indiscriminate manner. unit at Hospet (Photo June 2009)
56

number of children working in the mines and in other non- Sandur is known for almost every inch of land being taken on
mining activities. Many of the children are from migrant lease by small contractors for iron ore mining. The local
families. Some of the migrant families have settled down in people from the mine site visited by us said that, in an
the slums in Hospet while many migrate only seasonally for area of 20–30 acres there were about 100 illegal mines.
mine labour. Children are engaged in breaking of stones, In each mine site 7–8 workers were found, mainly women
digging, dumping and also in cleaning of trucks. Many, and girls. According to the owner of a mine interviewed,
as they live on the site and accompany their parents, start thousands of small contractors sell their iron ore to
working even at the age of five and six and are adept at their Obulapuram mining company, which is just 5 km away, at
work by the age of 10. Boys from the age of 12 start taking a rate of Rs.4,000 per truck. We found small girls even of
on the more difficult work of breaking the larger boulders the age of 5 years working in these mine sites and when
and stones while the girls are engaged in breaking these questioned, the mine owner had a straight reply, that as
into small stones, powdering them into iron ore filings and they supply ore to Obulapuram, they do not have to deal
in loading activities. The average earning of the children with the law or police as these are ‘taken care’ of by the
working in mining activities ranges between Rs.80 and company.
Rs.100 per day.

Young girls are engaged in sorting and breaking of iron ore, working 8 hours Migrant women and their small children working at an illegal mining site in
a day, at Kariganuru, Hospet (Photo December 2009) Sandur (Photo January 2010)

In Sankalapuram young girls between the age of eight and The major escape route for mine owners and contractors
18 who were interviewed near the mines, said that there where child labour is concerned is the firm (desperate)
are about 100 crushers as far as they understand and there cooperation of the families themselves as they cannot survive
are 20 to 25 girls working in each site. Their work time is without the wages of the children. Many of the children we
between 5.00 am and 12.00 pm and they earn Rs.100 or saw in the slums had single parents, widowed mothers or bed-
Rs.110 per day because of which parents force the girls to ridden parents because of which they had no choice but to
work in the mines. leave school and work either in the mines or elsewhere. Every
contractor or middle man interviewed spoke as if they took
Kariganuru is a village close to the national highway where pity on the families and allowed the children to work as a
there is rampant illegal mining. The people interviewed stated gesture of charity.
that there are more than 1,500 families living here who are
engaged as mine labour. At the time of our visit, there were The economic meltdown in the iron ore industry globally
several girls between the ages of 10 and 15 years, working in has affected Bellary as the number of children working in the
the mine sites. The girls sort the stones and separate them mines seems to have reduced since our fact-finding study in
while the older women break the stones. The villagers said 2005. However, during the field visits we found that business
that there are atleast 500 girls working in the mines and every was picking up again with trucks moving around and women
family has, on an average, two boys involved in mining related and children being called for work by the contractors, even
work from this village. discreetly at night, as work goes on illegally.
 57

The Condition of Children Living in school because of financial problems in the family, death of
one or both parents, seasonal migration or the need to earn
Hospet Slums a daily wage for their survival. Most of the parents of these
children are either mine workers or coolies (loaders) in the
Hospet town has more than 70 slums, which spread largely railway station where most of the iron ore loading takes place.
due to the mining activities. Sakhi, a local organisation Majority of the children interviewed were from SC and ST
working with the mine workers and communities, undertook families. Some of the children of mine workers’ families were
a random survey in 14 slums and villages around Hospet to found working as coolies in the railway station, as stone
get a glimpse into children not attending school. Table 2.01 pickers in the mines or in other odd jobs or as domestic
gives some data regarding out-of-school children in Hospet. labour in the town. In four of the slums we visited in Hospet,
the situation was similar. Several children just stay at home or
Table 2.01: Details of out-of-school children in Hospet work as domestic maids or are hired by vendors, shop keepers

Sl. Village name Male Female Total Nature of work

1 88 Muddapura 13 23 36 Mine labour, working in small hotels, building
construction labour, staying at home

2 Danapura 26 4 30 Ore loading, domestic labour, agriculture labour

3 Joga 12 16 28 Ore loading, domestic labour, agriculture labour

4 Hanumanahalli 19 14 33 Agriculture labour, child marriage, mine labour

5 Sankalapura 12 14 33 Mine labour, agriculture labour

6 Danayakanakere 7 19 26 Not working

7 Kariganuru 17 20 37 Loading, driver, cleaner, staying at home, domestic labour

8 PK halli 13 7 20 Staying at home, mine labour, domestic labour

9 MM halli 23 24 47 Agriculture, mine labour, building contruction, staying at

home, shepherd,mentally challenged

10 SR Nagar 9 13 22 Selling pots, working in hotels, child marriage

11 AS Gudi 6 7 13 Staying at home, agricultural labour, mine labour

12 Riyaz Nagar 18 9 27 Factory labour, domestic labour, auto drivers

13 BTR Nagar 12 6 18 Building construction, mentally challenged, staying at

home, auto drivers

14 Chittavadgi 9 8 17 Helpers in roadside shops, domestic labour

Total 196 184 367

Source: Survey undertaken by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet, October 2009

This survey is just a small sample of the larger picture of or hotels. Out of 25 children interviewed in one slum, eight
the children living in the slums of Hospet. The survey children said they live with their family in a rented house, two
was conducted in these slums and surrounding villages to families live in tents (kaccha house), and other children live
understand the background of the children who have dropped with their family in their own house. The common illnesses
out of school and reasons for this drop-out. Almost all the we found in these children are fevers, cold, body pain, malaria,
children surveyed are from mine workers’ families, either diarrhoea and respiratory problems. Constant illness due to
one or both parents working in the mines or having worked the hazardous work and expenditure on medicines and private
in the past. The children stated that they do not attend hospitals were stated to be a major reason for indebtedness.
58

almost every child is absent for atleast 2 days in a week. He

said that most of them work in the mines with their parents
and earn Rs.50 per day. As most of the children enrolled here
are migrant labour from Cuddapah and Kurnool districts
of Andhra Pradesh, the children find it difficult to study in
Kannada (local language) medium, which is another cause for
them dropping out. The poor infrastructure with children of
different classes having to sit together and lack of teachers are
other reasons for children not wanting to attend school.

Loading activities take place just behind the school and

children disappear during school hours or during lunch break
Children of mine workers in Hospet slum–many children work in garages, tea for loading work as they can earn Rs.15 each. The local school
stalls, mine sites, as truck cleaners coolies,loaders, domestic labour teacher said that even children of classes II and III go for
(Photo January 2010)
mining work and are absent from school regularly. Apart from
mining activities, the children of this school are also working in
the garages and hotels on the highway. Moreover, continuous
The Status of Schools and Education blasting just near the school creates noise pollution disturbing
in the Mining Area the classes and leaves a layer of red dust on the children, their
food and books. The blasting operations and the proximity
The Bellary district statistics show that a total of 9,233 children to the highway, makes the school a dangerous location for
were out of school in the year 2006, 5,198 children were out children. The school also does not have a boundary wall.
of school in the year 2007 and 4,581 children were out of The school authorities say that they have put a requisition
school in the year 2008.28 However, these district figures are to the education department for shifting the school to a safer
grossly underestimated as, from a very small random survey, location, but there is no action taken so far.
we found that in Hospet alone, there were 367 children not
going to school. In one slum in Hospet, 15 out of the 25 children interviewed
were from SC families and of these, nine children had never
The primary school in Valmikinagar, Kariganuru has 105 attended school, the main reason being mining, ill-health and
children enrolled. There are only three teachers for classes I poverty. In Sultanpura village, there are three power projects
to V and four classrooms of which one is damaged due to owned by the Jindals and KMMI. One of the plants has been
mine blasting activities happening nearby. According to the set up just 200m from the primary school. There are 103
headmaster only 80–85 children attend school regularly but children in the age group of 6–14 but only 61 children attend
the primary school. Of these there are only 13 children from
SC community, the reason for this being that dalit children
are working as child labour in the mines, as explained by the
local organisation Rural Education Action Development
Society (READS). The headmaster said that the children in
the school are always complaining of throat infections due to
the high levels of dust from the mines. The school has only
two permanent teachers but at the time of the visit only the
headmaster was present and the other two teachers were on
leave. The infrastructure too was poor and the school had no
drinking water, toilet or proper classrooms (two classes were
taken together by one teacher). The safety of the children did
not seem to be a concern for the authorities inspite of the
Classroom of Valmikinagar primary school damaged due to mine blasting dilapidated condition of the building.
operations near Kariganuru, Hospet, Karnataka (Photo January 2010)

28 Bellary District Statistics, 2006 Sarva Siksha Abhiyan

 59

In Kallali village, where there are 200 families, the problems

are similar to Kariganuru where the people are suffocating
with the iron ore dust and are living in appalling conditions.
Here also the school is located dangerously close to the road
where the dust, blasting and traffic of heavy vehicles are always
a threat to the safety and health of the children. It is an irony
that there is a boundary wall that provides no protection to the
school. In the entire stretch of the highway between Hospet
and Kallali village we found children working in the tea
stalls, cycle shops, hotels and even in the private dispensaries
rather than in the school. As Dr. Shankar C. Nair of the
Community Health Centre (CHC), Hospet stated,
Children of mine workers in a tent school at Neerahalli, Sandur run by READS,
“Children are working everywhere, it is difficult to with support from TDH, Germany (Photo January 2010)

give an exact number. Rather, what is required is the tent school and keeps an eye on them while he attends the
the acknowledgement of the alarming situation of school. His parents work as daily wage labour in the mines.
the children working and living here.”
These are just a few examples of the background of the
Ironically, we found a child working in his own clinic, helping children who come to the tent schools. Yet, while they
in the clinic activities. provide a temporary relief from the mines, these schools are
not an alternative to formal education that every child has
The people in Kariganuru reported that although there is a a fundamental right to, nor do they keep the children away
local primary school, only children from the economically from mining work. Children such as these do not figure in the
stable families attend school and only about 25 boys attend child labour statistics as they are attending school, but their
college in the nearby town of Hospet. part time work is not accounted for.

Children in Tent Schools In the survey conducted by READS in 27 villages of Sandur

taluk with respect to children of mine workers and on children
Organisations based in the area, like READS and Social not attending school, a total of five gram panchayats were
Economical Educational Develeopment Society (SEEDS), covered having 27 villages and 3,665 families.
run tent schools for children of mine workers, particularly
the migrant families who have no access to regular schools.
According to a survey conducted by READS in May 2009,
there are 1,307 children out of school from 27 villages in
Sandur taluk, and majority of these children are working in
the mines.

In Neerahalli village there are 40–42 families hired by

contractors to work in illegal mines. The tent school has very
young children who used to work in the mines until READS
provided them this opportunity. Shivganga is an 8 year old
girl who worked in the mines with her mother and also took
care of her younger siblings. Bharati is another migrant girl
Tent School for Children of Mine Workers, run by SEEDS, Sandur with support
who never went to school but has to continue working in the from TDH, Germany–children attend the school and also work in the mines
mines part time while she attends the tent school for a few Photo taken by SEEDS
hours each day. She earns Rs.30–40 per day for breaking iron
ore and this money is important for her mother to raise the Table 2.02 shows the situation of children who come to the
family. A 12 year old boy has to tend to cattle, so he has found tent schools in this area while they also work either in the
his own solution—he sends the cattle to the grazing area near mines or in other activities at home or outside in Sandur.
60

Table 2.02: Survey on children not attending school in Sandur

Sl. No. Description Boys Girls Total
1 Total children 3,876 3,659 7,535

2 Regular school-going children 3,187 3,045 6,232

3 Age wise
• 3–5 years 980 885 1,865
• 6–14 years 2,113 2,149 4,262
• 15–18 years 783 625 1,408

4 School drop-out children 689 614 1,303

5 Nature of work
• Mines 250 186 436
• Cattle grazing 110 30 140
• Caring for siblings 133 278 411
• Bonded labour 2 0 2
• Agricultural work 194 120 314
• Handicraft 49 18 67
Source: Data collected by local organisation READS, Bellary, May 2009

Thimmalapura is a small village of 20 SC and ST families in was extremely poor and looked as if cooking a meal here
Sandur taluk. All families are migrants who have been living would lead to food poisoning or ill-health of the children. The
here for the last 4 years. In Thimmalapura camp school there anganwadi has a toilet that cannot be used. The sewage water
were 40 children out of which 13 children were reported to be drains in front of the school serving as a breeding ground for
malnourished, by the teachers. The rest appear to be equally mosquitoes. Some youth were found to be gambling with the
malnourished and anaemic. The survey done by READS money they just earned from the mining trucks, right outside
shows that 39 children have dropped out of the primary the anganwadi with the anganwadi children peering over them
school, which is located 4 km away from here in Metriki with curiosity. The children reported that the only frequent
village. The tent school teacher said that the children suffer visitor to the anganwadi is a snake that comes through the
constantly from malaria, jaundice, cough and fevers, and they crack in the walls. The whole atmosphere reflected how the life
come to school with skin infections and rashes. The auxiliary of the children in the mining area was insecure and unhealthy,
nurse cum midwife (ANM) was said to visit them once a both physically and socially.
month for health check-up. The older boys from here work as
truck drivers and cleaners as NMDC and Obulapuram mines
are very close to this area.

Anganwadis
Very few mine workers’ colonies have access to anganwadis.
Where they exist, the infrastructure and facilities are far from
satisfactory to cater to the needs of the children below 6 years.
For example, in Rajapura there are 118 children in the age
group of 1–6 years. Of the 40–42 children who attend the
anganwadi, the records showed that 15 children suffer from
Grade I malnourishment and 25 children are in Grade II
A group of youth gambling in front of the anganwadi with children as
level. The sanitation of the anganwadi including the kitchen audience, at Rajapura in Sandur (Photo December 2009)
 61

The anganwadi in
Sultanpura showed
66 children enrolled
although there are
85 children below
6 years of age in the
village. On the day
of our visit there
were only 17 children
present and the
teacher hastily came
to the anganwadi,
upon hearing that Toilet being used to keep firewood at Sultanpura anganwadi in Sandur
a team was visiting. (Photo December 2009)

There were no records also commonly has cases of kidney stones from the areas
Child hanging to the weighing scale, which maintained by the
was lying rusted, at Sultanpura anganwadi. No close to the mine sites. The overall diagnosis of the doctors
record of children’s growth maintained teacher here and of the CHC shows that malnutrition is high among the mine
(Photo December 2009) she could only show workers and their children. The big companies like the Jindals
empty files. There run hospitals but they do not service the communities or
were no educational materials found, and even the basic kits workers as the medical costs here are high and only meant for
were not available. On our insistence, the helper took out the upper strata of the society in this area.
the weighing scale which had no suspension belt to hold the
children. The teacher asked the children to hang on to the In Rajapura village, according to the anganwadi worker, 25
hooks when we requested for them to be weighed. There was a persons have TB, all of whom were working in the mines. Due
space called a toilet but it was being used to store firewood. The to the hazardous nature of the work and physical strain, almost
taps had no running water and the general sanitation of the all the workers are addicted to some form of drugs, tobacco
anganwadi was abysmal. The majority of the children looked or alcohol. Even young children, mostly boys, are addicted
very anaemic but as the anganwadi teacher is too careless to to drugs in order to withstand the strenuous work and body
maintain any records, we could not get accurate data. pains. The easy access to drugs, supplied by peddlers who are
known to have the blessings of mine owners, contractors and
Health Problems police, creates a vicious nexus that is an outright violation of
the safety and security of the children of Bellary.
Dr. Shankar Nair of CHC hospital in Hospet said that
most of the patients who come to the hospital were migrant Kariganuru village has 7–8 private clinics which reflect the
mine workers whose economic condition is too poor to help high rate of illnesses here. Although there was a government
them maintain a basic level of good health. He said that TB hospital, it is closed now. The common diseases found in
they suffered from TB, malaria, pneunomocosis, lung and
skin diseases, and asthma. HIV/AIDs have increased after
mining activities reached a peak.

The doctors at the CHC in Toranagallu, Sandur, gave their

medical observations of the health problems in the taluk.
They felt that the large number of steel plants set up in
Sandur have created air pollution with toxic fumes from the
chimneys causing allergies and infections to the people in
the surrounding areas. Children particularly, are exposed to
this from birth and are therefore, having respiratory illnesses.
The CHC records here show 59 cases of TB and 51 cases of
Malnourished child in a mining affected colony
HIV/AIDS, most of whom were mine workers. The hospital (Photo December 2009)
62

the village were cough, eye infections, fevers, allergies while

chronic respiratory illnesses, malaria, TB were also reported.
Conclusions
People also reported that there were many accidents near the
Bellary district is a standing example of the indiscriminate
village due to the heavy flow of trucks on the highway.
and illegal mining, and how the entire governance machinery
is made ineffective in dealing with the problems. It is also a
The village Neerahalli has no public services like electricity,
glaring example of how such large numbers of children are
drinking water, Public Distribution System (PDS), road,
working in stark daylight and yet, the helplessness of the
water or housing for the mine workers. They are not enlisted
people, the state and the civil society are clearly evident. It is
in the gram panchayat. There is no government school
an area that was once rich in agriculture and is today, totally
or anganwadi nearby and the PHC is 10 km away but the
destroyed by mining, over a large area. However, the recent
roads are in no condition for sick people, especially pregnant
political and bureaucratic pressures that are being brought
women, to travel. Similar is the condition of the villagers in
on the mining activities hold hope. Bellary provides a strong
Thimmalapura where, in addition to lack of basic services,
reason for addressing the glaring loopholes in the law that
there is a problem of flourosis. Here children and adults
related to private and small-scale/rat-hole mining, the need to
complain of joint pains. Four persons in this village have TB.
develop guidelines for migrant labour and unorganised sector
The daily wage is Rs. 80 which is far from sufficient to provide
and the pre-conditions that need to be fixed before mining
for a basic diet of dal and vegetables. So the staple diet here is
leases are granted. An urgent comprehensive assessment
just rice and jowar rotis.
of the status of children of mine workers as well as of local
communities and the status of the institutional structures for
The dust pollution and depletion of groundwater forced
children have to be immediately taken up. Foremost is the
many small farmers to sell their land to mining contractors
need for strengthening the campaign against child labour in
as agriculture was made unviable. This has badly affected
this region.
their food security and livelihood because of which children
are directly affected in their health and nutrition. Many
(Acknowledgements: The above case studies were done
farmers themselves have been forced into mine labour with
mainly in partnership with Sakhi, an organisation working
their entire families. This has affected the education of
for the rights of women and children based in Hospet, Bellary.
children and school drop-out is visible among local children
We would like to thank Dr. Bhagyalaxmi and her team for
whose villages surround the mining activities. Even if
working with us all through the case study and in conducting
they do not work in the mining activities, the severe dust
field interviews on our behalf. We also wish to thank the
pollution and contaminated water have affected the general
organisations READS, SEEDS and Don Bosco for all their
health of children. The doctors and chemist stores that we
help in compiling information).
interacted with in Hospet, stated that chronic respiratory
illnesses, allergies, lung diseases, diarroeah and asthma have
increased among children not only of mine workers but of
the general public.

Contaminated water having iron ore waste, the only sources of water for
bathing, washing and drinking, Sandur (Photo December 2009)
 63

Rangamma’s story: stone quarrying in India Coal Pollution and India’s Crippled Children
February 3, 2010 Wednesday 2 September 2009

Read Rangamma’s story below and find out how you can There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Indian
help the Because I Am Girl campaign. children being born with crippling birth defects as a
result of massive levels of uranium pollution from coal-
“My parents came here to Bangalore after working for fired power stations. For some, their heads are too large
two years close to our native place ,” says Rangamma. “I or too small or their brains haven’t developed properly
couldn’t go to school as my mother had to work and I had most will live sub-standard lives and will die young. India
to look after the kids. Now mother is home I am working has been hiding these crippled children, the victims of
with appa (father). We wake up at 6am and I wash the pollution, from the world and only now can the world see
dishes…. I help appa by breaking stones, filling them in the full extent of this pollution horror.
the baskets and loading them into the trucks. We get 600
rupees for one lorry tipper. But we pay for the explosives Health workers from the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and
used to blast the rocks. So appa makes 1000 to 1200 Faridkot knew something was wrong when they saw a
rupees (about $US20 dollars) a week.” sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical
and mental abnormalities, and cancers among children.
Girls such as Rangamma regularly work up to 14 hours a They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned.
day engaged in back-breaking work – digging, breaking When a visiting scientist from South Africa arranged for
and loading stones. They also help to process the ore tests to be carried it was found that the children had
in toxic and hazardous environments, without safety massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case
equipment. more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.
“When we start we have a lot of blisters. Gradually they If a few hundred children – spread over a large area
go away and the skin on your palms becomes harder,” – were contaminated, how many thousands more might
Rangamma confides. “The dust gets into your eyes and also be affected throughout India?
they become infected. We put some medicine. It goes
away.” http://www.ourfutureplanet.org/news/288-coal-pollution-
and-indias-crippled-children
http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/parenting/my-life/rangam-
mas-story-stone-quarrying-in-india-20100203-nbvq.html

Uranium traces in Punjab children

30th April 2009 | Down To Earth | Savvy Soumya Misra

THEY are 149 in all—mostly children below 13 and a few adults. They are being treated for autism, cerebral palsy and
mental impairment at the Baba Farid Centre for Special Children in Faridkot, Punjab. They are mostly from Punjab though
there are some from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and even abroad. They are in the spotlight now because traces of uranium
have been found in hair samples of most of them.
“I am distressed that uranium has been found in the samples. I don’t know what will happen to my child now,” said
Devinder Singh, father of seven-year-old Yuvaraj, who is being treated at the centre for cerebral palsy.
“Tests need to be done to see if uranium is one of the causes of autism,” said Harish Babu, naturopath at the centre where
treatment is done through naturopathy, neurotherapy and yoga.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090430&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=5
 65

Maharashtra

State Overview food grain requirements.34 As a result, the rural population

is subject to a high degree of instability in income and, hence,
Maharashtra, the third largest state in India in terms of area, forced into working as marginal labour and migrating to
has a population of 96,878,62729 (which is 9.4 per cent of urban areas, such as Mumbai.
India’s total population). This makes the state the second
most populated, after Uttar Pradesh. The state has a very According to the Census 2001, 10.2 per cent of Maharashtra’s
large migrant population. Maharashtra is highly urbanised, population constitute SCs and 8.9 per cent are STs (the
with 42 per cent of the population residing in urban areas national averages being 16.2 per cent SCs and 8.2 per cent
(the national level is around 28 per cent).30 One of the richer STs). The vast majority of the SC and ST population live in
states, with a GSDP for 2007-08 estimated at Rs. 5,910 the rural areas of Maharashtra and are largely dependant on
billion, Maharashtra contributes about 13 per cent to the agriculture as their main source of income.
national income.31
The poverty estimates provided by the Planning Commission,
Agriculture remains Maharashtra’s largest employment Government of India reveal that the poverty ratio in the state
sector, with around 55 per cent of the population directly is 30.7 per cent, higher than the all-India average of 27.5 per
or indirectly dependent on agriculture and allied activities cent. In absolute numbers, the population below the poverty
for their livelihood.32 This is then followed by industry. line in Maharashtra stands third amongst major states in the
However, agriculture has not made the state self-sufficient country, after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.35
in food grains. Instead, the tilt towards commercial crops
has given rise to the agro-processing industry, though mostly The provision for healthcare in Maharashtra has struggled
limited to sugarcane and, to some extent, cotton and lately to keep up with the growth in the state’s population. While
fruits and vegetables.33 This focus on sugarcane in turn has the population has been rapidly increasing, the number of
reduced the scope for equity in sharing a precious resource— hospitals has actually gone down slightly from 1,102 in 2001
water for irrigation. Only 14.5 per cent of the net sown area to 1,099 in 2007. However, the average life expectancy in
(total crop area) in Maharashtra is irrigated, which renders Maharashtra is slightly higher than the national average, at
the agricultural sector vulnerable to droughts. This is evident 67.9 years as opposed to 65.8 for males and 71.3 years as
from the periodic fluctuations in farm output, which in a opposed to 68.1 for females.36 The number of deaths related
normal year produces only about 90 per cent of the state’s to malaria has been on the rise though, from 61 recorded

29. Census of India, 2001.

30. Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2008-09. pp. 1. http://mahades.maharashtra.gov.in/files/noticeboard/eco_srurvy_2008-09_English.pdf.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2008-09.
34. Human Development Report Maharashtra (2002), Prepared for the Government of Maharashtra. pp.4.
35. Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2008-09. pp. 178. http://mahades.maharashtra.gov.in/files/noticeboard/eco_srurvy_2008-09_English.pdf
36. Ibid, pp. 209.
66

deaths in 2004 to 174 deaths in 2007.37 There were 206 Economic marginalisation is the prime reason behind a rapidly
deaths officially recorded due to pulmonary tuberculosis in increasing sex-worker population in Maharashtra as well.
2007 in Maharashtra as well,38 though the actual figure may According to estimates done in 2004 by Mukherjee, in a study
be much higher. supported by Ministry of Women and Child Development,
25 per cent of female prostitutes were under the age of 18.43
Literacy levels in Maharashtra are relatively higher as well (at According to the Census 2001, the number of children
76.88 per cent) as compared to the national average (66 per between 5 and 14 years working as child labour in the state
cent).39 Within the literacy levels however, there appears to be was 392,186 main workers and 371,889 marginal workers. A
a serious gender divide—85.97 per cent of the male population large number of young girls and children reach India’s trade
were found to be literate, compared to just 67.03 per cent of capital, Mumbai, after being trafficked from some of the most
the female population. There are also wide disparities amongst backward—often coinciding with mining—regions in the
social groups, with literacy rates substantially lower amongst country.
the ST and SC population. According to a survey conducted
by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) on Child health outcomes in Maharashtra have only slightly
‘Participation and Expenditure in Education’ during 2007-08, improved in recent years. According to the the NFHS-3 the
the female literacy rate for STs in rural areas was a mere 47 IMR fell from 44 in 1998-99 to 38 in 2005-06. The percentage
per cent. of children below the age of three who are underweight has also
decreased from 50 in 1998-99 to 40 in 2005-06. However,
Status of Children the trend in vaccination coverage for children between 12 and
23 months, who received all their vaccines, declined drastically
According to the Census 2001, children (age group 0 to 14 from 78 in 1998-99 to 59 in 2005-06.44
years) constitute 32 per cent of the total population of the
state. The child sex ratio in the 0–6 year age group, with
917 girls per 1,000 boys, is lower than the national figure of Mining in Maharashtra
927. Maharashtra’s lower than national average sex ratio in
the 0–6 population could be due to the strong son preference, About 19 per cent of Maharashtra’s geographical area is
female foeticide and neglect of the girl child after birth with potentially mineral-bearing.45 The principal mineral-bearing
consequent higher infant and child mortality. 40 belts in the state are Vidarbha area in the east and Konkan
area in the west. The state accounts for 4 per cent of the
Maharashtra is facing a problem of out-of-school children due total forest land diverted for mining in the country.46 There
to various reasons such as unsuitable school timings, migration is, however, no data on how much land has been used for
of children with their parents, difficulty in enrolling drop-out illegal mining. According to the Ministry of Mines, the value
students in regular schools, etc.41 According to official figures, of mineral production in Maharashtra in 2007-08 was Rs.
there were 70,087 children aged between 6 and 14 years out 51.1 billion, an increase of 16 per cent from the previous year.
of school in the state, as of March 2008.42 However, according The state accounted for around 4.7 per cent of India’s mineral
to Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey, 1.5 per cent of children in production that year.47 According to statistics released by the
that age group remain out of school, suggesting that the actual Ministry of Labour and Employment, in 2005, the mining
figure might be much higher than this. sector in Maharashtra employed a daily average of 34,800

37. Compiled from the statistics released by : Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 100, dated 22.11.2006.
38. Ibid.
39. Census of India, 2001.
40. Assessing Vulnerabilities for Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Maharashtra – Draft Report 2005. Shakti Vahini. UNDP Taha Project. Pg. 7.
41. Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2008-09. Pg. 159. http://mahades.maharashtra.gov.in/files/noticeboard/eco_srurvy_2008-09_English.pdf.
42. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008, State-wise Number of Out of School Children (6-14 years Age) in India(As on 31.03.2008).
43. Assessing Vulnerabilities for Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Maharashtra – Draft Report 2005. Shakti Vahini. UNDP Taha Project. Pg. 23.
44. NFHS-3, 2005-06.
45. Analysis by Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 201.
46. MLPC, Organising the Unorganised, Bahar Dutt, 2005; Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 201.
47. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09. pp. 21.
 67

154 are in Maharashtra (making it the ninth largest mining

state).51 While the state is among the top 10 contributors to
the total mineral value of the country, the revenue collected by
Maharashtra from the industry in the form of royalty, accounts
for only 1 per cent of the total revenue receipts of the state.52

Sand mining and stone quarrying have been the focal points
of Maharashtra’s highly unorganised mining sector. These
mines have taken a toll on the environment, contributing to
pollution, water shortages and even failed crops. The stone
quarrying industry alone, hires about 4–5 million workers in
the state.53 Being unorganised, and mostly illegal, it offers no
Unsafe working conditions at stone quarries (Photo September 2009) special legal provisions to protect the interests of the workers,
who live in dire conditions, with no basic amenities such as
workers (down from 35,900 in 2004).48 The 2001 Census drinking water, electricity or health services.
indicated that there were a total of 168,112 main and marginal
workers in the mining and quarrying sector. 49 In Pune’s Wagholi village, with the help of Santulan, an non-
governmental organisation (NGO), the mine workers had to
Maharashtra was the largest producer of corundum in 2007- actually take legal action against the government, under the
08. The state is also the second largest producer of manganese Maharashtra Mining Development Fund resolution of 2002,
ore after Orissa.50 Other major minerals include limestone, for a provision as simple as drinking water.54
bauxite, manganese ore, silica sand and laterite. Undersea oil
deposits have also been found off the shores of Mumbai. The It is difficult to get an estimate of how many children work
Indian mining industry is characterised by a large number in the mines in Maharashtra. According to the Census 2001,
of small operational mines. Out of 2,954 reporting mines, there were 2,095 children aged between 5 and 14 years, and

Pune district: Key facts

Total population: 7,232,555 (Census 2001)

Population (0–14 years): 2,176,374 (Census 2001)

Literacy rate: Total 80.45 per cent

Male 88.34 per cent
Female 71.89 per cent (Census 2001)

Percentage of out-of-school children(6–14 years): 0.9 per cent (ASER 2008)

Percentage of children enrolled in anganwadi centre (AWC)

or pre-school (3–4 years): 89.3 per cent (ASER 2008)

Number of child labour (5–14 years): 35,352 (Census 2001)

Under five mortality rate (ranking): 4 out of 593 districts surveyed

(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

48. Data accessed on indiastat.com; compiled from statistics released by the Ministry for Labour and Employment, Government of India. Selected State-wise
Average Daily Employment and Number of Reporting Mines in India. (2002–05).
49. Census of India, 2001.
50. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09. pp. 21.
51. Ibid, pp. 10.
52. MLPC, Organising the Unorganised, Bahar Dutt, 2005; Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008. pp. 202.
53. Ibid.
54. Kulkarni, Madhura. Stone Quarry Workers win the battle for Right to Drinking Water. Oxfam, Australia. http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/
cr/res03070701.pdf.
68

Nashik district: Key facts

Total population: 4,993,796 (Census 2001)

Population (0–14 years): 1,737,036 (Census 2001)

Literacy rate: Total 74.36 per cent

Male 83.65 per cent
Female 64.35 per cent (Census 2001)

Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 1.9 per cent (ASER 2008)

Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 93.9 per cent (ASER 2008)

Number of child labour (5–14 years): 55,371 (Census 2001)

Under five mortality rate (ranking): 87 out of 593 districts surveyed

(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

11,758 between 5 and 19 years working in the mining sector day which is desperately needed to keep the family
in Maharashtra in 2001. However, given that the majority of from starvation. When interviewed he said “I
the mining and quarrying in the state is in the unorganised always wanted to study but our family is not in
sector, these figures could just be a bubble from the actual a position to send us to school and now it is too
troubled waters. late for me to dream about it. I want to work hard
so that I can use my wages to send my younger
The Pashan Children: A ‘Stone’ brothers to school”.
Source: Interview in Moshi quarry, Pune, September 2009
Deaf Government Hammers Their
As India is leap frogging into a frenzied development
Childhood Away mode of fast track infrastructure to attract Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) and private markets, one of the thrust
Thirteen year old Santosh (name changed) works areas is expansion of roads, national highways, airports,
in a stone quarry in Moshi village of Pune district. railways, ports and urban infrastructure for industries and
He had to migrate with his family from Nashik for the fast growing urban populations. For example, the
and has been working in the quarry for more than planned expansion of national highways of Government of
a year now. He works from early morning till late India is an ambitious investment of Rs.2,35,430 crore for
in the evening breaking stones and loading them the National Highways Development Project. It is proposed
into trucks. He has four siblings one of whom is that 12,109 km of four-laning, 20,000 kms of two-laning,
physically handicapped. He earns Rs.70–90 per 6,500 km of six-laning, 1,000 km of expressways, and
over 16,600 crores of flyovers, ring roads, etc are planned
under the Eleventh Five Year Plan. Further, in order to
meet the insatiable energy requirements of the next decade,
construction of large dams and power projects is another
major area of investment underway.

For all these grandiose plans of India’s development, the price

paid by the country is, a skyrocketing number of quarries
being dug up all over the country, with a high population
of migrant and unorganised labour serviced by women and
children. Ironically, the inclusive growth targets of India, to
match the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are also
Child worker in stone quarry in Pune (Photo September 2009) in the areas of 26 monitorable targets like: (i) income and
 69

poverty, (ii) education, (iii) health, (iv) women and children, The Living Conditions of Mine
(v) infrastructure, and (vi) environment.
Workers’ Children: A Sheet of Plastic
There is certainly a mismatch in these development targets Called a House and Six Feet of Living
vis-à-vis the economic priorities. The case study presented
from Maharastra is a standing example of this paradox.
Space

The study was done in Pune and Nashik districts. In Pune two
major stone quarries were visited—Wagholi and Shirur. The
endless stretches of stone quarries and crushers across Pune
and Nashik districts of Maharastra hide the truth behind the
supply chain that feed the construction of the highways and the
fast growing urban infrastructure, the proud icons of modern
economy but no ivory towers for migrant child labour.

Almost all the quarries visited are very big quarries and have
been in operation for more than ten years. Normally each
quarry has multiple sites scattered around within the lease
area with small groups of workers digging and shifting from
Migrant stone quarry workers’ ‘houses’ surrounded by dust from the quarries
site to site within this lease area. Sometimes they extend their (Photo September 2009)
digging outside the lease area illegally, depending on the mine
owner’s local muscle power and influence. Pune and Nashik The nine stone quarries visited showed India’s dis-respect
are strategically urban nodes especially with their proximity to both to the Constitutional provisions under Article 21 of
Mumbai and the expanding suburban cities. According to Mr. Right to Life and to the international agreements. It showed
Bastu Rege of Santulan, an organisation that works for the how poor and unstable the living conditions of the workers
rights of stone quarry workers, there are 500–1,000 quarries were. If we found any amenities for workers, it was due to the
in every district. According to the District Mining Officer efforts made by Santulan, in getting the workers into assertive
of Pune, there are 412 stone quarries, but the ground reality collectives. Most of the mine workers’ colonies were located
reports show that there are double this number operating away from the main villages, and they were not part of the
illegally. It was unofficially accepted that between 25 and 40 village community, but settled wherever mine owners allowed
per cent of all mines are illegal. them to temporarily set up shacks, close to the mines. In some
places, vacant lands were temporarily given to the workers by
For example, in 1999-2001, the state had 1,777 stone quarries the local panchayat, based on the negotiations between the
and the revenue collected was to the tune of Rs.1954.09 lakhs mine owners and the panchayat leaders. Hence, the workers
(16 districts). In 2008-09, the revenue increased to 2990.32 were at the mercy of the village leaders.
lakhs (covering only three districts). This increase is a reflection
of the increase in the number of stone quarries, which further
Houses are ad hoc shelters made of plastic sheets and quarry
reflects the increase in unorganised sector workers.
stones packed as walls. In a house of 8x10 ft space, or even
sometimes 4x6 ft space, 7–10 members of a family are seen
In both the districts, the main caste groups working in the
to share the space. Most of the cooking and living happens
stone quarries are the Vadar community, whose traditional
outside these sheds, so the women narrate how mine dust
occupation is stone-breaking. Also, increasing poverty and
gets mixed with the food that is cooked and how the drinking
failure of agriculture has forced backward castes, mainly the
water they consume, always has a layer of dust.
SCs to shift to the mining sector for daily wages. According to
Mr. Bastu Rege, the membership in unions that are supported
by Santulan constitute 54 per cent from the Vadar community Water for both drinking and domestic use, is a serious
and the rest belong to SC, ST and other backward castes problem for all workers. The workers showed how they collect
(OBCs). Of these, 80 per cent are illiterate. Most of the workers the water from the mine pits and utilise this for their basic
are migrants from within Maharashtra and the neighbouring needs. As the workers are at the mercy of the villages, they
states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Mr. Rege observed find it difficult to get a decent share of water even for drinking
that in each quarry, on an average, there are 75 workers. especially as the villages themselves face water shortages. In
70

Basic housing and sanitation are absent in stone quarry workers’ colonies– Mother awaits child returning home after a hard day’s labour in the mines–
children consuming polluted water (Photo September 2009) each hammer weighs more than 10 kgs (Photo September 2009)

most of the sites the women complained that they often fell working for some period to join the Pashan Shalas, as the lure
sick on consuming the water. of instant money, especially for boys, is too difficult to give up.
As some of the boys, forced by circumstances, are addicted to
Children of the mine workers were found to be scattered gutka, gambling, mobile phones, movies and theft/crime, they
all over the mine sites around the shacks, looking dirty and find school a very boring place. They reported that they work
dusty. The mine site is their home, playground, sleeping in the tractors, garages, crushing units and in loading. Many
area and is where the Pashan Shalas’ (schools for children of of them said they started work as children due to ill-health
quarry workers run by the organisation Santulan) are also and indebtedness of parents.
located. In all the nine sites visited, we saw children looking
unhealthy, suffering from cough, cold, runny noses, fevers, In Sai Stone Quarry (Magoan, Nasik), 60–70 girls out of the
and skin infections. The women said that diarrhoea, jaundice 150, are working in the stone crushers, breaking stones and
and malaria are the most common health problems of the loading. At Mahalaxmi Stone Quarry five children, around
children, as the water is contaminated and the cesspools in 13 years of age, were found to be working and in a nearby
the mine pits are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. There quarry, eight children, aged about 10 years, were working
is no sanitation facility, so most of the infants and younger at the mine site. The children, who said they were migrants
children were seen defecating around the living quarters. For from Bihar, reported that they work in two shifts where four
the women, sanitation is a huge problem as there are no toilets children work in the morning and four in the evening shift. In
and no areas for bathing. Matere Stone Quarry, seven children between the ages of 14
and 16 were found working. The women regretted not being
Child labour In the Quarries: able to send their children to the Santulan Pashan Shalas as
their economic situation was really desperate. Moshi Stone
It Exists
In the nine sites visited, children are attending school only
where Santulan, the NGO, runs the Pashan Shalas. The
Pashan Shalas were created to rescue the children from
working in the mines and currently there are 2001 children
enrolled in these schools, scattered across five districts
in Maharashtra. But for this intervention, all these 2001
children would have been working in the quarries or helping
their parents in petty chores at the mine sites. At Gore Wasti
Pashan Shala, the children shared information about their
teenage brothers and sisters working in the mines and how
most of them had joined work as children. For Santulan, it is
But for these Pashan Shala run by Santulan, children would end up in the
difficult to motivate children and adolescents who are already mine sites breaking stones (Photo September 2009)
 71

Quarry is a very big area spread over 10 km, and 26 workers’ “My father died of some illness and therefore I had
communities are settled here. It was difficult to count the to go with my mother to the quarry.”
number of children working, due to the presence of mine
and broke down into tears when asked to talk about her work
owners. In Samarth Stone Quarry, it was reported that 30
there.
children were not attending the Pashan Shala but going for
daily wage labour. In MT Patil Stone Quarry in Nashik, 20
It was not possible to verify the education status of the
children do not attend the Pashan Shala. In the nine stone
children in the study area from secondary reports because
quarries we found that there were around 352 children who
none of the mine workers’ colonies figure in the Census or
would have all been child labour but for Santulan.
school education records of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. As the children do not go to the village or
Problems in Attending School panchayat schools, we have not included the school data
from these government schools. Hence our only means of
Apart from the economic reason, children do not have verification was the statements of the workers’ families and
education facilities as the colonies of the mine workers are interviews with children, which was extremely difficult, given
far from the local village. So the school is too far from their the intimidating atmosphere that the children were working.
homes, for the children. Parents also expressed their fears Alternately, we went through the records of the Pashan Shalas
about the heavy traffic of tractors carrying loads and said run by Santulan as these records give a picture of the mining
that it was not safe for children to walk on these roads. As children who would have been out of school or be child
the parents leave for work in the early hours of the day and labourers if the Pashan shalas did not exist. Table 2.03 provides
only return late in the evening, the older children have the information on some aspects of enrolment in Pashan Shalas.
responsibility of their siblings at the house as well as at the
mine site, to watch over them for any blasting or hazardous Migration into the quarry regions in search of work is also a
activities in the surroundings. Besides, the children in the age serious concern and affects the education of children. Table
group of 10–13 have to do most of the household chores, and 2.04 provides some information on migrant shildren.
they are always late for school or have to take their siblings
along with them. At noon time, many of the children have to Table 2.04 gives a highly underestimated picture of the migrant
take food for their parents to the mine site. children in each district in Maharashtra. The experience of
Santulan, as reflected in their Pashan Shala records, clearly
indicates that the situation is far worse than what is officially
projected. The Assistant Labour Commissioner of Pune
district admitted that it was only because of Santulan that
many of the mine workers’ children are attending school.
They do not have a single NCLP school in Pune. According
to him, they can only run an NCLP school if they have a
minimum of 50 children at any given place and since this was
difficult and as most children work in restaurants, mechanic
shops and other petty stores, the government is not running
NCLP schools. He informed that the government is taking
the initiative to rescue child workers by setting up a task-force
with the help of NGOs and child welfare committees, but
Open cast stone quarries without any protection wall this was, however, not very evident in the mine sites visited
(Photo September 2009)
where there was no NGO intervention.
Most of the children interviewed had terrifying stories to
narrate about their experiences working in the mines, about
the death or illness of their parents because of which they had
Wages
to accompany other adults for work and how the only relief
Mine labour is erratic and economically unviable, most times.
came in the form of the Pashan Shalas. For example, a 12 year
Each worker gets Rs. 25–30 for a tractor load of stone, and
old girl from Gore Wati said,
seven to eight persons work together to fill one tractor. A
72

Table 2.03: Santulan Pashan Shala records of enrolment

S.No. Pashan Shala School Level of the School-going Out-of- school Children going Mid-day
School children children for work meal
(6–18 years) (6–18 years) (6–18 years) facility

1 Vagheshwar Pashan Shala Nursery– 110 None None Yes

class IV

2 Gore Wasti Pashan Shala Class V–VII 80 None None Yes

3 Suyog Nagar Pashan Shala Nursery 50 None None Yes

4 Datta Stone Quarry area Nursery– 45 None None Yes

Pashan Shala class IV

5 Mahalaxmi Stone Quarry Nursery 11 None 5 Yes

Pashan Shala

6 Mhatere Stone Quarry Nursery– 30 None 7 Yes

Pashan Shala class VII

7 Samarth Stone Quarry No school Not a single child 30 16 No

Pashan Shala is going to school

8 MT Patil Stone Quarry Newly 26 Around 20 8 No

Pashan Shala (Nashik) opened

9 Sai Stone Quarry and other New quarry Not a single -- 150 No
stone quarries Pashan Shala child is going
(Nashik) to school

Total 352 186

Source: Pashan Shala records, Santulan, Pune

Table 2.04: District data on migrant children

Year Total no. District-wise migrated number of children Total Percentage
of children Pune Ahmadnagar Kolhapur Satara Sangali migration
1997-98 84 21 - - - - 21 25

1998-99 148 26 - - - - 26 18

1999-2000 186 63 - - - - 63 34

2000-01 400 75 - - - - 75 19

2001-02 534 150 - - - - 150 28

2002-03 667 125 16 - - - 141 21

2003-04 1,388 352 8 - - - 360 26

2004-05 1,882 722 5 138 34 - 949 46

2005-06 2,028 591 13 165 3 20 792 39

2006-07 2,001 670 20 175 20 15 900 45

Total 9,318 2,795 62 478 57 35 3,477 37.31

Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08
 73

family works as a unit and manages to fill around four tractors the health problems were related to lung diseases and
per day and earns Rs.700–800 per week per person. There respiratory problems due to the dust from the quarries.
are some variations in wage labour from site to site. In He said that workers are found to have all three stages
MT Patil Stone Quarry, men are paid Rs.130 per day and of respiratory illnesses—bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis
women are paid Rs.70, while at Sai Stone Quarry men are and acute asthma. As they have to continue getting
being paid Rs.90 per day, women Rs.50 per day and children exposed to the dust inhalation, they try to get relief from
Rs.30 per day. alcohol and smoking but this aggravates the problem.
According to the Pune-based Paediatric Unit of DY Patil
Medical College, 50 per cent of the mine workers’ children
Mine Accidents have reduced lung functions with symptoms like asthma,
tightness in the chest, wheezing, cough and breathlessness.
Santulan has recorded 31 cases of mine accidents in four years, Children exposed to the dust for over 5 years were the
of which three cases were reported to be below 18 years of age. most affected. Many of them were exposed to the dust
However, this data is incomplete and therefore cannot be taken right from birth.55
as an accurate reflection of the situation of mine accidents, as
records are not being maintained properly either by the mine In Suyog Nagar anganwadi, records show that, of the 211
workers, mine owners or by local organisations. Most of the children enrolled, 123 children are malnourished, mostly
time, the mine owners provide first-aid and primary treatment under Grade I. In most of the mining colonies, there are no
but no long term treatment or compensation is provided, anganwadis, neither are there any crèches at the mine site. So
however serious the injury. In many cases, workers have been infants are taken to the work place, thereby exposing them
made permanently disabled and could not continue work to the dust, pollution and risk of accidents, as the parents
which pushes the burden of family survival on the children. A cannot keep a watch over the children continuously. Table
15 year old boy was killed but his family was sent back to their 2.05 gives the Bal Shikshan Kendras run by Santulan in the
village with a small compensation. This is only a glimpse into absence of anganwadi centres in the mine workers’ colonies
the larger situation that could be the reality for stone quarries between 1997 and 2007. This is a very small sample of
across Maharashtra. children below 6 years of age who are not covered under the
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme
Health Condition of the Mine which is the basic support institution for nutrition and
protection of children. At a state level, there could be a much
Workers and Their Children larger section of this child population who do not have
anganwadis and therefore, parents are forced to take them to
Dr. Shitre who is a physician helping Santulan on a the mine site with no safety or nutrition available for these
voluntary basis, stated that, on an average he treats infants.
200 mine workers per week. He informed that most of

Blasting in stone quarry areas at Nashik….unsafe for surrounding villages Children of Balshikshan Kendra–in the absence of anganwadis, NGO provides
and mine workers’ colonies (Photo September 2009) mid-day meal (Photo September 2009)

55. Times of India ( Pune ) , by Umesh Isalkar 18 November 2009

74

Table 2.05: Bal Shikshan Kendras with children (1997–2007)

Year Pune Ahmad Nagar Kolhapur Satara Sangali Total
Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn
1997-98 1 35 - - - - - - - - 1 35

1998-99 2 51 - - - - - - - - 2 51

1999-2000 5 123 - - - - - - - - 5 123

2000-01 9 320 - - - - - - - - 9 320

2001-02 12 362 - - - - - - - - 12 362

2002-03 15 375 1 30 - - - - - - 16 405

2003-04 28 516 1 24 - - - - - - 29 540

2004-05 17 464 1 18 1 26 - - - - 19 508

2005-06 17 475 1 20 2 20 - - - - 20 515

2006-07 18 469 - - 3 88 1 31 3 42 25 630

Total 3,190 92 134 31 42 3,489

Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08

A Pashan Shala teacher also observed that many of the reported that they did not get vaccinated as the PHC is too
children have stunted growth and during summer, due to far for them to walk. Dr. Shinde, Medical Officer of Bosri
increase in dust, children suffer from more allergies. In Hospital expressed that it was difficult to provide data for
Wagholi there are more than 60 private medical practitioners, HIV/AIDs and other illnesses of mine workers as most of
which speaks for the high flow of patients from the mining them are migrant workers.
area. They take advantage of the workers’ ignorance as
well as their desperate plight. A major spending of mine
workers’ families is reported to be on private medical Migration: A Lack of Identity
services and is also the main cause for indebtedness. Dr.
Shitre also informed that more than 40 per cent of children Migrant labour is synonymous with quarrying. It creates a
are suffering from anaemia and women are suffering from nameless community with no certainty of life, with the mine
anaemia and prolapsis of uterus. The women constantly workers’ greatest stress being lack of identity, stability and
complain of back pain, joint pains and dizziness. He stated security. This lack of permanency deprives them of many
that TB is mainly found in adults but due to this debilitating of the basic amenities that are the rights for all citizens.
condition, children are forced to work in the mines. A lot Foremost among these is the problem of ration cards and
of the cases of TB are suspected to be/likely to be silicosis, below poverty line (BPL) cards. Very few own ration cards
but as there are no facilities for diagnosis, and as there is a as they do not belong to the village community and do not
lot of arm-twisting by the mining companies to manipulate have a proper proof of residence. In some sites, the workers
records, it is difficult to prove this. He also commented that informed that the mine owner keeps their rations cards
the workers and their children also look much older than (perhaps with the intention of keeping them bonded)
their age because of the harsh conditions and poor health. and the mine workers have to purchase their ration in
the open market. A 60 year old woman informed us that
The PHCs are too far from the mine sites and the workers she finally got her ration card 4 months ago, but the PDS
have to forego their wages for the day and also spend money dealer has asked her to come back after 6 months as her
for the travel and hospital charges. During the field visit, the name was not yet entered in his records. So mine workers
researchers found atleast three women, in advanced stages end up spending heavily on paying the revenue staff but
of their pregnancy, working in the mines, and all of them wait interminably to get their share of ration. This is also
 75

Table 2.06: Class-wise distribution of Pashan Shala children (1997– 2007)

Year /Class I II III IV V VI VII VIII Total

1997-98 84 - - - - - - - 84

1998-99 144 4 - - - - - - 148

1999-2000 107 79 - - - - - - 186

2000-01 332 52 16 - - - - - 400

2001-02 494 25 15 - - - - - 534

2002-03 502 146 19 - - - - - 667

2003-04 1,157 148 47 36 - - - - 1,388

2004-05 1,316 268 134 118 46 - - - 1,882

2005-06 1,265 349 202 95 76 21 20 - 2,028

2006-07 1,102 297 189 162 140 79 16 16 2,001

Total 6,503 1,368 622 411 262 100 36 16 9,318

Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08

a reason for these poor families to be spending more on Further, a caste-wise break up of children in Pashan Shalas—
basic food, so therefore, their consumption is much below as given in Table 2.07—from the mine workers’ clusters,
the basic daily intake required. Many of them stated that shows that while the Vadars are the majority population of
they had even stopped consuming tea, which is the most mine workers, there is a signification increase in the SCs
basic commodity, consumed as it keeps their energy high, among the mine worker group. In the past, it was mainly
since the price of sugar had suddenly shot up. The diet the Vadar community who were traditionally involved in
of mine workers’ children consists of barely two meals stone-breaking acitivities, but the crisis in agriculture in
of rotis with chillies and onions and rarely any vegetables Maharashtra and neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh
or dals. Hence, most of the children seen appeared to be and Karnataka forced agricultural labourers from SC
malnourished and anaemic. communities to shift to mine labour.

Education is also severely affected and is reflected in the

retention among children of mine workers. Table 2.06 Conclusions
shows the sharp decrease in class-wise retention among
children of mine workers. It reflects on the highly migrant The case study of Maharastra clearly brings out the need
nature of these children who leave the schools because of for addressing the serious violation of rights of the migrant
the migratory pattern of their parents, whose livelihood and unorganised sector workers in the mining industry. The
in the quarries and mines is not guaranteed. Achieving link between mining and violation of the rights of children is
the right to primary education for mine workers’ children mainly because of the unviable economics of quarrying and
is a huge challenge, given the highly erratic manner of small-scale mining as far as workers are concerned. Their life
migration. As stated by Santulan, unlike other sectors is bound by a vicious cycle of low wages, hazardous work,
where migrant families return to their native villages uncertain livelihood, poverty, indebtedness, lack of basic
seasonally, in the mining sector, mine workers shift from facilities, death and, therefore child labour and child abuse.
one mine to another wherever the contractors find work for A clear association between landlessness, migration, ad hoc-
them. Therefore, there is no link with their native village for ness of the mine workers’ lives which translates into lack of
the children and this completely amorphous nature of life basic institutions and protections for the children of mine
and the social disconnect, gives rise to insecurity and the workers, is visible. The shocking state of their housing, lack
lack of an identity so strongly felt by the mine workers and of access to potable drinking water and lack of institutional
their children. support for children—anganwadis, primary schools or
76

Table 2.07: Socio-economic distribution of children in Pashan Shalas

District Taluk No. of stone No. of No. of Caste categories
quarry clusters centres children SC ST VJ NT OBC Open
Pune Haweli 6 40 1,268 246 50 710 67 92 103

Khed 1 6 186 38 -- 116 11 15 6

Shirur 3 4 120 12 -- 83 8 14 3

Daund 1 1 23 7 -- 13 2 -- 1

Ahamadnagar Ahamadnagar 3 3 41 17 -- 21 -- 1 2

Shrigonda 1 1 10 2 -- 7 -- -- 1

Kolhapur Kaveer 1 8 134 21 1 81 8 1 22

Shirol 1 4 117 52 11 27 2 8 17

Satara Karad 1 2 37 1 -- 34 -- 1 1

Sangli Tasgaon 2 3 19 3 -- 8 -- 2 6

Total 20 72 1,955 399 62 1,100 98 134 162

VJ= Vimukta Jati; NT=Nomadic tribe
Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08

NCLP schools—to provide nutrition and prevent them states that were a part of this study, which have a typical
from child labour, is seriously missing. NCLP schools, situation with regard to children affected by small scale
which were conceived to take care of this section of children, mines and quarries.
were non-existent in the areas visited by us. The health
condition indicates a need for urgent action on malnutrition (Acknowledgements: The above case study was done in
and mine pollution related problems that these children partnership with Santulan, an organisation working for the
were medically proved to be suffering from. As Maharashtra rights of mine workers in Maharashtra. We wish to thank
proceeds with its high growth infrastructure model of Mr. Bastu Rege, Mrs. Pallavi Rege and the team of Santulan
development, it has to make a conscious effort at meeting its for providing us with information and for organising the
commitments to the children given in the Eleventh Plan as field visits.)
well as the MDG goals.

To achieve this, unless the regulations regarding quarrying

and mining are reviewed to include viable living and working
conditions for mine workers, the very economy of mining
stands questioned. There have to be strong pre-conditions
in terms of responsible mining towards workers as well as
the environment, as the current processes of granting mining
leases do not bring legally binding accountability. Especially
as these are small in size and quantum of work, scattered
in nature and therefore also provide scope for unchecked
illegal extraction and processing, stringent measures for
checks and balances are more necessary in this context. Our
recommendations, in the context of small-scale mining and
migrant labour, which are presented at the end of the report,
are based on our experiences in Maharashtra, and other
 77

Children in stone quarries hit by lung disease Ambaulim students face mining dust in
Anuradha Mascarenhas | Posted: Jan 05, 2008 at classroom!
0000 hrs IST Saturday, December 12, 2009

Pune, January 4 With their play tools being stone, mud

and dust, children living in stone quarries in Pune district Seen in the photo dust created at the speed breaker due
are exposed to environmental pollutants and face a high to spread of ore and primary school situated by the side
risk of chronic lung disease. Checking on the health of the road. Photo by John Fernandes.
conditions of children living at stone quarries at Moshi The students of Government primary School Ambaulim
and Moi, some 20 kms away from Pune city, medicos were Chinchawada Quepem are constantly exposed to dust
taken aback at their dismal lung function capacity. pollution created by the overloaded mining truck.
The peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of 150 children The Government primary school which is adjacent to the
living at stone quarries at Moshi and Moi were examined Quepem Ambaulim main road wherein 19 students are
and compared to those of children living in urban slum studying. That just opposite to the school, in order to
areas near Bhosari. The team of experts from the D Y regulate the speed of the mining truck the PWD has put
Patil Medical College, Pimpri, who conducted the study up a speed breaker. All the mining trucks plying over this
and presented their findings at an international pediatric route are overloaded, the iron ore constantly drops on
conference in Athens, were shocked to find a variation the road particularly at the speed breaker which gradually
among the PEFR rates of children living at stone quarries turns into dust. “The dust problem is so much that most
and in urban slums. of the school children has developed sinus problem as
Says Dr Sharad Agharkhedkar, head of the college’s a result the student often are sick which result in drop
Department of Paediatrics, the average PEFR of children in attendance” informed the teacher of the school when
living at stone quarries was 92.98 litres per minute as contacted on a condition not to publish her name.
compared to the children living in urban slum areas
whose PEFR was an approximate 135.2 litres per minute. http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/2009/12/seen-in-photo-dust-
“The peak flow meter measures the patient’s maximum created-at-speed.html
ability to expel air from the lungs or the PEFR. Peak
flow readings are higher when patients are well and
lower when the airways are constricted,” explains Dr
Sampada Tambolkar, one of the coordinators of the study
that observed the children for a period of three months.
From changes in recorded values, patients and doctors
can determine the lung functionality, severity of asthma
symptoms and treatment options.
This constant exposure to particulate matter in the
form of dust particles has shown that there is a
significant variation in the PEFR among children living
at stone quarries. Children in the age group 3-18 years
were observed for three months. Another batch of
150 children was identified at a slum in Bhosari. ``We
observed that they suffered from symptoms like recurrent
cold and cough, runny nose and breathlessness,’’ says
Agharkhedkar who concluded in the study that exposure
to dust particles has resulted in wheezing.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/children-in-stone-
quarries-hit-by-lung-disease/257713/
 79

Rajasthan

State Overview have been forced to devise alternative adaptation strategies

for survival, as agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult to
Rajasthan, the largest state in India in terms of area, has a depend on. The rapid growth in population in the 1980s has
population of 56,507,18856 and a total State Domestic meant that there has been a 2 per cent growth in the workforce
Product (SDP) of Rs. 1,451 billion (2007-8).57 According to leaving large numbers of people in Rajasthan in dire need of
the Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, the high jobs. Although significant strides were made in reducing rural
growth rates that were seen in the state in the 1980s and 1990s poverty in Rajasthan in the 1980s and 1990s—rural poverty
have slowed down in the new millennium primarily due to declined from 33 per cent in 1983 to 13 per cent in 1999—this
a slowing down in the primary sector, mainly agriculture.58 has marginally increased again during the new millennium.62
Agriculture is still the largest employment sector in the state,
with around 80 per cent of the population living in rural areas According to the Census 2001, 17.16 per cent of Rajasthan’s
and dependent on farming for their survival. population are SCs and 12.56 per cent are STs. This is
slightly higher than the national average of 16.2 per cent
Agriculture accounts for the largest single share in Rajasthan’s for SCs and 8.2 per cent for STs. The vast majority of the SC
economy and was worth over Rs. 289 billion in 2006-07.59 and ST population lives in the rural areas of Rajasthan and
Rajasthan’s other key sectors are manufacturing, construction, are traditionally dependent on agriculture for their
tourism and industries, such as textiles, rugs, woollen goods, livelihoods.
vegetable oils and dyes. In the 1990s, there was a rapid increase
in mining, unregistered manufacturing, communications and The provision of education and healthcare in the rural areas has
real estate. During the same period, there was a decrease in struggled to keep up with the growth in the state’s population.
agriculture, forestry and registered manufacturing.60 This Whilst the population increased by 24 per cent between
fall in registered manufacturing and rise in unregistered 1997 and 2006, the number of PHCs and sub-centres only
manufacturing, along with an increase in mining and quarrying increased by 10 per cent, from 1,616 to 1,712 respectively and
work, has been highlighted as particularly worrying in terms from 9,400 to 10,515, during the same period. This may go
of the availability of quality employment in the state.61 some way towards explaining why the state still continues to
perform poorly in terms of health outcomes.63 In 2006, the
In the face of repeated droughts, and with more agricultural average life expectancy in Rajasthan was 61.7, which is lower
land being turned over to mining and industry, many people than the national average of 63.2 for the same year.64
56. Census of India, 2001.
57. http://statistics.rajasthan.gov.in/GSDP_NSDP_PCI.pdf.
58. Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, Prepared for the Government of Rajasthan by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
59. Indiastat.com, Net State Domestic Product at Factor Cost by Industry of Origin in Rajasthan.
60. Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, Prepared for the Government of Rajasthan by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
61. Ibid.
62. Ibid.
63. Ibid
64. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Economic Survey, 2007-08, chapter 23, pp. 29.
80

Literacy levels are also poor in the state; according to the (over one in five children in the state) are child labourers.
2001 Census, 61.03 per cent of the population are literate In stark contrast to this, despite the existence of 29 NCLP
which is significantly lower than the national average of 66 schools across Rajasthan, only 14,234 working children have
per cent. Within this figure, there are shockingly sharp gender been rehabilitated in the state through this programme.68
divides—76.46 per cent of the male population were found to
be literate, compared to a meagre 44.34 per cent of the female Official figures on the number of children working in all
population. The situation for SC and ST in the state is even hazardous sectors are ridiculously low. There were reported to
worse, with only 31.18 per cent of rural SC women and 25.22 be only 3,026 children employed in hazardous occupations in
per cent of rural ST women literate.65 Rajasthan in 1999.69 This is also contradicted by the Census
data, which states that the number of children working in
mining and quarrying alone in 2001 was 4,296.70
Status of Children
According to India’s only private survey of school education,
The total number of children 19 years and under in Rajasthan Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
in 2001 was 28,033,445 and the number of children aged were the only two states where the number of out-of-school
between 0 and 14 years was 22,543,231.66 This means children did not decrease between 2007 and 2008.71 Their
that children constitute over 40 per cent of the state’s total data indicates that 7.1 per cent of children between 5 and
population. 14 years are out of school in the state, and that 37.6 per
cent of children between 0 and 5 years are not enrolled in an
Although the official number of children out of school is only anganwadi centre or pre-school.72 Within Rajasthan, there are
155,338,67 the actual number is likely to be much higher than also wide variations between districts. Notably, the mining
this. According to the 2001 Census, the number of children districts visited as part of this study—Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and
between 4 and 14 years working as child labour in the state Barmer—all have large proportions of children aged between
was 1,262,570, constituting 10 per cent of India’s entire child 5 and 14 years out of school; this is respectively 15 per cent,
labour force and placing Rajasthan behind only Uttar Pradesh 12.1 per cent and 11.4 per cent. This therefore constitutes a
and Andhra Pradesh in terms of child labour numbers. The significant proportion of children available as labour pool in
NSSO painted an even more frightening picture in 2004-05, these districts.
suggesting that 3,488,000 children between 5 and14 years
Rajasthan also continues to experience high drop-out rates,
with only 60 per cent of children who enrol in class I reaching
class VIII. The drop-out rates are worst in the geographically
difficult region (the desert area) and in the ST habited region
(the south). In many areas, supply constraints continue to
impede access to formal education for many children—
facilities are poor, teachers frequently absent, and in 11 out
of the 32 districts over 30 per cent of schools have only one
teacher.73

Child health outcomes in Rajasthan are also poor. Around 80

per cent of children between six and 35 months are anaemic and
Children at MLPC day care centre (Photo July 2009) 44 per cent of children under 3 years of age are underweight.

65. Census of India, 2001.

66. Ibid.
67. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.08, State-wise Number of Out of School Children (6-14 years Age) in India (As on 31.03.2008).
68. Ministry of Labour, Rajasthan, www.rajlabour.nic.in/childlabour.doc.
69. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2691, dated 9.8.2000.
70. Census of India, 2001.
71. Pratham ASER 2008 survey, pp. 50.
72. Ibid, pp. 64.
73. Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, Prepared for the Government of Rajasthan by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
 81

Most worryingly, there has been no improvement in these previous year.81 The state accounted for around 4.6 per cent of
figures between 1992 and 2005, despite economic growth.74 India’s mineral production that year.
Rajasthan is currently severely off-track in terms of reducing
the IMR. According to the Ministry for Health and Family Mineral production accounts for around three per cent of the
Welfare, Rajasthan’s IMR in 2007 was 65 per 1,000 live state’s total revenue.82 Though minor minerals contribute more
births; this is significantly higher than the national average of than 50 per cent in terms of the value of mineral production,
55 per 1,000.75 The densely populated areas of the northeast their contribution to the total royalty received from mining in
and the adivasi districts of the south have in fact observed an the state is just five per cent.83
increase in the IMR in recent years.76 In spite of investments
made in schemes such as the ICDS, the NFHS-3 found no More than 95 per cent of mining activities in Rajasthan are in
decrease in child malnutrition in Rajasthan between its first the unorganised sector.84 There are thousands of unorganised
survey in 1992-93 and its most recent survey, in 2005-06.77 mines and stone quarries in Rajasthan, some as small as one-
twentieth of a hectare. These minor mineral leases cover an
Rajasthan’s sex ratio also raises cause for alarm, revealing on- area of over 50,000 ha.85 Minerals are found across the entire
going gender discrimination in the state. According to the state, but the majority of the mines and quarries are located
2001 Census, the Rajasthan ratio is 921 females to 1,000 across the southern and southeastern districts, one of the
males; this is lower than the national average of 933 females areas of the country most heavily populated by STs.
to 1,000 males. Sex ratios in some of the western districts,
such as Jaisalmer and Barmer, are particularly poor.78 Child Rajasthan produces 10 per cent of the worlds’ and 70 per
marriage also continues to be serious problem in Rajasthan, cent of India’s, output of sandstone.86 Given that most of the
with frequent stories in the media of forced child marriages mining and quarrying in Rajasthan is carried out on small,
taking place across the state in breach of the Child Marriage informal sites, and that illegal mining is reportedly rampant,
Restraint Act, 1929. it is difficult to estimate the actual size of the workforce in
the state. According to the Census, there were 233,130
people (main and marginal workers) employed in mining
Mining in Rajasthan
Rajasthan produces almost all varieties of minerals found in
India. There are 79 minerals present in the state, including
metallic minerals such as copper, zinc, lead and silver, and non-
metallic minerals such as limestone, sandstone and lignite. In
2006-07, 58 minerals were produced in the state.79 Rajasthan
has more mining leases than any other state in India—1,324
leases for major minerals, 10,851 for minor minerals and
19,251 quarry licenses for mining stones.80 There are 207
reporting mines in the state. According to the Ministry of
Mines, the value of mineral production in Rajasthan in 2007-
08 was Rs. 49.31 billion, an increase of 6 per cent from the Lignite mining in Barmer district (Photo July 2009)

74. Ibid.
75. http://www.mohfw.nic.in/NRHM/State%20Files/raj.htm, uploaded: 28 July 2009.
76. Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, Prepared for the Government of Rajasthan by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
77. NFHS-3, 2007.
78. Human Development Report Rajasthan 2008, Prepared for the Government of Rajasthan by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
79. Department of Mines and Geology, Rajasthan, http://www.dmg-raj.org/mineral_reserves.aspx, uploaded: 29 July 2009.
80. MLPC, Organising the Unorganised, Bahar Dutt, 2005; Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 263.
81. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09.
82. Analysis by Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 264.
83. Ibid, pp. 263.
84. Rana Sengupta and Sanjay Chittora, MLPC, The Sad Story of Child Labour in the Mines of Rajasthan.
85. Analysis by Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, 266.
86. P. Madhavan and Dr. Sanjay Raj, Budhpura ‘Ground Zero’ Sandstone quarrying in India, December 2005, pp. 7.
82

and quarrying in the state. Of these, 4,296 were reported to approximately 20 per cent were children and 43 per cent
be children in the age group 5–14 years, and 29,498 were were women who had been widowed. In total, around 90 per
children up to 19 years.87 cent were in debt to their employers (‘contractors’) so can be
considered ‘bonded labour’.89
However, estimates suggest that closer to 2.5 million people
work in Rajasthan’s mining sector, many driven there by the Working conditions and wages are poor. Mine and quarry
state’s persistent drought and the failure of agriculture. Of workers in the informal sector are provided with no basic
these, around 95 per cent are SCs and STs, 37 per cent are safety or protective gear and accidents are frequent. Most
women and 15 per cent are children.88 This estimate would accidents go unrecorded, but one report estimates that there
place the number of children working in mining in the state are around 460 deaths a year in the mines90 and many more
at around 375,000. injuries. Workers are paid according to what they produce in
a day, but almost all earn under the Rs. 100 a day that is the
Research carried out by Mine Labour Protection Campaign minimum wage in Rajasthan, and women and children earn
(MLPC) in Bundi district found around 55,000 people much less than men, as they are not able to do the heavy work
working in the sandstone mines there. Of these, 85 per of breaking stones and instead are involved in tasks such as
cent were migrant labour, 94 per cent were SCs and STs, removing mine waste.91

Barmer district: Key facts

Total population: 1,964,835 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 847,335 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 58.99 per cent
Male 72.76 per cent
Female 43.45 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 11.4 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 38.8 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 58,320 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 407 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Jodhpur district: Key facts

Total population: 2,886,505 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 1,170,568 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 56.67 per cent
Male 72.96 per cent
Female 38.64 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 12.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 48.6 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 51,206 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 249 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

87. Census of India, 2001.

88. MLPC, Organising the Unorganised, Bahar Dutt, 2005.
89. MLPC
90. MLPC, Organising the Unorganised, Bahar Dutt, 2005.
91. Interviews carried out with mining communities in Rajasthan, July 2009.
 83

Jaisalmer district: Key facts

Total population: 508,247 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 216,264 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 50.97 per cent
Male 66.26 per cent
Female 32.05 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 15 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 60.5 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 12,869 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 332 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

A complete lack of social security means that contractors pay needed the money to run the house. Around 2–3 days in a month
nothing towards medical costs for mining-related accidents she does not go to work as she rests at home. She suffers from leg
and illnesses, and workers are forced to take unpaid time off and backache. Shristhi has never been to school.
frequently due to ill-health. Workers end up in debt to the Source: Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti and Gandero Ki Dhani, Jodhpur
contractors as they need to borrow money for medical costs, district, October 2009.
and this cycle of indebtedness is often passed down through
the family. The mines and quarries of Rajasthan are primitive
workplaces, with no drinking water or basic sanitation Background to the Research
provided and often located far from the nearest medical
facilities. Given the backdrop of the status of children’s overall health
and literacy levels in the state, the case studies undertaken
in the mining areas in Rajasthan, are reflective of these poor
Situation of Children in the indicators and the denial of basic rights of the child in an
Mining-affected Communities of environment of hazardous work, living conditions, social
insecurity and lack of protection from violence and crime.
Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer
Districts The research team visited three districts in Rajasthan in July
2009—Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer. Visits were made to
mine sites and quarries, villages engaged in mining, villages
Rani (name changed) is 10 years old and working in the sandstone
located close to mine sites, anganwadi centres and PHCs.
mines in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. She earns Rs. 70 a day, cleaning
mine waste from 9.00 am till 5.00 pm. She works about 15 days
in a month, because she gets tired and needs to rest, and sometimes
is unable to find work in the local mines. She has been to school
(an MLPC-run crèche) for just 2 days in her life. She is already
addicted to gutka and fights with her mother to spend money on
soap and gutka for herself.

Shristhi (name changed) is 16 years old and works in a mine site.

Her father, who was a mine worker died of illness nearly 5 years
back. She has one older sister (married), a younger sister who is
at home, three brothers at school and one brother older than her is
also a mine worker. Her mother too works in the mines. Shristhi
earns about Rs. 100 a day working from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Women and young girls walk long distances for mine work and for water
She said that she had been working for nearly 4 years now as they (Photo July 2009)
84

Follow up interviews were carried out in Jodhpur district were around 40 households living in this community, with
in October 2009. Although a huge variety of minerals are around 8–10 children per family. All of the adults, and most
produced in Rajasthan, time constraints of the project of the children over 12 years, work in a mine, approximately
meant that the team focused on sandstone, limestone and 1.5 km away.
lignite for this study.
In Jethwai village, 12 km from the city of Jaisalmer, there
were around 300 households. Villagers reported that 70
Demography per cent of the people working in the limestone quarries
here had come from outside the area (e.g. from Jodhpur
The communities involved in mining in both Jodhpur and district) and the remaining 30 per cent were from this area.
Jaisalmer districts are mostly SCs and STs. All interviewed Approximately 90 per cent of the inhabitants of Jethwai work
across the districts confirmed that the vast majority of the in mining. The remaining 10 per cent own some livestock or
mine and quarry workers are from these groups and almost work in Jaisalmer city.
all are landless.92 Some of the mine workers interviewed in
Jodhpur district had migrated from other parts of the state.
These migrant workers were living in makeshift housing, Economic Context
close to the stone quarries. Most communities interviewed,
however, had been living in these areas for many years and Increasing amounts of land previously used for agriculture
were previously engaged in agriculture. Residents of Gandero had now been converted for mining and quarrying activities.
Ki Dhani village, a predominantly SC village in Jodhpur This is an extremely worrying situation, given that around
district, explained how they were the second generation 80 per cent of the state’s population still live in rural areas
engaged in mining work; prior to this, the village survived and are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Many
on agriculture and livestock herding. 93 of the communities interviewed across all the districts had
previously relied upon agriculture or livestock grazing for
Residents of an ST village in Jodhpur district, Bhat Basti, their survival, but were now working as daily wage labourers
located close to Kaliberi mining area, explained how in the mines due to lack of available land.
they used to be nomadic, but because of the increase in
population in Rajasthan and less land availability, they could “We used to be rich, but now we have nothing.”
no longer find land for livestock grazing. As a result 20 years - Village leader from ST community, Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district
ago they were forced to sell their animals and move to this
site, close to the mines in the hope of finding work.94 There In Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, residents explained how the
land used to belong to the government, so they could use it
to graze their animals on, but now it was all privately owned
or encroached illegally by mine owners. There was no free
land left, they explained, as people were even occupying the
government land and mining there.95

In another village, Joga, in Jaisalmer district, there were

around 2,500 inhabitants, 90 per cent of whom were
dependent on agriculture and livestock. However, since
industrial mining of limestone started on their doorstep
15 years ago, problems in the village had increased. The
dust from the mines had destroyed their crops, and their
livestock was dying after eating the dust-covered leaves.96
Houses of stone quarry workers in Jodhpur. (Photo July 2009)

92. Interviews with mining communities in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, July 2009.
93. Interviews carried out in Gandero Ki Dhani village, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
94. Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
95. Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
96. Interviews carried out in Joga village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
 85

According to their plans, the private companies operating work carried out under the NREGA. In Meghwal Basti, a SC
there were meant to use water sprinklers to prevent the community about 16 km from Jodhpur, all 13 households have
dust from spreading. However, the villagers claimed this a job card. It is mostly women who are the job cardholders.
never happens so dust was spreading all over the area. In The reason given for this was that the NREGA payments were
addition to this, the flowing water that they previously had sometimes delayed beyond the 15 day payment period (the last
for agriculture, had been blocked off by the large plant close payment had been delayed by 2 months). As the households
by, and by the walls formed once the mining company began were depedent on daily wage labour for their survival, if the
digging stones. Before, they could cultivate their land twice men also worked under the NREGA there would be days
a year; now they cannot cultivate at all.97 when they would not receive any money. So the men continued
to work as daily wage labourers in the mines and the women
The campaign for National Rural Employment Guarantee took up the NREGA work.100
Act (NREGA) began in Rajasthan and is regarded by many
as working more effectively there than in any other state, to
provide work for the rural poor who lack alternative livelihood Displacement
options. The Act states that in every family, one person is
entitled to 100 days of work per year at the minimum wage. In Rajasthan has the second largest deposit of lignite in India
several of the villages visited, people explained that in addition after Tamil Nadu. Lignite, which is often referred to as ‘brown
to mining work, a number of residents were employed in coal’, is used for steam electric power generation. In Barmer
NREGA work. However, they argued that the NREGA was district, western Rajasthan, the state-owned Rajasthan
not operating properly in this area, as people were not being State Mines and Minerals Limited has been expanding its
paid the full wages (Rajasthan’s minimum wage is Rs. 100 a lignite mining operations in recent years and now operates a
day). The kind of work they were doing was road construction huge open-cast mine near Giral village. Locals reported that
and building canals, but they are only being paid around Rs. many people have been displaced from this land. In keeping
40–60 a day and being told that they have not worked properly with the displacement policy for public sector companies,
or hard enough to earn their full Rs. 100.98 In Joga village, the displaced were offered only Rs. 2,000 for one bigha101
also in Jaisalmer district, over 100 people were reported to be of land. However, locals explained that they were asking for
getting work from the NREGA, but they also got less than Rs. 17,000 per bigha for their land and three villages in the
the minimum wage of Rs. 80–90 per day.99 area—Thumbli, Akali and Jalela—were now embroiled in a
court case.102 Without their land, some former farmers were
There were also problems in terms of delayed payments for now forced to work as contract labour at the mine site and
were employed in roles such as security guards and labourers
there. At a public meeting on the land dispute in June 2009,
locals were advised by officials that they should just accept
the Rs. 2,000 being offered to them as: “The government is
going to take your land by force anyhow, so it is better to take
the compensation which the government is giving now.”103

“The government is telling us that this mining is

going to be profitable to the country and that this
is for India’s development. But if this is India’s
development, are we not a part of India? Why is
the government not considering us?”
Thermal Power Project in Thumbli village (Photo July 2009) - Resident, Thumbi village, Barmer district

97. Ibid.
98. Interviews in Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
99. Interviews in Joga village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
100. Interviews carried out in Jodhpur district, October 2009.
101. One bigha is equal to 2,500 sq m in Rajasthan.
102. Interview with local farmer, close to Giral mine site, Barmer district, July 2009.
103. Ibid.
86

At Thumbli village, residents explained how they were explained how the mines have been operating in the area
threatened with displacement by the lignite mining company, for around 50 years, but now the stones are starting to get
along with 15–20 other villages in the area.104 Each village exhausted. The mine next to their village was likely to close
has an average of 50 families, which amounts to around in around five years time, leaving them with no form of
3,000 children affected. The lignite mining began in 1994. employment, and therefore unable to support their families.
Prior to this, all families were dependent on agriculture. In Residents explained how some mines had already closed
Thumbli, there are 15 families who lost all of their land to down around other villages in the area, such as Sipla, 38 km
mining. Residents explained how within the next year, none away, leading to a huge increase in unemployment, especially
in the village will have any land left as it will all have been amongst the youth.106 The people of Jethwai are anxious to
taken by the government mining company. People are being remain in the village, but fear that if the mining stops and no
told by the company that the government had subsoil rights other work is made available to them, then they may be forced
wherever there is coal. to migrate from the area. The impact of this, as explained
later, has been on the local schools losing their children for
In addition to the poor compensation being offered, local mine work, given the poverty of the families here.
people claim that they were not getting jobs in the mines and
factories, and were told that they lack the necessary skills, as
their traditional work is agriculture. People were being forced Status of Education
to migrate from their homes to find work—one person from
each family was found to be moving to states such as Gujarat “The main problem is the lack of education here.
and Maharashtra to look for work on construction sites, thus We are telling the government that we will give land
causing a breakdown of family and community structures. and a building, but please give us a decent school.
This displacement has a serious impact on children, who are The mines can close anytime but if our children are
pulled out of school and forced into work when the economic educated, they can find a job elsewhere.”
situation of their family worsens.105 - Mine worker, Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district

Across all three districts, parents recognised the importance

Lack of Alternatives to Mining of quality education for their children and highlighted this
as a major concern in the mining areas. However, in all
“The mine for us is agriculture. There’s nothing the communities the same crucial issues around education
else”. were raised—the lack of basic facilities in schools, teacher
- Female self-help group (SHG) member, Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur absence, the lack of secondary schools in the area. Parents
district expressed frustration over the fact that their children have

“The good work was earlier— agriculture and

animal husbandry”
- Resident, Joga village, Jaisalmer district

In all the villages and mines visited, the same message was
repeated over and over—there are no alternatives to mining
work. If alternative livelihood opportunities were available
to them, they were exhausted by the destruction of land
and water resources due to mining activities. Otherwise
people would leave the mines and quarries immediately,
as this work is not viewed as ‘good work’. In some villages,
people expressed concern about what will happen when the Children of stone quarry workers in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur
stones finish. In Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, residents (Photo July 2009)

104. According to residents in Thumbi, the villages most affected are: Thumbli, Giral, Jalela, Khejadli, Sonadi, Vishalaghot, Badres, Gotia, Kapurdi, Bhonaniyoki
Dhani, Akali and Jalipaa.
105. Interview with residents of Thumbli village, Barmer district, July 2009.
106. Interview with residents of Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
 87

been attending government schools for a number of years of the approximately 350 children in the community were
but were learning very little in these schools. One mine able to read or write.112
worker explained how his three children had been attending
the government school, but there was no teaching there. So With little or no education, the children living in the mining
despite his extremely low wages, he was in the process of communities around Rajasthan grow up with no alternative
enrolling them in a nearby private school, where he hoped but to work in the mines and quarries like their parents.
that the standard of education would be higher.107 This will ensure that the cycle of poverty continues for
these families. All the parents interviewed recognised the
In Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, a similar situation importance of education for their children, and many were
could be observed. The residents explained how they had making sacrifices on a daily basis to keep their children out
a government school up till class VII, but the teachers do of work and in school. But tragically the poor education that
not turn up. Because of this, drop-out rates have been high; they are receiving in these government schools will ensure
earlier there were 120–130 children enrolled in the school, that for the vast majority of them, they will be left with no
but now there are only 70–80. Some of these drop-outs can option but to follow their parents’ footsteps and work as
now be found working in the mines nearby. The villagers daily wage labourers in the mines.
had filed complaints to the government about the teachers
several times, but claim that the government does not listen.
Some of the residents have now started a private school in Child Labour
the village with their own money, where 40 children are
currently enrolled, but not all parents in the village can Thousands of children in the state are out of school and
afford the Rs. 100 a month contribution.108 working in the mines and quarries. With the informal
nature of the sector, and the vast number of mine and quarry
In Barmer district, similar problems were highlighted. A sites across the state, it is difficult to accurately estimate the
resident of Akali village explained how the teacher comes number of children involved. However, in just one mine
to the school but does not bother to teach anything, despite in Kaliberi, Jodhpur district, mine workers reported that
always taking his salary on time from the government.109 In there were more than 100 children—over 50 of whom are
Thumbli village, there has been a school since 1965, but this girls—working in the mine and that children tend to start
only runs till class VIII and the villagers explained how they work there when they reach 12 years of age.113 Children are
did not have the money to send their children outside the employed to fill tractors with stones and earn around Rs. 80
village for education beyond class VIII.110 In Joga village, for every tractor filled. Children under 12 years of age are
Jaisalmer, the school also only runs till class VIII, and out of
15 students, maybe only two or three go on to higher studies
in one of the larger towns, leaving the majority of children
without alternative career options but to work in mining.111

In a ST community in Jodhpur district, parents explained

how the younger children were now attending the MLPC-
run crèche close by, but that none of the older children were
attending school as the nearest one was too far away (over
3 km) even though the parents are keen to educate their
children. Some of the children stay at home all day in the
village with the older women. Most of the children over 12
years old go to work in the mines with their parents. None Child engaged in stone quarry at Kaliberi (Photo July 2009)

107. Interview with mine worker, Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
108. Interview with mine workers in Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
109. Interview with local farmer, close to Giral mine site, Barmer district, July 2009.
110. Interview with residents of Thumbli village, Barmer district, July 2009.
111. Interviews carried out in Joga village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
112. Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
113. Interviews with child and adult mine labour in Kaliberi mining area, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
88

usually not strong enough to carry out this work, but in Bhat
Basti residents explained how some of the younger children
(around 9–10 years old) run away sometimes to the mines
to earn around Rs. 10 for a day’s work.114

Mine workers in Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur district, said that

children aged 15 years old worked in the mines where they
work. Some mine workers said that their children were also
employed in other forms of labour, such as in tea shops and
hotels. When a mother or father dies, children are generally
taken out of school to go to work in the city.115 Illness and
death of a parent also results in children being forced to take
up work in the mines. Two sons of Aarti (name changed) Meeting with stone quarry workers, including child labour at Kaliberi
in Bhuri Beri aged 15 and 12 work in the sandstone mines (Photo July 2009)

while another 12 year old grazes goats. Bimla Devi’s husband

Health Impacts
died of TB and she herself was being treated for the same.
In Gandero Ki Dhani, another widow Sonu (name changed)
“The younger people in the mines are OK, but as
who is diagnosed with TB has a 12 year old son working in
you get older the breathing problems start.”
the mines.
- Mine worker, Kaliberi, Jodhpur district

Several children between 12 and 15 years old were

Across the state, mine workers reported numerous health
interviewed in the mines around Jodhpur district. Most said
problems, particularly breathing problems caused by dust
that they had been working there for a few months, since
inhalation. Every village and mine site reported widespread
they had dropped out of school and earned between Rs.
cases of TB, which seem to emerge once a worker is not even
30 and Rs. 50 a day, filling trucks and doing other similar
around 40 years of age. In several places, people talked about
heavy tasks.116 Most adult mine workers interviewed said
lung problems but did not know if they were suffering from
that children earned around Rs. 50–60 per day working in
TB or silicosis. Others claimed that when people do suffer
the mines. Several villages explained that only children from
from silicosis, the government says that it is TB anyway
the very poor families are working; the others send their
and they are treated for TB.117 The mine workers and their
children to school. In one village, for example, residents
children regularly suffer from coughs, colds, fevers and eye
estimated that around 90 per cent of the children in the
infections. In a PHC close to a mining area in Jodhpur
village attend school; the remaining 10 per cent (around
district, the nurse reported that he treats a large number
250 children) were out of school. In this area of Jodhpur
of respiratory illnesses. They had 27 people undergoing
district, several children were spotted driving stone-filled
treatment for TB at the time of the interview, and he stated
trucks; none of these children looked more than 14 years
that even more cases were being treated in the sub-centres
old. None of the children either had any work safety gear
in that area.118 The nurse explained how they also have cases
that could protect them from the risks of accidents, injuries
of silicosis but this was much more difficult to diagnose with
or even minor bruises. For the children, there is no choice
only only four or five cases having been diagnosed in this
and the risks are high especially during the initial years
PHC, so far.
of work when they had not yet gained the expertise to
handle the mining work. The workers reported that they
Women explained that they continued to work until they
were easily susceptible to eye injuries, mine-slips and mine
were eight months pregnant, carrying out heavy work like
collapse, breaking of limbs or their back due to falling, or
lifting mine waste and loading trucks. Due to a lack of any
from stones crashing over them.
kind of maternity benefits, and due to the extreme poverty at

114. Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
115. Interview with female mine workers, Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
116. Interviews with child labour in Kaliberi mining area, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
117. Interviews with mine workers in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
118. Interview with nurse, PHC in Fidusar Chopar, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
 89

As well as malaria, the most common child health complaints

across all the districts were pneumonia, coughs, colds and
diarrhoea (from the lack of clean water and sanitation
available). In all the communities visited by the research
team, people said that their children had been vaccinated
against polio but most were unsure if their children had had
any other vaccinations, and check-up following birth seemed
to be rare.

Many of the children in the mining areas seemed to be

suffering from malnutrition. “We don’t know what we will
eat tomorrow” explained one female mine worker, living in
Stagnant water in mine pits, breeding mosquitoes, Kaliberi Bhuri Beri, in Jodhpur district. One woman interviewed was
(Photo July 2009) carrying a small baby who looked no more than 9 months
home, they are forced to return to work within 15–20 days old, but she claimed he was 2 years of age. In several villages,
after delivery. One pregnant woman interviewed complained women said their children had never been weighed or their
of intense pain in her chest. Besides, the distance to the PHC growth, measured. Residents of Thumbi village, Barmer
being too far, the women cannot afford to give their time and district, claimed that there had been an increase in children’s
money to travelling to the PHC for any treatment. illnesses, particularly malnutrition, malaria and fever since
the lignite mining plant began operations 15 years ago.120
Across all the mining areas, people told of an increase in malaria
due to the stagnant water in the mines. This was supported Interviews carried out by MLPC with Salumber PHC, in
by the PHC in Jodhpur district, where the nurse explained Morilla village, Udaipur district revealed that levels of child
that the water level increases in the mines in the rainy season, malnutrition were also high in the mining area there. The
allowing mosquitoes to breed and leading to an increase PHC staff explained how most of the children in the area
in malaria cases. According to the nurse, the area had been were malnourished; among the families involved in mining,
identified with a ‘red dot’ by the World Health Organisation to all their children were found to be malnourished.121
show that it was a highly malaria affected area.
It is hardly surprising that child malnutrition levels are
It is not just mine workers who are suffering from increased said to be increasing in these areas. With the breakdown
health problems in the area. In Thumbli village, Barmer in agriculture, many people interviewed said that they had
district, villagers reported an increase in health problems almost no vegetables in their diet. They eat twice a day and
amongst the communities living near the lignite mines. their meal consists of roti and occasionally dal, though often
The plant works day and night, covering the whole area just chillies. Before, people grew their own vegetables; but
with dust. People said they were now bringing up black now they have to buy them in local towns and these are very
phlegm when they cough. The village was also witnessing an expensive. Many families just could no longer afford to buy
increase in malaria, which they attribute to the wastewater vegetables.
from the mining plant. In Fidusar Chopar PHC, the nurse
also reported a large number of liver problems from alcohol Malnutrition coupled with hazardous work results in the
abuse and claimed that more than 90 per cent of male mine children suffering from several chronic and persistent
workers consumed alcohol every day. He also explained how ailments. Body pains, respiratory infections and dizziness
more than 200 mining trucks passed through this area every were the common complaints that children working in the
day and many of these truck drivers have sexual relations mines stated. In order to withstand these, it was also clear
with local women. However, they only recently started that they were addicted to gutka and alcohol. We saw child
HIVtesting in the PHC, so they did not yet have data labourers quarrelling with their mothers to give back some
available on this.119 of their wages in order to purchase these drugs.

119. Interview with nurse, PHC in Fidusar Chopar, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
120. Interview with residents of Thumbli village, Barmer district, July 2009.
121. MLPC interview with Salumber PHC, Morilla village, Udaipur district, October 2009.
90

Inadequate Health Facilities

Several villages said that although there was a government
PHC close by, these often have no doctors and lack essential
medicines, such as those for malaria treatment. Instead, they
are forced to travel to private clinics and pay for treatment
when they are seriously sick or injured. Residents from
Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, explained how before the
PHC was too far away but they lobbied with the government
and provided space in a building so the PHC was moved to
their village. However, there was no doctor’s post there and
the nurse was said to be absent most of the time. If they fell
sick, they have to take the bus to the government hospital In crisis ridden Jaisalmer, poor water management and seepage
(Photo July 2009)
in Jaisalmer.122 There is also a PHC in Joga village, but the
doctor only comes once a month and the nurse has studied Her six daughters were covered in dust and grime, and when
only till class IV, as told by the villagers. Their nearest hospital she was asked about their health and hygiene she explained
is 60 km away in Jaisalmer and a bus service was started only how water was so scarce, she could not afford to waste it on
a month before the study team visited the village.123 bathing her children.125

In Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur district, female mine workers

Access to Water explained how despite the dirty, dusty work they carried out,
they were unable to bathe every day due to water scarcity
Continuous drought for the past 20 years has created in the area. They reported that they get their water from a
enormous water problems in Rajasthan. The recent failure hand pump but this regularly breaks down and does not get
of agriculture in the state has been largely attributed to the fixed for weeks. They pay Rs. 50 a month to get salty water
lack of rainfall, particularly in the western part of the state. for washing their clothes.126
Increased mining activity has also added to this pressure,
with a number of villages reporting that their water had
been siphoned off by companies for mining activities. Just Conclusions
outside Joga village, a wall was built by a mining company
next to the agricultural land previously cultivated by the It is clear from the interviews carried out in Jodhpur,
village. This meant that the water no longer flows down onto Jaisalmer and Barmer, as well as from the large number of
the agricultural land leaving no water for irrigation.124 NGO and media reports available on mining in Rajasthan,
that child labour continues to be a huge problem in the stone
“All of our money is spent on water.” quarrying sector in the state. Despite the fact that child
- Female mine worker, Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district labour is so visible in the stone quarries across Rajasthan,
there is no concerted effort by either the government or
Other villages reported that they were forced to spend a mining operators there to address the problem.
significant percentage of their meagre earnings from mining
on water for their basic needs. In Bhat Basti village, there is In addition to child labour, there are other serious but
no water supply so they have to pay for tankers. One tank less well publicised issues affecting children in the mining
of water contains 3,000 litres and costs Rs. 400. A woman areas of the state. Malnutrition was a serious problem in all
interviewed in Bhat Basti explained how water was so scarce mining-affected communities visited, and this appeared to
in their village, that she was unable to bathe her children. be getting worse with the reduction in available agricultural

122. Interview with residents of Jethwai village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
123. Interview with residents of Joga village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
124. Visit to Joga village, Jaisalmer district, July 2009.
125. Interview carried out in Bhat Basti, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, October 2009.
126. Interview with female mine workers, Bhuri Beri village, Jodhpur district, July 2009.
 91

land as more and more is acquired for mining and quarrying.

The provision of healthcare and education in the mining
areas was also found to be seriously lacking. Health centres
without doctors and schools without teachers were frequent
problems reported by the communities.

As with other case study areas, an urgent comprehensive

assessment of the status of children of mine workers, as well
as of local communities, and the status of the institutional
structures for children have to be immediately addressed
in the state. A review of the nature and scale of mining in
Rajasthan has to be urgently taken up so that indicators of
Rajasthan’s growth are not just calculated from the trade in
stones but also from the human development, and especially
child development indicators which are in a shameful state
in mining affected Rajasthan.

(Acknowledgements: The above case study was done in

partnership with MLPC, Jodhpur which is working for the
rights of mine workers in the villages from where the data
was collected.)
92

Many of the Workers in the Mines of India are Reckless In Raniganj

Children From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 50, Dated Dec
News & Communications, DUKE UNIVERSITY 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Life here is a step away from catastrophe — but
desperation forces many into activities that undermine
DURHAM, N.C. -- When we arrived that morning in Bhat their own future, says TUSHA MITTAL
Basti, a crowd of excited children swarmed around our
jeep before I could even open the door. One of them EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Muskaan is kneeling close to a patch
was a pretty 12 year-old girl named Raju. She spends her of fresh, hot coal. She is sorting charcoal pieces that
days toiling in the cavernous quarries of India. she will pile into a bamboo basket for her father to
carry across the town of Raniganj. Everyday, groups of
Bhat Basti is a cramped mining village that’s sprung other men, women and children join her at this coal-
up on the scorched earth where the desert meets the burning ghat, only a few kilometres from the city’s main
city of Jodhpur. That day, I visited with my colleagues market. The coal that comes to them is mined and sold
from GRAVIS, the local non-governmental organization illegally. The irony is that Raniganj sits in the heart of
where I’ve been working as a researcher for the past four India’s coal belt, yet residents rely on illegal coal to
months. cook their daily food. If caught, Muskaan can end up in
Persistent droughts forced Raju’s family to migrate to prison for months without trial, but a lonely constable in
the city for work. But after laboring in the mines, her khaki from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF),
father died of silicosis, or occupational lung disease. watching passively at the sidelines provides the much-
When her mother fell sick earlier this year, the burden of needed assurance.
supporting the family fell to Raju. But as Muskaan bends over, she doesn’t know that the
She now earns 50 rupees (US $1.25) for each 12 hour day ground below could be a hollow cavern, a void created by
of clearing rubble from the bottom of the mine. Because the same illegal mining she’s a part of. Today, after years
her low caste status limits her opportunities and the of unscientific coal mining, Raniganj is suspended over
dominating mine owners limit her freedom, it’s unlikely a thin crust of land; over a labyrinth of vacant galleries.
that Raju will ever escape this cycle of poverty. Locals live in fear that someday, the entire town with
its 35,000 plus population could cave in. As they ply
Yet Raju’s story is hardly unique: Of the two million through the town’s dense alleys, no one knows where, or
mine workers in Rajasthan, an estimated 20 percent are when, the feeble earth will crumble.
children.
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.
http://news.duke.edu/2005/11/child%20labor.html asp?filename=Bu201208reckless_in.asp
 93

Madhya Pradesh

State Overview per cent of the total population.131 Around 38.3 per cent of
the state’s population lives below the poverty line; this is far
The total population of Madhya Pradesh in 2001 was higher than the all-India average of 27.5 per cent. Amongst
60,348,023.127 In 2006-07, the state had a GDP of Rs. the SC population, these figures are even higher—67.3 per
962.5 billion. Although almost half of the GDP came from cent of SCs in urban areas live below the poverty line and 42.8
the tertiary sector (including railways, trade, hotels and per cent in rural areas.132
restaurants) the largest single sector was agriculture, accounting
for Rs. 230 billion of the state’s GDP.128 More than 80 per Literacy rates also reveal the continued practice of widespread
cent of the population in the state depend on agriculture for discrimination and marginalisation in the state. Although
their livelihood. The state is heavily forested, with forest cover 63.74 per cent of the state’s population is literate, only 55.39
of around 1.7 million ha. In 2006-07, Rs. 13.9 billion of its per cent of SCs living in rural areas and 41.16 per cent of
revenue came from forest products. However, in the period rural ST population are literate. The figures are even worse
between 1980 and 2008, a total of 11,970 ha of forest land for women, with only 28.44 per cent of ST women being
in the state were diverted for mining.129 Mining accounted for literate.133 Life expectancy in Madhya Pradesh is also lower
Rs. 35 billion or 3.66 per cent of the state’s GDP in 2006-07. than the national average – 57.4 years, as compared to India’s
average of 63 years.
The Human Development Report 2007 for Madhya Pradesh
described the general state of human development as
‘progressive but backward in Madhya Pradesh’.130 The rural Status of Children
areas and parts of the southwest, southeast, northwest and
central belts are described as being more backward than the In 2001, there were 23,252,416 children aged 14 years and
rest of the state. These are also the regions that are forested and under in Madhya Pradesh, and 28,943,033 aged 19 years and
have a large ST population. Overall, the state has a very high under134, meaning that children constitute over 40 per cent
number of STs as a proportion of the total population—12.23 of the state’s population. According to official statistics, there
million or 20.4 per cent of the total state population. There is were 181,424 children aged between 6 and 14 years out of
also a large SC population in the state—9.15 million or 15.2 school in the state.135 However, the state government claimed

127. Census of India, 2001.

128. Uploaded from indiastat.com; data from Central Statistical Organisation, as on 9 February 2009.
129. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 234, dated 20.10.2008, Selected State-wise Forest Land Diverted for Mining by Ministry of Environment and Forests in
India (25.10.1980 to 30.09.2008).
130. Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/difmp/mphdr2007.htm.
131. Census of India, 2001.
132. Accessed at indiastat.com; Data taken from Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4530, dated on 24.04.2008.
133. Census of India, 2001.
134. Census of India, 2001.
135. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008.
94

that 296,979 children aged between 5 and 14 years were out of

school in 2006-07. 136 Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey estimates
Mining in Madhya Pradesh
that 1.9 per cent of children in that age group remain out of
school in the state, and around 8.8 per cent of 3–4 year olds Madhya Pradesh is the sole producer of diamonds and slate
are not enrolled in an anganwadi centre or pre-school. 137 in India. The state is also the leading producer of copper
concentrate, pyrophyllite and diaspore. In 2007-08, the value
According to Census data, there were 1,065,259 children aged of mineral production in the state was Rs. 80.62 billion, an
between 5 and 14 years working as child labourers in Madhya increase of 17 per cent from the previous year.145 Madhya
Pradesh in 2001.138 There is very little data available on the Pradesh accounted for 7.4 per cent of the total mineral
number of children working in hazardous occupations in the production in the country, making it the sixth largest mineral
state. In 1999, the central government reported that there producer in India. There were 319 reporting mines in the state
were 11,259 children employed in hazardous occupations in in 2007-08. In terms of general trends, the production of coal
Madhya Pradesh,139 but this may well have increased since and manganese ore in the state has increased over the years,
then, as the list of hazardous occupations has been expanded. but the production of bauxite and copper ore has decreased.
The NCLP is currently operating in only 17 out of the 50
districts in Madhya Pradesh. In 2006-07, there were 2,824
children rescued and rehabilitated under the scheme, bringing
the total number of children rehabilitated in the state by May
2007 to 3,519.140 This is likely to be a very small percentage
of the actual number of children employed in hazardous
occupations across the state. Census data shows that there were
2,747 children between 5 and 14 years working in mining and
quarrying in the state in 2001, and a total of 12,655 children
19 years and under working in the sector. 141

The situation of child health in the state is also worrying.

Madhya Pradesh has IMR and under five mortality rates
Stone quarries and diamond mines exist together in Panna
far higher than the national average—69.5 per 1,000 live (Photo August 2009)
births and 94.2 per 1,000 live births respectively, as against
the national figures of 57 and 74.3.142 The state also made According to figures provided by the Ministry of Labour and
the headlines in 2008 for having the highest levels of child Employment, there were 54,000 people officially employed
malnutrition in India. According to NFHS-3, around 60 per in 160 reporting mines in the state in 2005. This is a slight
cent of children in the state are malnourished. This means that decrease from 57,300 employees in 2002. However, other
the rate of malnutrition in children has actually increased by 5 figures also provided by the Ministry suggest the number
per cent in the state in the past decade, a situation exacerbated may be slightly higher, indicating that 30,000 people are
by poor rains and the global food crisis.143 Madhya Pradesh employed in underground mines in the state, 10,000 in open-
also has a low sex ratio—920 girls to every 1,000 boys— cast mines and 16,000 in above ground mines.146 The actual
indicating that female foeticide and male child preference are number of people working in mining in the state is likely to
likely to be prevalent in the state.144 be substantially higher than this, because of the existence of

136. Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission, Government of MP; quoted in Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/
difmp/mphdr2007.htm.
137. Pratham ASER 2008 survey.
138. Census of India, 2001.
139. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2691, dated 9.8.2000.
140. Data accessed on indiastat.com; Compiled from the statistics released by: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3759, 09.05.2007, Lok Sabha Unstarred
Question No. 994, 20.08.2007 and Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2415, 03.12.2007.
141. Census of India, 2001.
142. NFHS-3, 2007.
143. BBC News, Malnutrition getting worse in India, 10 June 2008.
144. Data accessed on indiastat.com; taken from National Commission for Women, 2001.
145. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report, 2008-09.
 95

Panna district: Key facts

Total population: 856,558 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 349,322 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 61.36 per cent
Male 73.33 per cent
Female 47.97 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 1.5 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 89.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 13,303 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 587 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

artisanal and small-scale mining. According to the Census,

there were 177,249 people working in mining and quarrying
Diamonds Are Not a Girl’s Best
(main and marginal workers) in Madhya Pradesh in 2001. Friend: ‘For Her, Who Digs, Cuts
Of these, 2,747 children aged between 5 and 14 years were
working in mining in the state in 2001, and 12,655 in the age
and Polishes, Diamonds Are
group 5 and 19 years.147 Forever a Curse’
An estimated 31.7 per cent of the country’s diamond reserves “My name is Sudeep. I am working with my father
are located in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh.148 The here in the stone quarries since 3–4 years. Now I
diamond belt covers around a 1,000 km area. The NMDC, a am 18 years old. I come from Panna village. There
government-owned company, is the only organised producer is no fixed rate of payment for the work I do. For
of diamonds in the country, from its Majhgawan mine, 20 digging out one plate of stone we get Rs.70–120
km from Panna town. Majhgawan is the only mechanised per day. In a day we can take out 5–6 plates of the
diamond mine in Asia and was discovered in 1827. In January stone, as a group. I can say that I earn Rs.100–
2001, the mine and plant was upgraded for 84,000 carats 120 in one day. But I can only work for 12–15
production per year, which was a huge increase from 15,000 days in a month as the work is very strenuous. I
carats in 1984. Every year, the land is leased to prospective have never been to school”.
miners by the government agency. The diamonds are then Source: : Interview carried out in Purna Panna stone and diamond
collected by the district magistrate of Panna, and auctioned quarries, Panna, August 2009
four times a year. However, a large quantity of diamonds are
mined illegally and smuggled out of the state to polishing This is the story of the glittering refractions of a piece of
units in Surat in Gujarat and Mumbai in Maharashtra. There carbon that fragment the childhood of the poor dalit and
are over 3,000 illegal mines in the district and an estimated 90 adivasi children of Panna. Panna district was originally a
per cent of diamonds mined in the area are sold illegally.149 Gond settlement until the thirteenth century and became
geographically of strategic value after the importance gained
Diamond mining is the only source of livelihood for many to the minerals found here. Panna is famous for its diamonds
people living in the district. However, as with most artisanal which are located in a belt extending for 80 km across the
diamond mining areas across the world, the labourers get a district. It also has many stone quarries that stretch across
tiny fraction of the value of the stones they find. the entire district and yet, Panna is one of the poorest
districts in the state, graded as ‘C’ category.

146. All figures accessed on indiastat.com; provided by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
147. Census of India, 2001.
148. Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, ‘State of India’s Environment: 6’, 2008, pp. 216.
149. Ibid.
96

This case study covered two minerals–stone quarries and state as a whole.153 This suggests a high degree of female
diamonds–both of which are found together in Panna foeticide and discrimination against girls in the district. In
district. At present the major diamond mining is assigned to 2002, it was reported that over 61 per cent of women in
a Government of India undertaking, the NMDC Diamond the district marry before they reach 18 years of age.154 Not
Mine Project. The belt starts from Paharikhera Northeast surprisingly, both the IMR and under five mortality rate is
to Majhgawan Southwest and has a width of around 30 km. high in Panna— respectively 93 per 1,000 live births and
There are several small-scale open-cast diamond mines in 132 per 1,000 live births. 155
Panna. There are at least 121 leases in Panna district150 for
diamond extraction. The villages covered for the study were According to the Census, 13,303 children between 5 and
Bador, Jhallar, Janawar, Umraban, Chainsingh Dharampur, 14 years were working as child labourers in the district in
Hardua Rakseha and Gandhigram, all falling under Panna 2001. As the NCLP is not currently active in Panna, there
and Ajaigarh blocks in Panna district. are currently no government programmes to address child
labour in hazardous occupations in the district.

Demographic Profile of the District

How Diamonds Are Mined
Panna is a district in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The town
of Panna is the district headquarter. The district is a part of Increasing amounts of land previously used for agriculture
Sagar Division. Panna district was created in 1950, shortly had now been converted for mining and quarrying activities.
after India’s independence, from the territory of several This is an extremely worrying situation, given that around
former princely states of British India, including the states 80 per cent of the state’s population still live in rural areas
of Panna, Jaso, most of Ajaigarh, and a portion of Paldeo. and are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Many
It has five blocks and six towns. The proportion of the ST of the communities interviewed across all the districts had
population in the district is a little above 13 per cent and previously relied upon agriculture or livestock grazing for
that of the SC population is marginally higher, at 15 per their survival, but were now working as daily wage labourers
cent. The major adivasi group in the district is Gond. in the mines due to lack of available land.

Despite its rich mineral wealth and its status as the sole
producer of diamonds in India, Panna remains one of the
least developed districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The
district has a HDI ranking of 0.479, meaning that it ranks
fifth from the bottom in the state. This is considerably lower
than Indore, at the top of the list with a ranking of 0.710.151
Per capita income in Panna is also strikingly low—0.274
on the HDI ranking scale—the fourth lowest in Madhya
Pradesh. The district has serious challenges to face in terms
of providing its population with basic amenities. Only 34.6
per cent of households have electricity and a dismal 11.1
per cent of households have a toilet. A tiny 6.8 per cent of
households in the district have electricity, a toilet and access Children working in diamond mines under contractor’s supervision
to safe drinking water.152 (Photo August 2009)

Panna also has a lower than average sex ratio for the
state—907 girls to 1,000 boys, as opposed to 920 for the

150. Secretary, PKMS

151. Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/difmp/mphdr2007.htm.
152. District Factsheet, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/difmp/mphdr2007.htm.
153. Data accessed on indiastat.com; taken from National Commission for Women, 2001.
154. District Factsheet, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/difmp/mphdr2007.htm.
155. Ibid.
 97

Impact of Displacement and no work in the village, many of the younger people were
migrating to other areas. In addition, with the introduction
Resettlement on Adivasis in Panna in of NREGA there has been an increase in corruption that
the Context of Mining has destroyed the peace in the village. The people seconded
his comments adding that they do not get even 10–20
From the claws of the tiger to the clutches of the mining days of work in a year, so it really does not provide them
mafia, the adivasis in Panna fell prey to India’s development any guaranteed employment. Moreover, the Thakurs and
policies that pit conservation against human rights. Villages Yadavs dominate the villagers and grab whatever schemes
displaced by the Panna Tiger Reserve were either forcibly reach their village, whether it is BPL cards or NREGA job
relocated by the government or had to migrate out and find cards. Wages according to the NREGA is currently Rs.85
land for themselves. Whereas earlier the adivasi communities per person day.
had large areas of land to cultivate and were traditionally
involved in agriculture and forestry, they are now confined
to small patches and are unable to sustain their livelihoods
through farming alone.

Besides, the resettlement area is uncultivable land, unlike

their earlier fertile lands. The money that was allocated for
land development was barely utilised for this purpose as
the government retained the money and did not implement
the activities properly. There were two phases of relocation
and different packages of rehabilitation that left some
with only monetary compensation. In the first phase, the
local organisation, Pathar Khan Mazdoor Sangh (PKMS) Adivasi child from displaced family, axe at his side, has a frugal meal before
informed the study team that, each displaced family was leaving for the mines (Photo August 2009)
given Rs.36,000 and 5 acres of land. In the second phase
Rs.10 lakhs was given as cash compensation, but only Rs. Umraban village is a stark example of what displacement
9 lakhs was directly given to the people and a lakh was means to people. This is an adivasi village having a population
retained by the government for land development. However, of around 200. According to the villagers about 15 families
the people complained that they did not receive most of migrated out of the village. Most of the youth here work as
this money which was lost in paying the different levels of construction labour or are involved in other manual labour
administrative machinery that processes their compensation in mining.
money.
Another example is Janawar area gram panchayat, which was
Displacement, has adversely affected the livelihood of the the first to be displaced by the Panna Tiger Reserve. There
communities as many of the families including children, are 54 families here, and, at the village meeting that was
now work in the stone quarries and diamond mines or are attended by most of the adults and children, people spoke
migrating to far off places like Delhi, Amritsar and other about the poor rehabilitation. They said that 17 of the
towns in Punjab, or Goa. displaced families are yet to be rehabilitated. New Jhallar
village, which is a resettlement site of the displaced from the
tiger reserve area, is an example of how the adivasi farmers
Status of Adivasis After have been left completely landless and without any livelihood
Displacement after losing their lands. They had to shift close to forest land
which is not considered ‘legal’ for them to own and they do
not have the skills of working in the mines either. Hence,
The Gonds, who are the main adivasis here, have to now
they have no alternate source of livelihood and may end
live with other mainstream castes like Yadavs and Mahars
up as mine labour very soon if government does not take
who are more dominating and have better access to land as
up rehabilitation, or if the forest land is not given to them
the Gonds came here only recently and are a more diffident
under the recently enacted Scheduled Tribes and Other
community. A village elder stated bitterly that as there is
98

Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act. does not take care of the children all through the day.

In Gandhigram too, as in the surrounding area, all the Bador village has a population of 650, as stated by PKMS,
displaced adivasi families suffer discrimination from the of which 200 children are enrolled in the primary school.
upper castes as they have been forced to live with them after There are 112 boys and 88 girls, with ST boys numbering 78
relocation. At the village meeting, the people reported that and ST girls numbering 66, and the rest are SC (three boys
around 40–50 persons from the village have migrated out to and one girl) and OBCs (49) and General (3). However,
the cities, for lack of sustenance. when the team visited the school there were only 30–35
children attending and the headmaster said that majority of
the children go for mine labour work. The anganwadi in this
Status of Anganwadis and Schools village has an enrolment of 96 infants but only 80 attend
the anganwadi regularly. There are 40 children in the age
The mining activities, compounded by the displacement of group of 0–3 years and 40 children in the age group of 3–6
adivasi villages for the Panna Tiger Reserve have led to a years. The anganwadi is mainly managed by the sahayaka or
breakdown of institutional mechanisms, or where they exist, assistant who is an adivasi girl but the anganwadi teacher,
they are made irrelevant to the child in the current situation who is from the Yadav caste neither attends regularly nor
of impoverishment. The study team visited the anganwadi treats the children with care. Hence, the women said that
centres and primary schools which are the main institutions they are not too happy to send their children to the local
of support for education and nutritional development of the anganwadi. The anganwadi worker said that three infants
child. were identified by her, as severely malnourished, and she got
the children admitted at the district hospital at Panna. In
Of the total population of 200 in Umraban village between reality, the PKMS, expressed that most of the children are
60 to 70 persons are below 18 years of age. The primary malnourished and do not have adequate diet or sanitation.
school in the village has an enrolment of 39 children of
which 21 are boys and 18 are girls, all of whom are STs. Of Purana Panna is a gram panchayat village with a large
these children around eight, mainly girls, do not go to school population. It has a primary school with strength of 154
but accompany their parents for work in the diamond mines children, of whom 71 are boys and 83 are girls. Here again,
and quarries or to take care of their younger siblings while as the mines are close to the village 15–20 children regularly
their parents are at work. As this village is not very close go for work in the diamond mines, which are privately run
to the road, the teacher is not regular and because of this, by contractors, and do not attend school. The anganwadi in
absenteeism among children was also reported. According to this village has 124 children, with 56 girls and 68 boys. Ten
the survey conducted by PKMS, there are over 40 children pregnant women and 16 women who have just delivered, are
below 6 years of age in this village, but there is no anganwadi registered here. Of the children enrolled in the anganwadi, only
facility in Umraban. 25–30 children go to the anganwadi regularly as the others are
taken to the mine sites by their parents. Hence, most of the
In Mannor village, according to his survey, there are 126 infants were seen to be in the mine sites, exposed to the dust
children enrolled in the primary school of which 60 are boys from the quarries and this is a serious hazard to their health,
and 66 are girls, all from ST families. There is no school particularly with respect to respiratory infections.
building at present and children were found to be studying
under a tree. However, a new school building was under Half the adivasi population who were displaced from Jhallar
construction at the time of this study. Only about two relocated to Janawar and settled in the forest land behind the
children have studied upto class V in this village. village. This new resettlement colony, called New Jhallar, has a
mini-anganwadi which is linked to Panna anganwadi and has
Mannor has mining activities very close to the village and 23 girls and 20 boys enrolled here. It is mainly taken care of
hence 20–25 children of the age group of 8 years and above by the sahayaka who cooks the supplementary food allotted
work regularly in the diamond mines and stone quarries. In to this colony. There is a primary school here but without a
this village, there is an anganwadi, which has an enrolment building (as it is forest land and they do not have permission
of 127 children between 0 and 6 years of age. However, only to construct a building) but there are 15–20 children of
25–30 children regularly go to the anganwadi, as the rest are school-going age here. There is no teacher appointed here,
taken to the mine sites by the parents because the anganwadi
 99

but a teacher is sent from the primary school of Janawar reflects that if children are not in school, they most certainly
village for an hour every day to teach the children. In Jhallar are found in the mine sites or in other places of work.
village, the sarpanch, who was instrumental in preparing
the rehabilitation policy, said that there is only one primary
school to which five girls and 10–12 boys go regularly. He Child Labour in the Diamond Mines
stated that the literacy rate of the village does not exceed and Stone Quarries
5 per cent. The sarpanch also admitted that atleast 10–20
children below the age of 18 years are working in the mines The people in the villages the study team visited, described
or in tea stalls or other petty shops besides doing additional how they find that mine labour is unsustainable in several
work at home like agricultural labour or grazing the cattle. ways because their children are forced to work in the mines.
In village Bador, a Gond explained how two of his sons,
In Gandhigram village the population is 250, and children both below 18 years of age, were forced to work in the stone
enrolled in the primary school which is attached to Janakpur quarries and diamond mines, as a result of his illness. The
gram panchayat, is 135. However, only 70–80 children man used to work in the mines but had become ill with
regularly attend school and the rest are involved in working malaria and TB. Therefore, the boys started working in
in the diamond mines and stone quarries. The village is order to support the family and to purchase medicines.
surrounded by both stone quarries and diamond mines on
a very large scale and therefore the incidence of child labour Most of the boys and girls start working by the age of 10 or
working in the mines is higher. The anganwadi is closed, 12, with more girls found in every site. They keep shifting
reportedly because of a case against the anganwadi worker. from mine site to mine site, wherever the contractors give
Children are, therefore, unable to access any supplementary them work, either in the stone quarries or in the diamond
nutrition in this village. mines. The parents said that as future bread-winners of the
families, they have no choice but to learn the work early in
Table 2.08 presents the official data, District Information life as they do not anticipate any other opportunities for
System for Education (DISE report card 2008), regarding their children, given their situation of poverty.
school enrolment in some of the villages where the above
primary information was collected. There are variations in In Janawar village the elders reported that every child in the
the primary and secondary sources of information which village is involved either in mining activities or in domestic
shows that secondary data is not completely accurate and chores as the land given by government is not fertile and it
in many places, there is no data available. However, there is has made them impoverished. Officially the rehabilitation
more variance between the enrolment figures of children and project has provided substantial cash compensation, but
the actual numbers regularly attending school which only in reality the displaced families are found everywhere

Table 2.08: Primary school enrolment data for some villages in Panna district

District Block Village Total enrolment SC ST OBC Others

Panna Panna Jhallar 21 0 1 20 --

Janawar 113 2 18 92 13
Umraban Data not available -- -- -- --
Gandhigram 232 82 23 111 107
Mannor 73 3 21 38 51
Hardua 173 25 47 58 75
Rakseha 517 18 56 272 24
Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim

Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card

Sources: DISE report card, September 2008

100

in the mine sites ekeing out a living as daily wage labour. there are atleast 5–10 times more illegal mines than legal
This calls for a review of the process of resettlement and ones.
compensation.
According to these Gond families who work in the mines as
A teenage boy interviewed, stated that he has been working contract labour, the wages are very low. The men are paid
in the mines from the age of 10 and he now gets a daily Rs.50–60 per day and the women get Rs.40. They also
wage of Rs.70. The stone quarry near Gandhigram village clearly stated that there are many children working as labour
provided evidence of child and adolescent labour. The boys, in diamond mining. While most of the women take their
who were around 17 years of age, explained that they work infants with them to work, the children start taking part in
under a contractor who pays them Rs.35–40 for one piece of the mining activities from the age of 10. The women informed
stone broken. The boys earn, on an average, Rs.70–100 per that young boys go as deep as 70 ft underground, into the
day and the material, to their understanding, is sent to the mine pits in search of diamonds, sometimes for 8–10 hours
states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and to the city at a stretch. According to villagers of Dharampur there are
of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. They reported that working more than 500 children (age group 10–16 years) working
hours vary from contractor to contractor, but on an average, in illegal mining activities in Dharampur and surrounding
each boy works for 10 hours daily. All the boys interviewed areas. As children are cheap labour for the contractors, they
belonged to the Gond tribe and they have been working for are hired to work in the mines. The women said that majority
a few years now. of the child labour are also girls who start working from the
age of 12–14 to supplement the family wages.

In one of the diamond mines visited by us, six children were

found working with their families. Four of the children were
below 12 years of age and were helping the adults throw the
soil away. The parents stated that the children are enrolled
in school but they work for half a day in the mines and
also attend school in the afternoon. When questioned, the
children said that they do not have money to buy notebooks
and they fear the wrath of the teacher, so they preferred to
accompany their mothers to work.

Young boys digging for diamonds (Photo August 2009)

In Hardua village that is home to 30 Gond families, around
12 families participated in the group discussion we held
Chainsingh Dharampur is an example of the nature of regarding the diamond mining activities. None of these
diamond mining taking place in Panna district. It is village families have land and all of them are dependent either on
of Gonds, close to the diamond mines of many private mining, which takes place for 4–5 months in a year, and
contractors who explore for diamonds illegally. In a meeting the rest of the year they either sell wood from the forest
held in the village during the field visit, which was attended
by about 19 Gond families, they complained that, on the
one hand, government is allotting small areas (25x25 ft)
for mining leases to private contractors, and on the other
hand, non-adivasi local people were lured by the contractors
to give their land informally on lease for diamond mining
activities. The contractors pay them around 10 per cent of
their profit for this land. Therefore, it is spreading like rat-
hole mining in the whole area with agriculture and forest
land being seriously affected. The women complained that
earlier they could work as agricultural labourers, but now
there is no work. The people here also complained that most
of the illegal mining is happening in forest land and that Malnourished and out-of-school, children of mine workers in Panna
(Photo August 2009)
 101

or migrate to Delhi, Kanpur, Jhansi or Haryana. Here also especially in the rainy season. Recently, four mine workers
the people explained that they earn Rs.50–60 per day in the were said to have perished in the mine debris while digging
mining activity. Women and children are also working in for diamonds.
the mines and earn Rs.30–35 per day. Children are mainly
involved in sorting the stones and digging up soil and have Among adults, TB is a very common occupational health
to stay for many hours inside the mine pits in order to find problem among the mine workers. Dr. Tiwari, the Chief
diamonds. Children are also working in sandstone mining Medical Officer of the Panna District Hospital, stated
and their main tasks here are, breaking the stones and loading that malnourishment and TB were very high among the
them into trucks. In this village, we found children who were mine workers in Panna district. In Hardua village, we were
8 years old, also working in the diamond mining activity. informed by the people that 3–4 people had died of TB.
The PHC of Hardua Rakseha, which we visited in August
The villagers complained that NREGA works are not 2009, had no doctors posted here and this was reflected on
available for more than 30–35 days in a year and that they the notice board of the PHC which did not display the names
are cheated in wage disbursal. Because of this, they have to of any medical personnel. The PHC was merely manned by
go out of the villages for work. a paramedic (compounder) who was found distributing the
same medicine to all the patients who were present at the
Voluntary organisations like PKMS have been fighting for hospital during our visit. The people complained that although
the rights of the displaced adivasi families and against the it is a government hospital and there is no doctor appointed,
use of child labour in the mines. They state that the nexus they are forced to pay for their medicines and treatment.
between the law enforcement departments and the mining
mafia is very strong and as the communities are too poor
they are forced to take their children for work. When the Water and Sanitation
team asked them about the future of their children, they
replied that they had no time or luxury to think about the The women complained that they face severe water problems
children’s future. They have to survive for today. As an 8 and the water supplied by NMDC is far from adequate to
year old boy stated, ‘there is nothing in the school to study, meet their needs because, out of the four hand pumps given
we are here to support our family, holding diamonds in the in one village, only one functions. The children, therefore, live
same frail hands that never held a fistful of food! in conditions of poor sanitation and hygiene and appeared
very unhealthy when we visited the villages. Almost all the
children we saw looked anaemic, with distended bellies
Health Problems and pale faces, and appeared undersized for their age. The
women said that as they were away at the mine site most of
Women workers stated that they work in the mines even the day and did not have the time or sufficient water, they are
during the late months of pregnancy as they have no other unable to bathe their children regularly or keep them clean.
work available. They expressed that children are born very Most of the children were defecating around the houses as
anaemic and are malnourished. Both women and children there are no toilets. The unhealthy condition of the children
looked malnourished when we visited the area. Child was a clear indication of the lack of economic support for
marriages are common in this area, which is also an added their families, inspite of the mining boom.
reason for early motherhood and malnourishment among
women and children. We found young mothers, not older The women and children of Gandhigram have to walk a
than 20, holding one or two children, and they all looked distance of 4 km to fetch water and as they have a major
very anaemic. The common health problems that children water shortage, the burden of collecting water is on the
working in the diamond mines suffer from are respiratory girls. People complained of water-borne health problems
illnesses due to dust inhalation, skin diseases due to and stated malaria, TB and inadequate food as the major
standing in the stagnating mine pits for several hours to dig problems. The team saw 4–5 people suffering from TB here.
the pits. Diarrhoea and fevers, particularly malaria, is very Malnutrition is very high among the children. There are only
high among the children here, given that the mine pits are two families who own BPL cards although the entire village
abandoned without any reclamation after the exploration is eligible. Mannor village too had no drinking water and the
for diamonds and have stagnant water with mosquitoes. youth said that many of them have TB but they suspect it
These abandoned mine pits also pose risk of accidents to be silicosis.
102

Conclusions
Panna, once a rich adivasi belt, is today ravaged by the greed
of the diamonds. Panna is a district of tragic development
paradoxes. It is one of the districts that figure in the national
statistics for the poorest human development indicators.
It has some of the lowest levels of literacy in the country
and also lowest health indicators. Panna district has the
highest number of malnourished children in the country,
according to reports. Yet this district exports diamonds
to the world from India and the mineral revenues from
diamond alone comprise a substantial per cent of the total
revenues from mining. As in South Africa, Sierra Leone
and other African countries which supply diamonds to the
world market and yet have some of the worst indicators of
growth, particularly with respect to children, Panna holds a
similar story in India. The case study here showed how self-
sufficient adivasi farmers who were involved in subsistence
farming and could provide food security for their children,
have become landless labourers in the stone quarries and
diamond mines. This situation also forced their children to
end up in the mines instead of attending school. In most of
the anganwadis visited, they are either dysfunctional or their
purpose of addressing the nutrition and health of infants, is
far from being met. Panna is a glaring example that mining,
even in the case of a precious stone like diamond, has serious
negative impacts on children’s development. Unless there is
official acknowledgement of this and a review of the mining
processes in this region and a review of the development
policies adopted here, especially with respect to displacement
of adivasis for the sake of conservation of wildlife, there is
little hope for the future of the children.

(Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership

with PKMS, Panna. We acknowledge all the assistance in
field data collection and facilitation of community meetings
given by Mr. Yusuf Baig, Secretary of PKMS and his
organisation which works for the rights of mine workers and
their families in Panna district.)
 103

Chhattisgarh

State Overview that has surplus power. The state has huge reserves of coal and
hence an enormous potential for coal-based thermal power
Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, generation. As per the state government’s official website,
ranks tenth amongst India’s states in terms of area and has Korba is really the ‘Power capital of India’. The state is also
a population of 20,833,803156 (which is 2 per cent of India’s the iron and steel hub of the country. The Bhilai Steel Plant
population). The GDP of Chhattisgarh for 2006-07 is of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) produces more
estimated at Rs. 59,321 crore and, at constant price, it has than 4 million tonnes of iron and steel per annum. Substantial
recorded a growth of 9.41 per cent over 2005-06, which is capacities have been set up in the private sector as well.163
comparable with the all India growth of 9.6 per cent.157
Agriculture is the dominant industry in the state, employing A condusive labour environment, cheap power, sufficient
around 76 per cent of the total labour for the state.158 The water resources and availability of land at a lower cost make
norm is single cropped and rain-fed agriculture, and with Chhattisgarh a favourable location for industrial investments.
paddy as the main kharif crop, in about 80 per cent of the net The state provides targeted incentives for industrial
sown area,159 the central plains of Chhattisgarh are known as investment in the form of various subsidies. Other industries
the ‘rice bowl’ of central India. with potential growth in Chhattisgarh are the food processing
industry, herbal and medicine industry, gems and jewellery
Chhattisgarh is predominantly rural, with only 20.1 per cent industry164.
of the population residing in urban areas (the national level is
around 28 per cent).160 The rate of urbanisation in the state is Chhattisgarh is a Scheduled Area state and has a very large
17.4 per cent as against the national average of 29 per cent.161 adivasi population. According to the Census 2001, 11.6 per
cent of Chhattisgarh’s constitute SCs and 31.8 per cent are
For Chhattisgarh, natural resources are its greatest strength. STs (the national averages being 16.2 per cent SCs and 8.2 per
Some of the key thrust sectors where Chhattisgarh holds cent STs). The vast majority of the SC and ST population live
advantage over other states are mining, power, cement, iron ore in the rural areas of Chhattisgarh and are largely dependent
and steel.162 According to the state government, Chhattisgarh on agriculture as their main source of income.
is one of the richest states in India in terms of mineral wealth,
with 28 major minerals discovered so far, including diamonds. Despite the abundant resources that Chhattisgarh has been
Chhattisgarh is also currently one of the few states in India blessed with, the poverty estimates provided by the Planning

156 Census of India, 2001.

157 The Hindu. “Chhattisgarh posts 9.41 p.c. GDP growth”. February 23, 2008. http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/23/stories/2008022354350500.htm.
158 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 45-46.
159 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 53.
160 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 45-46.
161 Chhattisgarh-September 2009, Prepared by India Brand Equity Foundation, http://www.ibef.org/states/chhattisgarh.aspx, Accessed on December 14,
2009.
162 Ibid.
163 Ibid.
164 Ibid.
104

Commission, Government of India, reveal that the poverty

ratio in the state is 40.9 per cent, significantly higher than that
Status of Children
of all India (27.5 per cent). In absolute numbers, the population
According to the Census 2001, children (age group of 0–14
below poverty line in Chhattisgarh ranks third amongst the
years) constitute 37 per cent of the total population of the
major states in the country, after Orissa (46.4 per cent) and
state. However, Chhattisgarh’s number of live births registered
Bihar (41.4 per cent).165 With only 18.7 per cent of households (at 384,815)173 is amongst the lowest of the major states in
having access to proper sanitation facilities, Chhattisgarh is India. The child sex ratio in the 0–6 age group, with 975 girls
ranked the lowest among the major states in India.166 per 1,000 boys is not only higher than the national average of
927, but the highest amongst India’s states.174 However, this
The literacy level in Chhattisgarh, at 65.1 per cent, is slightly sex ratio has actually gone down from that of 1991 (985),
lower than the national average of 66 per cent.167 Within the with more boys being registered at birth than girls.
literacy levels, there seems to be quite an extensive gender
divide—77.9 per cent of the male population were found The NFHS-3 estimates the IMR in Chhattisgarh as 70.8 per
to be literate, compared to just 52.3 per cent of the female 1,000 live births and the under five mortality rate as 90.3 per
population. However, the female literacy rate for SCs (at 49.2 1,000 (down from 80.9 per 1,000 live births and 122.7 per
percent) and STs (at 39.4 per cent) is even lower.168 1,000 live births respectively in 1998-99). The state does have
the highest level of perinatal mortality (64) and its vaccination
Another challenge for Chhattisgarh is the public health percentage of 48.7 is only slightly higher than the national
sector. As per the Chhatisgarh Human Development Report level.175 Proper vaccination coverage is crucial to reducing
2005, health infrastructure in the state needs a considerable infant and child mortality. Malnutrition for children under 3
upgrade, both in terms of coverage and reach as well as in years of age remains high in Chhattisgarh, at 52.2 per cent
quality of services provided. The demand for more PHCs as (ranking the state fourth among the major states in India).176
well as sub-health centres (SHCs) and CHCs is mentioned
in nearly every district report.169 According to the NFHS-3 Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) is a major problem amongst
data, the reason a majority of the households did not access younger children (below 5 years) in the state, followed by
government facilities was not necessarily due to poor quality diarrhoea. The percentage of children with ARI symptoms who
of care, but because there were no such facilities nearby.170 actually received antibiotics was the lowest in Chhattisgarh (1
per cent).177 As per the NFHS-3, the percentage of children
The state has a high incidence of TB, malaria, leprosy and in Chhattisgarh who are offered more liquids once diagnosed
jaundice. There is only one TB hospital in Raipur district with diarrhoea (at 3.2 per cent) is also amongst the lowest of
and two leprosy hospitals in Raipur and Dakshin Bastar, India’s states, well below the national average of 10.5 per cent.
Dantewada district.171 Many district reports in the state speak Majority of these children are given the same amount of fluids
of poor levels of nutrition, and managing two square meals as they were before diagnosis. This coupled with ARI and
is an issue for most people. In the village and district reports, fever, results in high mortality among children. Diseases such
people repeatedly say that not having enough to eat is one as smallpox, polio and plague are also mentioned as illnesses
of the most important issues for them and that the lack of that took a heavy toll of life in the past, but the incidence of
adequate food is one of the biggest causes of ill-health.172 such diseases has declined substantially today.178
165 Economic Survey of India 2008-09. Pp. 263.
166 Ibid.
167 Census of India, 2001.
168 Data accessed on indiastat.com. Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4090, dated 20.12.2005.
169 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 131.
170 NFHS-3 3, 2005-06. Pp. 438.
171 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 129.
172 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 126.
173 Data accessed on indiastat.com. State-wise Number of Live Births Registered by Sex and Residence in India-2005. Source: Office of the Registrar General,
India.
174 Census of India, 2001.
175 NFHS-3, 2005-06.
176 Economic Survey of India 2008-09. Pg. 263.
177 NFHS-3, 2005-06. Pp. 236.
178 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 123.
 105

It is hard to gauge the state’s performance in terms of providing

education for its children. The total enrolment for primary
education in 2001-02 was 723,180 children, of which 323,500
or 44.7 per cent were girls. In 2002-03, enrolment increased
to 820,234 of which 385,315 or 47 per cent were girls.179 The
increase in the enrolment of girls has been higher than the
enrolment for boys. However, despite encouraging statistics like
the above Chhattisgarh’s Educational Development Index180 of
0.521 ranks it amongst the lowest of India’s states. Conflict
with the Maoists (extremist groups also known as Naxals) has
also severely impacted the education of displaced children as
well. According to a Human Right’s Watch report, a survey
conducted by a local NGO indicates that around 40 per cent of Coal mining area, Raigarh (Photo November 2009)
the children between ages six and 16 residing in camps are not
attending school.181 According to the government, there were to be ranked second in total value of mineral production
169,753 children officially out of school in March 2008.182 in India, after Andhra Pradesh.185 The important minerals
produced in the state in 2007-08 were coal, bauxite, iron
According to the Census 2001, 364,572 child labourers work ore, dolomite and limestone, which together accounted for
in various sectors in Chhattisgarh. According to the state about 99 per cent of the entire value of mineral production
government’s official website, there are 20,723 child labourers in the state.186 Chhattisgarh is the sole producer of tin
in non-agricultural enterprises in the state (13,836 boys and concentrates in India, accounting for 38 per cent of tin ore
6,987 girls)183 The children of Chhattisgarh face an added resources for the country. The state is the second leading
complication: Residing in a conflict area, as per the Human producer of coal and dolomite and iron ore, with a share of
Rights Watch, all parties to the conflict—the Maoists, state- 20 per cent, 23 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Over
supported anti-Maoist vigilante groups (known as Salwa one-fifth of iron ore in the country is mined here and one
Judum) and government security forces—have recruited of the best quality iron ore deposits in the world is found
children in different capacities that expose them to the risk of in the Bailadila mines in the south of the state, from where
injury and death.184 it is exported to Japan and other countries.187 The state
also accounts for about 28 per cent diamond resources of
India.188
Mining in Chhattisgarh
According to statistics released by the Ministry of Labour
Chhattisgarh is one of the richest states in India in terms of and Employment, in 2005, the mining sector in Chhattisgarh
mineral wealth, producing 28 major minerals. According to employed a daily average of 46,200 workers (similar to those
the Ministry of Mines the value of mineral production in employed in 2004).189 Whether the labour employed in mines is
Chhattisgarh increased by 17.5 per cent at Rs.105.1 billion entirely local or not is not well known, although indications are
in 2007-08 from the previous year. This has allowed the state that there is substantial migrant labour from outside the state.190

179 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 91.
180 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Annual Report 2007-08. Pp. 53-54. Developed by the National University of Educational
Planning and Administration to track the progress of the States towards Universal Elementary Education the EDI was developed keeping in mind four broad
parameters of access, infrastructure, teacher-related indicators and outcomes.
181 Human Rights Watch. “Dangerous Duty: Children and the Chhattisgarh Conflict”. September 2008. Pp. 50.
182 State-wise number of out of school children in India, as on 31 March 2008, Source : Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008.
183 Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh At a Glance-2002, Pg 22, http://chhattisgarh.nic.in/statistics/details.pdf, accessed on
14 December 2009.
184 Human Rights Watch. “Dangerous Duty: Children and the Chhattisgarh Conflict”. September 2008. Pp. 4.
185 Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09. Pp. 10.
186 Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09. Pp. 16.
187 Chhattisgarh- September 2009, Prepared by India Brand Equity Foundation, Pp. 33 http://www.ibef.org/states/chhattisgarh.aspx, Accessed on December 14, 2009.
188 Ibid.
189 Data accessed on indiastat.com; compiled from statistics released by the Ministry for Labour and Employment, Government of India. Selected State-wise
Average Daily Employment and Number of Reporting Mines in India. (2002 to 2005).
190 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp. 58.
106

The top five most mined districts are Korba, Koriya, Surguja,
Raigarh and Durg.191 With simplified mining laws and quick
The Mining Curse On the
processing of lease applications being given high priority, Children of Chhatisgarh
Chhattisgarh’s mining policy is quite conducive to private
and foreign investment. This has, unfortunately, triggered Sunil (name changed) who refused to be photographed is from
a violent reaction from the Maoists who have resisted the the village Mudagaon, in Tamnar block. He suffers from skeletal
state’s attempts to acquire and exploit people’s land to serve disorder and weakened bones due to the high fluorosis in the drinking
the multinationals. 192 The state also regularly loses millions water. He is about 18 years of age but he has had a withered body
of rupees to illegal mining; nearly 1,500 illegal mining cases and dysfunctional limbs since the age of 9 years. He cannot walk or
were detected in Chhattisgarh in 2001 alone. Of these, 587 sit up straight. He is completely dependent on his family for all his
cases were of illegal mining and 834 of illegal transportation needs. The villagers reported that there are several children like Sunil
of minerals.193 who start showing skeletal and dental flourosis from a very early
age and by the time they reach their twenties most of them become
For this newborn state, mining undoubtedly has enormous completely disabled. Education reports from the Block Resource
economic benefits. But in its overdrive to tap into the huge Coordinator (BRC) show that over 120 children are physically and
resources that mining offers, the state government is ignoring mentally handicapped for various reasons, in Tamnar block.
the disastrous impacts mining has on the environment and Source: Interview conducted in Mudagaon village, Raigarh, November 2009
people. Chhattisgarh is facing environmental challenges such
as destruction of forests (as per the state’s official website, 44 “My name is Rakesh (name changed). I am about
per cent of the state’s land is under forests, of which 90,000 17 years old. I dropped out from school 5 years
ha is now under mining of major minerals) and pollution ago. At present I am doing some part-time work
of rivers, which is the main source of irrigation for the in the mines and the rest of the time I take care
inhabitants of those lands, as well as detrimental impacts on of my family’s cattle. We have been compensated
land productivity. Some reports have pointed out that illnesses by Raipur Alloys which took our land for the coal
related to breathing and respiration, falling levels of immunity, mines. They paid us Rs 130,000 per acre but most
weakness and ill-health are all outcomes of pollution. In some of the compensation money has been spent. The
cases, people have been forced to migrate due the adverse company promised to resettle us, but we are still
impact of pollution on their health.194 waiting for rehabilitation. As a manual worker in
the mines, I earn Rs. 80–100 per day”.
Source: Interview carried out near open-cast coal mines of Raipur
Alloys, near Kosampali village, Raigarh, November 2009

Raigarh district: Key facts

Total population: 1,265,529 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 140,095 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 70.16 per cent
Male 82.7 per cent
Female 57.62 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 3.2 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 77.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour: 364,572 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 443 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

191 Analysis by Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, Pp. 122.
192 Srivastava, Devyani, Mining War in Chhattisgarh, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, May 23, 2008. G:\Mining - PT\Chhattisgarh\Research\Mining War
in Chhattisgarh.htm, accessed on January 4, 2010.
193 Analysis by Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, Pp. 123.
194 Chhattisgarh Human Development Report 2005, Prepared for the Government of Chhattisgarh. Pp 31.
 107

The case study was done in Raigarh district of Chattisgarh,

which has extensive mineral deposits of coal, dolomite, iron
ore and limestone. The case study was mainly undertaken in
the area where the power projects are located which have been
creating displacement as well as pollution related problems to
the people.

District Profile of Raigarh

Raigarh district in Chhatisgarh is a major producer of steel,
with Jindal Steel and Power being the biggest producer. Raigarh
consumes about 20,000 tonnes of coal per day. Chattisgarh
Coal filled agricultural land in Tamnar block
and Jharkhand states together have almost all the coal deposits (Photo November 2009)
in India, which has led to their ‘power hub’ strategy. Raigarh
district has an area of 6,836 sq km of which 585.63 sq km is from elsewhere and engineering the proceedings. Police were
forest area. Gharghoda sub-district where the current case study brought in and people were lathi-charged (beaten) where seven
was conducted has a population of 148,903 of which 83,657 are persons were grievously injured and about 200 were partially
adivasis.195 The major tribes in this area are Birhor, Hill-Korwah, injured. False cases were booked on the leaders who mobilised
Kolpa, Rathiya Kamar, Gorh, Kanwar, Uraon and Dhanuhar. the protest; such is the abuse of the Jindals in Chattisgarh and
The tribes in Raigarh are mainly dependent on agriculture and interviews with the community leaders revealed the anger
forest produce, mahua being the principal produce. of the people for the manner in which democracy was being
suppressed by the mining companies.
The case study was conducted in Tamnar block of Gharghoda
sub-district and is one of the most industrialised areas in There were several flaws and misinformation that was being
Raigarh as mining giants such as Jindal, Raipur Alloys and passed on to the public regarding the proposed project.
Monnet Ispat have their plants here. For instance, according to Mr. Ram Kumar Agrawal, a
former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Raigarh,
Raigarh has seven sub-districts, and the research covered the five villages—Lamdarah, Saraitola, Gare, Khamariya and
villages of Milupara, Khamariya, Gare, Korked, Kosampali, Karwahi—will be the most affected but the Environment
Sarasmal and Mudagaon in Tamnar block. In this block Impact Assessment (EIA) report only shows five households
there are three coal and power plants, which are Jindal Steel as likely to be displaced. The core zone, which is the area
and Power Limited, Raipur Alloys and Steel Limited, and leased for mining, and the buffer zone, which includes the area
Monnet Ispat. Monnet Ispat has underground coal mining around the core extending up to 10 km, has 93.64 ha of forest
that extends over 40 acres of land. Jindal Steel and Power land, which will be destroyed completely. In the buffer zone,
Limited as well as Raipur Alloys and Steel Limited, have around 30 per cent is forest land, which will be indirectly
open-cast coal mining in Tamnar block. affected. Also, it is believed that the EIA report does not
study the cumulative impact of the various industries present
in the region. According to the protestors, they were agitating
The Backdrop of the Study: The because there are already, several projects operating in the area
Mining Agitation in Raigarh like the Jindal’s 1,000 mw power plant, and a number of coal
mines that have destroyed the land, livelihood and quality of
At the time of this study (16 November 2009), a major air, forest, the groundwater and rivers in this region.
agitation was taking place against the proposed Jindal Power
Plant in Gare village. On 5 January 2008, a public hearing The EIA for the proposed project estimates that 13,945 cu m
was held amidst strong people’s protests as the affected of groundwater, equivalent to 20 per cent of the requirement of
communities were opposed to the project and they had no Raigarh’s population, will be pumped out each day. However,
prior project related information. Inspite of this, the district it underplays this impact on the regional water balance and
authorities conducted the public hearing by bringing in people the affect on agriculture and forest.
195 raigarh.nic.in/
108

There are several other contentious issues that the local

population is angry about, as they are already experiencing
severe crisis in water, agriculture and health. Our visits to
the villages reflect some of these concerns, particularly in
the context of children and why there is a strong mood of
protest and violence from the people, given their history of
exploitation by the mining companies.

Status of Children’s Education in

Tamnar Block
Local livelihoods destroyed due to mining activities
(Photo November 2009) One of the main villages studied was Gare village in Tamnar
block. It has a total population of 741 with 150 households of
Another serious issue, as stated by an activist from the which 400 are below the age of 18. The total ST population
Raigarh-based Jan Chetana People’s Movement196, is that is 438 and SC population is 44. The village has two primary
mining companies are simply acquiring rich agricultural land schools, one middle school and one anganwadi centre. Table
on which farmers are dependent for their sustenance, even if 2.09 gives details of children attending the primary school
they do not do mining. This is the case of Jindal Steel and in Gare village, which is in a poor condition, both in terms
Power Plant, which got the lease in June 2006 but has not of infrastructure as well as in teaching. There are only two
undertaken any mining activities till date. Technically, the teachers and they are new to the school and neither of them
lease should be cancelled as per the rules of the Ministry of are qualified. The Jindals did set up a school but it is far away
Environment and Forests, but the Jindals continues to hold from the village and too expensive for the local people to send
control over the land because of its sheer muscle power over their children. Only the children of employees of Jindals,
the state machinery. therefore, attend this school.

Table 2.09: School enrolment data in primary school of Gare village

Class Total Number Boys Girls SC ST OBC General
I 11 9 2 2 6 2 1
II 9 6 3 3 6 -- --
III 12 6 6 -- 7 4 1
IV 12 4 8 2 7 2 1
V 11 3 8 1 5 5 --
Total 55 28 27 8 31 13 3
Source: School teacher of the primary school, Gare village

196 Mr. Rajesh Tripathi

 109

Table 2.10 gives the government elementary education data

for Gare village.

Table 2.10: Elementary education in Gare village

District Block Village Total enrolment SC ST OBC Others
Raigarh Tamnar Gare 109 11 68 26 0
Milupara 385 56 183 133 13
Khamhariya 81 14 35 29 0
Kodkel 127 11 89 27 0
Kosampalli 80 1 70 9 7
Sarasmal 24 0 20 4 0
Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim
Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card
Source: DISE report card, September 2008

In Khamhariya middle school, as per the school register, there

are 52 children enrolled from three villages. This is a very
low figure considering that children come from three villages.
In Khamhariya itself there are 250–300 children below 18
years of age, which means that majority of the children are
out of school in the three villages. There are three government
teachers and two temporary teachers paid by the Jindals. The
company’s other contribution is to construct a boundary
wall for the school. The BRC informed that in Tamnar block
there are 162 primary schools, 56 middle schools and 11 high
schools. Totally there are 310 teachers but 80 per cent of
Anganwadi or godown? A sahayaka manages the anganwadi in Khamhariya
them are shikshakarmis (temporary teachers) and only 20 per
village (Photo November 2009) cent are regular government teachers. Table 2.11 gives data
on enrolment of children in primary and middle school in
In Khamhariya village there are 250–300 children below 18
Tamnar block.
years of age. There is one primary school and one middle
school. Although there is an anganwadi, the people reported
that only around 10–15 children attend it regularly. This is
because the anganwadi centre is dilapidated and people said
it was too dangerous for children to sit inside as the roof
may collapse any time. When our team visited it, the centre
looked like it was being used as a godown to store bags of
cement and bricks. On record there are 28 children and four
infants less than one year, but on the day of the visit only two
children were present. According to the anganwadi worker,
there is one child with Grade III malnourishment, eight
children in Grade II and 23 in Grade I. There were nine
pregnant women and nine lactating mothers in the centre’s
list but the anganwadi worker reported that since the last 2
months there was no supplementary nutrition provided to
these women. She also stated that since 2 years she has not
been supplied any medical kits.
110

Table 2.11: Enrolment of children in primary and middle school in Tamnar block
Group Gender SC ST OBC General
Age group 6–11 years (primary school)
Boys 639 2,859 1,616 186
Girls 532 2,851 1,518 161
Total 1,171 5,710 3,134 347
Age group 11–14 years (middle school)
Boys 304 1322 990 81
Girls 255 1400 910 83
Total 559 2,722 1,900 164
Source: BRC, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Tamnar block

According to the teachers and the BRC there is no drop-out This again shows that having been displaced by mining and
but it was casually mentioned that 120 children do not attend power projects, local people have also lost their means of any
school as they are physically or visually handicapped. alternate livelihood.

Child Labour Health Problems of Children and

Local Communities Due to Mining
Activities
In every village people complained that children suffered from
illnesses due to water contamination. Some of the villages like
Milupara are close to the mine sites and hence suffer from both
water and air pollution. The most common illnesses reported
among the children were malaria, diarrhoea, hydrocele,
pneumonia, skin ailments, bronchitis, gastroenteritis,
abdominal pains, arthritis, jaundice and other respiratory
ailments. Hydrocele is reported to have increased in the last
5 years. The villagers observed that water contamination is
Children affected by fluorosis in Mudagaon village, Tamnar block
affecting reproductive health as children are observed to be
(Photo November 2009)

Although within the company premises of the large companies

there is child labour engaged, the definition of child labour has
to be questioned here, because we were informed that many
adolescent boys and girls between the age of 15 and 18 work
in the peripheral activities related to mining like loading, road
construction, as cleaners in trucks and other daily wage labour
hired by the local contractors. Besides, very few from the local
communities are engaged in mining related work and we were
informed that a lot of migrant labour from Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar are working in large numbers.
The people reported that as migrant labour are less likely to
Closed PHC Sub center, Khamhariya
protest or demand, the companies bring labour from outside. (Photo November 2009)
 111

born either weak or with physical disabilities. The notoriety

of mining companies in Chattisgarh, especially the muscle
power of the Jindals is well known, so the people are unable to
get the authorities to take action on the water contamination
due to mining activities.

It was reported that in 1998, an adivasi woman, Satyabhama

went on a hunger strike to protest against the water
contimanation of Kelo river but she was allowed to die with no
action taken by the authorities who feared repercussions from
the companies. After more than a decade since this incident,
smoke from the plants like the chimneys of Raipur Alloys
and Monnet Ispat are causing dust allergies and respiratory Malnourished child at Mudagaon village
problems. The people in Kodkel village also reported that the (Photo November 2009)

Bendra Nala contains a layer of toxic waste and is creating

health problems like diarrhoea, stomach disorders and fevers. The Blackened Waters of Kelo River
Mine accidents and damages to houses due to blasting
operations often occurs, according to local people. Women On discussions with people, one of the most serious problems
complained that there were a few instances of sexual abuse expressed was the contamination of the Kelo river which is
and hence they fear for the safety of adolescent girls. the only source of water for the people. Raigarh district once
acclaimed to be the rice bowl of the state, has been degraded
The children’s population catered to by the PHC at Kodkel is due to over-industrialisation and diversion of the innumerable
given in Table 2.12. The nurse shared information that there rivers that flow through Chattisgarh, to serve the needs of
is 5 per cent IMR on record, but stated that in reality this was private industries. Kelo river was the source of irrigation
much higher. and drinking water to a large area in the state. However, the
Jindals and Monnet Ispat mining activities have contaminated
Table 2.12: Age-wise distribution of people the river with mine tailings.
at Kodkel Public Health Centre
Age group Male Female The people in all the villages covered under the study, universally
declared that the water of Kelo river cannot be used either for
0–5 years 181 182 drinking or even for bathing. In the last 3 years, the people
6–14 years 149 172 have observed how the Kelo river has almost turned black
with coal dumping. The people complained that the livestock
14 and above 1,082 1,126
is also seriously affected due to the water contamination.
Total 1,412 1,480 Besides the depletion of water due to borewells dug up by the
Source: Sub-centre, PHC, Kodkel

The health department personnel at the PHC admitted that

there are far more number of patients approaching the centre
now than before and this is because of the health problems
being created by mining. The women stated that they prefer
to have deliveries at home than at the PHC because of the
condition of the roads and poor transport. Earlier there were
incidents when women delivered on the way to the PHC
due to the strenuous journey on these roads. The nurse also
mentioned that three out of five women are suffering from
anaemia. The health staff reported that fungal infections
and hepatitis are on the rise mainly due to infections from
Kelo river in Gare village, life source of an entire region polluted by coal dust
polluted water (Photo November 2009)
112

companies for their power plants, has affected agriculture in (Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership
the entire block. For example, in Khamhariya villagers showed with Jan Chetana Peoples Movement of Raigarh which is
the three borewells that have no water as most of the acquifers working on the human and environment rights violations
are affected by coal extraction. The villagers expressed fear by mining companies and industries in Chattisgarh. We
that their agricultural lands and cultivation will be further acknowledge the support and assistance of Mr.Ramesh
destroyed, going by their experiences since the mining started Agarwal and his team in facilitating the field visits and
in this region. Given that malnourishment is significantly compilation of primary data.)
high in this region as reflected in the state reports, the critical
state of water and agriculture have direct impacts on children
whose food security is imminently in danger. The anger of the
people is visibly evident in the agitations that are reverberating
in the area, in opposition to the new projects being set up by
the Jindals and others.

Conclusions
Chattisgarh, a state created in the name of the development
of the adivasis, has turned into a state for indiscriminate
plunder of mineral resources by mining corporates. Corporate
violations and abuse on activists as well as community
leaders are known to all, but it is difficult to legally hold
them accountable. On the other hand, the corporates have
gained notoriety for booking false cases on activists and
community leaders who question this destruction and harass
them ceaselessly. Poverty of the communities, pollution of
the water bodies and air, encroachment of rich agricultural
lands for mineral exploitation were glaringly visible but the
thin lines between legitimacy and illegitimacy of activities,
difficulties that communities have in surmounting legal and
technical definitions of proving their health problems that
relate to mining allow companies to escape and continue with
rampant plunder of the land and destruction of water bodies.
The shocking state of children’s education and health due to
the abysmal services provided by the state compounded by
ill-health due to mining induced pollution and starvation,
do not reflect an economy that provides a just and healthy
development for the children living in this region. Mining has
put in disarray, not only the land and livelihoods, but also the
resources and services that have made achievement of MDGs
for children in the mining region of Chattisgarh, a far fetched
goal. Again Chattisgarh has proved that, mineral ‘rich’ states,
with a prolonged history of mining, overlap with some of the
poorest human development indicators in this country.
 113

EIA for Jindal coal mine in Chhattisgarh ignores Fairy-tale ride for child miner
threats Friday, June 12, 2009, Shreya Roy Chowdhury
Sujit Kumar, Source: Down To Earth Times News Network
Date: 15th feb 2008
On Friday, June 12—the World Day Against Child Labour—
The 4 million tonnes per annum opencast mine project he will address a gathering at the International Labour
called Gare IV/6 is sited in Tamnar block in highly Conference in Geneva. In a journey that’s especially
industrialized Raigarh. During public hearing on January remarkable for someone so young, Manan has gone from
5, about a hundred tribal people were injured in police being a child labourer to being a child activist, and has
lathicharge. People allege that Jindal supporters already rescued eight children from exploitation.
provoked violence when they raised objections to the EIA Working in the mica mines is ugly, but according to
report and the hearing that was organized later than the Manan, the residents of his village, Samsahiriya, cling
stipulated time and without informing the panchayats, to it tenaciously. Given their large families—his own has
even though Tamnar falls under the Panchayat Extension ten members—every rupee helps. Kids are put to work
to the Schedule Areas Act, 1996. People are angry that to supplement the family income. “More than half the
the hearing continued despite the fact that most of children in our village are engaged in mining mica, and
the people gathered for discussion had left after the so are their parents. The youngest labourers are six or
lathicharge. The same day an FIR was filed in Tamnar seven years old,’’ he says.
police station against unknown people for damaging
property at the hearing venue. Interestingly, the http://www.ummid.com/news/June/12.09.2009/fairy_tale_
complainant was not the state pollution control board, ride_for_child_miner.htm
which organized the public hearing, but the company.
People have since resorted to road blockades and sit-in
protests, demanding that the hearing be quashed.

file:///D:/office/media%20reports/all%20mining%20astes/
Chattisgarh/EIA%20for%20Jindal%20coal%20mine%20in%20
Chhattisgarh%20ignores%20threats%20%20%20News%20%20
%20Down%20To%20Earth%20magazine.htm

Clay mines kill

Children pay for illegal mining operations in West Bengal
Salahuddin Saiphy, Source: Down to Earth
Date: 14th March 2009

THERE are about 20 mines, mostly illegal, in Salanpur village in Burdwan district. The district has rich deposits of coal, fire
clay and iron ore. One among the 20, a fire clay mine, claimed two young lives on February 8 in the West Bengal village.
Four and five year
 115

Jharkhand

State Overview The state has a very large ST population, with 26.3 per cent
of the population comprising STs. The average adult literacy
rate is 53.56 per cent, the second lowest in the country above
The state of Jharkhand was formed in 2000, when it
Bihar. For the SC and ST populations, the literacy rates are
was carved out of southern Bihar. According to the
even worse. Only 37.56 per cent of people from SCs are
2001 Census, the state has a population of 26,909,428.
literate in the state, and for SC women living in the rural
Jharkhand has experienced very fast economic growth rates
areas, the figure is a shocking 17.73 per cent. In the case of the
in the past few years; in 2004-05, the economy grew by
STs, the situation is not much better—40.67 per cent of STs
a staggering 33.83 per cent.197 The state is extremely rich
in Jharkhand are literate, whilst the figure is 24.38 per cent for
in mineral resources, with the largest supplies of iron ore,
ST females in rural parts of the state.199
copper ore and mica in the country, as well as 29 per cent
of India’s coal reserves. It also has some of the country’s
The Jharkhand Development Report 2009 reported that
most industrialised cities, such as Jamshedpur, Ranchi and
the percentage of main workers in the total population in
Bokaro Steel City. A number of large companies, such as
Jharkhand is considerably lower than the India average. In fact,
the Tata Iron and Steel Company, are based in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has the minimum percentage of people having full
Despite this rapid industrialisation, almost 75 per cent
employment as compared to all the other states considered.
of the population remains dependent on the agricultural
This may indicate a lack of regular and stable employment
sector, with the main crops including rice, wheat, potatoes
opportunities for the population in the state.
and pulses.

Regardless of its economic growth, the state still faces huge

challenges in terms of human development. Over 40 per
Status of Children
cent of the population lives below the poverty line, which is
As can be expected in a state where general human development
significantly higher than the national average of 27.5 per cent.
indicators are poor, the status of children in Jharkhand is also
There are also vast gaps between the urban and rural parts of
very worrying. The total child population is 10,708,694 (14
the state. Whilst only 20.2 per cent of the population lives
years and under), and 13,208,344 (19 years and under).200
below the poverty line in towns and cities, in the rural areas
According to the 2001 Census , there were 407,200 child
this figure is 46.3 per cent. Overall, more than two out of every
labourers in the state (aged 14 years and under). Although
five people cannot meet their basic needs in Jharkhand. High
there are no figures for the number of children working in
poverty is reflected in all other measures of socio-economic
hazardous occupations as a whole, the figure is likely to be
development. 198
high. The NCLP is currently operating in nine districts in the

197. Central Statistical Organisation, as quoted in: Indicus, Jharkhand Development Report, 2009.
198. Indicus, Jharkhand Development Report, 2009.
199. All literacy figures are taken from Census of India, 2001.
200. Census of India, 2001.
116

state, and by May 2007, had rehabilitated a total of 12,464

children, according to official data.201 In September 2009, the
International Labour Organisation’s International Programme
for the Elimination of Child Labour launched a convergence
project to tackle child labour in five states of India with the
largest child labour problem, one of these being Jharkhand.
It also aims to tackle the trafficking and migration of children
from these states.

As of March 2008, there were 143,143 children (age group

between 6 and 14 years) officially out of school in Jharkhand.202
Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey indicated that around 5.6 per
cent of children in Jharkhand are not in school.203 This would The burning coal from CCL mines, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
suggest that around 416,587 children in that age group are in
fact out of school in the state. The ASER figures also show mineral production comes from coal. The state accounted for
that nearly a third (30.1 per cent) of children aged 3–4 years 8.6 per cent of the total value of mineral production in the
are not enrolled in an anganwadi or pre-school. According to country in 2007- 08.
the 2001 Census, 71 per cent of girls living in rural areas in the
state are married by the age of 18 years. Uranium is being mined and processed by Uranium
Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for use in the country’s
Unsurprisingly, child health data in the state also indicates a nuclear power reactors through four underground mines,
need for urgent action. The sex ratio in the state is 941 girls an open-cast mine, two processing plants and a by-product
to every 1,000 boys, suggesting a high level of male child recovery plant, all in Purbi Singhbhum district.205 The district
preference and female foeticide. The NFHS-3, conducted is also famous for Jamshedpur, the first steel city of India,
in 2005-06, showed that IMR in the state are 69 per 1,000 where Tata Steel has its operations.
live births. Very worryingly, this was actually an increase
from 54 per 1,000 live births when the NFHS-2 survey was Mining continues to be the source of many controversies in
conducted in 1998.204 The figure for rural areas is even worse, Jharkhand. Despite the fact that the state is extremely rich
where 73 out of every 1,000 children do not survive past their in mineral resources, the population, particularly its large
first year. ST population, have failed to benefit from this wealth. The
district of Paschim Singhbhum is blessed with large reserves
of iron ore and manganese. However, this has not led to
Mining in Jharkhand improved living conditions for the population. Almost half
the population is below the poverty line, and the percentage
In 2007-08, Jharkhand was the leading producer of coal and of households with a toilet in the district is a measly 26.6 per
kyanite, and the second leading producer of gold in the country. cent. Similarly, only 13.9 per cent of children aged between
The state accounts for about 35 per cent of rock phosphate, 29 12 and 35 months are fully immunised in the district, and the
per cent of coal, 28 per cent of iron ore, 16 per cent of copper literacy rate remains very low, at 46.45 per cent.
ore and 10 per cent of silver ore resources of the country.
In 2007-08, the value of mineral production in Jharkhand Forests in Jharkhand cover around 29 per cent of the state’s
was Rs. 95.28 billion, an increase of 11.5 per cent from the total geographic area. 206 Much of the state’s mineral resources
previous year. In terms of value, over 90 per cent of the state’s are located under these forests. For the mostly adivasi

201. Accessed from indiastat.com, Compiled from the statistics released by: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3759, dated on 09.05.2007. and Lok Sabha
Unstarred Question No. 994, dated on 20.08.2007 and Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2415, dated on 03.12.2007, Selected State-wise Number of Child
Mainstreamed under National Child Labour Projects (NCLP) in India, till May 2007.
202. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008, State-wise Number of Out of School Children in India, as on 31 March 2008.
203. Pratham, ASER 2008 survey.
204. NFHS-3, Factsheet Jharkhand, 2005- 06.
205. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09.
206. Government of Jharkhand’s website, http://jharkhand.nic.in/about.htm
 117

population who live in these forests and depend upon them and the first methane gas well in the country. Minerals ranging
for their livelihoods and survival, the state government’s rapid from (state’s rank in the country given in brackets) iron ore
drive for industrialisation through mining has meant they (1), coal (3), copper ore (1), mica (1), bauxite (3), manganese,
have been displaced from their land and forests.207 Estimates limestone, china clay, fire clay, graphite (8), kyanite (1),
suggest that 55 per cent of the people who have been displaced chromite (2), asbestos (1), thorium (3), sillimanite, uranium
for coal mining are STs, and just 25 per cent of these have ( Jaduguda mines, Narwa Pahar) (1), gold (Rakha mines) (6),
been resettled. A report by PANOS looked at the impact of silver and several other minerals are found in the state. Large
coal mining on adivasis in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. deposits of coal and iron ore support concentration of industry
Based on oral testimonies from people displaced by coal in centres like Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi.213
mining activities, it reveals how damaging the breakage of
links between the adivasi communities and water, forest and The Jharia coalfields, in Dhanbad district, are infamous for
land resources has been. The population depended on these their coal fires—underground fires that have been raging here
forests for their livelihoods, as well as for many products used for decades. The state company Bharat Cooking Coal Limited
in their everyday life.208 (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, estimates that it
has a total of 67 fires in its concession.214 The fires have raged
According to the Census, a population of 317,197 were here for nearly 100 years since coal mining first started in the
working in mining and quarrying in the state in 2001.209 district. This underground inferno is threatening the homes
Of these, 2,862 were children aged 14 years and under, and and health of millions in the area. The intense heat coming up
13,146 were children aged 19 years and under. In 2005, from the earth has caused subsidence in homes, and the ground
130,800 people were employed in the formal mining sector in below one village has already collapsed, engulfing houses and
the state, a drop from 149,100 in 2002.210 killing a whole family. This land now used for coal mining was
previously forests and farmlands, and the local population were
Lack of livelihood opportunities has forced many people to farmers. Now, they have been forced to become coal miners,
engage in illegal coal mining in the state. A report released by with many children as well as adults toiling away in the mines
the Mines and Geology department in Jharkhand estimates in dangerous conditions. The villages surrounding Jharia
that 45,000 people in the state are involved in illegal mining, have complained of serious health problems, particularly lung
and that this is leading to a loss of over Rs. 1 billion a year for diseases and respiratory problems caused by air pollution.
the state and coal mining companies.211 This form of mining Although BCCL provides free healthcare for its employees
is dangerous and unhealthy for the illegal miners; their life and their families, the rest of the population is forced to fend
spans are allegedly cut short by 7 years because of this difficult for itself, living in increasingly dangerous conditions. BCCL is
work.212 advising the local population to relocate, but the Rs. 2,000 per
household compensation they are offering is not enough for
Some of the country’s highly industrialised cities such as them to find a new home. 215
Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro and Dhanbad are located in
Jharkhand owing to its large mineral resources. The following Jaduguda, located in Purbi Singhbhum district, is an
is a glance of the state’s achievements in the industrial sector: underground uranium mine, which began operations in 1967.
Jharkhand is the largest fertilizer manufacturer in India of The mine workforce (largely adivasi contractors) works 1,600–
its time with production at Sindri, has the first iron and steel 2,000 ft below the surface without any protective clothing.216
factory at Jamshedpur, has the largest steel plant in Asia—the The ore is brought from the mines to the Jaduguda mill in
Bokaro steel plant, has the biggest explosives factory at Gomia open trucks. Every day, around 200 trucks, mostly uncovered,

207. Centre for Science and Environment, State of India’s Environment: Mining, 2008, pp. 164.
208. PANOS, ‘Black Green: The impact of mining on the masses’, 2002.
209. Census of India, 2001.
210. Figures accessed on indiastat.com; provided by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
211. Indo Asian News Service, Jharkhand loses over Rs. 1 billion to illegal mining, 18 June 2008.
212. Ibid.
213. http://jharkhandonline.in/profile/economy/
214. Unreported World, India: Children of the Inferno, Series 2009, Episode 7.
215. Ibid.
216. Centre for Science and Environment, State of India’s Environment: Mining Rich Lands, Poor People, 2008, pp. 183.
118

pass through the town loaded with uranium ore.217 Although It is depends on the availability of coal to load one
the government insists that there is no threat of radiation to truck of coal. But on an average we get 10–12 days
the local people or health hazards from the uranium mining, work in a month. I earn about Rs. 800–1,000
local residents tell a different story. A number of studies per month but this is not enough to support my
have documented high levels of health problems in the local family.”
community ranging from miscarriages, to children born Source: Interview carried out in Potanga village, Hazaribagh,
with physical and mental deformities. A survey conducted September 2009
by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development showed a
significant increase in congenital deformities among babies of Jharkhand is a state predominantly having an adivasi
mothers who lived around the uranium mining area.218 population living in the midst of the curse of mineral

In the mica mining areas of Giridih and Koderama, an NGO

has reported large numbers of children working in the mines.
An estimated 18,000 children in these two districts are
involved in mica picking most of them coming from STs.219
The Santhal adivasis have occupied the forests for many
decades now. However, since mica mining took over the area
in 1980, many of the local people have lost their traditional
forms of livelihoods and now collect scrap mica to make a
living. The majority of the labour force consists of women and
children. Accidents are reportedly common, and occupational
health diseases, such as asthma and TB, have been observed
Boys walk with cycle loads of coal for 3–4 days at a stretch, to sell coal in
in both child and adult workers.220 the big towns Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)

Hazaribagh district: Key facts

Total population: 2,277,475 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 937,835 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 57.74 per cent
Male 71.81 per cent
Female 42.87 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 1.5 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 91.4 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 26,004 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 193 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Hazaribagh: Children of Black Gold abundance. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is a public
sector coal mining company in Jharkhand. The case study
“My name is Helena (name changed) and I am 17 presented here is about the children living in the coal mining
years old. I am from the local village of Potanga. region. It is not only about their life as child labour or as
I have been working in the coal dumping site for communities who have been displaced from their lands and
the last 5–6 years. There is no fixed wage for us. forest-agriculture based economy into an economy revolving
217. Ibid, pp. 184.
218. Infochange, Moushumi Bashu, Jadugoda: No expansion until promises are met, May 2009.
219. Alternative for India Development Jharkhand, Tribal Children Trapped in Mica Mines, http://www.aidjharkhand.org/giridih.html, uploaded: 22 November
2009.
220. Ibid.
 119

around coal, but to also provide a glimpse into the lives of The Mining Activities and Its Impact
children, which could be similar to those living in coal mining
regions in other parts of the country as well. The case study is on Children
drawn from visits to specific mine sites in Hazaribagh which
is one of the largest coal mining belts in the country. Mining is The local people, the officials of CCL and the local NGO,
often projected as leading to economic growth and progress of Swaraj Foundation all agreed that coal mining is expanding
the local population. The case study was undertaken to analyse and more areas of land are coming under coal extraction.
the extent to which these assumptions are accurate from the The once rich agricultural belt has today been converted into
perspective of the status of children living and working in the large coal pits where no other livelihood is possible other than
coal mining region. mining. As these are open-cast coal mines, the continuous
digging for coal on vast stretches of erstwhile agricultural
The case study was undertaken in some of the mine sites of lands in the thick forests of the Eastern Ghats, is said to have
CCL in Jarimari region of Badkagaon block, Urimari project caused serious environmental and health problems for local
area in Hazaribagh district. Field visits include meetings with communities, especially children.
community leaders, women’s groups, mine labour, youth,
school teachers, and other community service providers Coal extraction is considered as one of the most polluting
like ANM, anganwadi teachers, sarpanchs’, and also officials mining activities and has serious implications on climate
from the company, the district authorities, forest, revenue change concerns. Yet India’s agenda of coal expansion in the
and labour departments in order to understand the impacts coming decade to meet its energy demands with 70 per cent
vis-à-vis children’s access to food, safe drinking water, social of this being met from coal-based power, implies that a large
security, education and health. population of children, especially adivasis and dalits, who live
in the coal mining region of the central Indian belt, in the south
like Tamil Nadu and parts of the northeast like Meghalaya,
History of the Coal Mining Project will suffer from serious long term impacts. Moreover, most
of the coal is found in some of the most backward states and
CCL is included in the mini-ratna group of companies. The regions like Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
coal projects of CCL in Hazaribagh area are divided into the santhal region of West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra
south Urimari project and north Urimari project. CCL was Pradesh.
re-organised in the year 1986 into two separate companies—
Northern Coalfields Limited and Mahanadi Coalfields
Limited (MCL). At present CCL has 11 areas, 65 mines, Child Labour in the Hazaribagh Coal
(26 underground and 39 open-cast), seven washeries (four Mines
medium coking coal and three non-coking coal), spread over
2,600 sq km of Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Bokaro, Chatra Very few employees of the Urimari project are from the local
and Palamu districts of Jharkhand state, having coal reserves adivasi villages. On the other hand, the local people work as
of 33.562 billion tonnes (medium coking coal 14.023 billion casual labour and many of the mine workers are children and
tonnes and non-coking coal 19.539 billion tonnes). During youth from the surrounding villages who were displaced from
2006-07, CCL produced 41.35 million tonnes, its highest their land. They are involved in loading and unloading the
ever production. trucks. Each day 70–80 trucks ply on this road making 300–
350 trips in total. Each truck requires 15–18 labourers to
The Urimari project of CCL is one of its open-cast mega load the coal where groups of families from the surrounding
projects. It was established in 1973 with a maximum villages or migrant families work together. It was observed
productive capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year. From 1973 that in almost every group four to five workers were below
onwards it is situated in Jerjera gram panchayat, which is the the age of 18 and the majority were barely 20. Many of these
south Urimari project. This project spreads across 14 adivasi adolescent workers were adivasi girls and also young mothers
villages. The major areas under this project are Potanga, who bring their infants to the mine site. Interviews with the
Jerjara and Urimari, which account for 60–70 wards as a workers revealed that majority of the workers are drop outs
whole. There are at least 84 revenue villages in the Badkagoan from school and rarely does one find a youth who has gone up
block of Hazaribag district. to the level of class XII.
120

which is then purchased by petty traders at their doorstep

for paltry amounts of Rs.20–30 per bag. The traders, in turn,
sell this to poor domestic consumers and hotels in the town
for Rs.100 per bag. Therefore, it was found that women
and children are continuously working but earning very low
incomes. The constant exposure to the smoke due to burning
of coal at home is causing respiratory problems among these
women and children.

Displacement and Rehabilitation

In Urimari, 14 villages with 95 per cent adivasi population were
The ‘coal boys’ – young boys enrolled in school, but out all the time
Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009) displaced by CCL and apart from monetary compensation the
villagers reported that they did not receive any other benefits
The workers reported that the company provides 10 trucks per
from the company. The young girls working in the mine sites
day for the local people as a source of livelihood for which they
complained that although they were opposed to the expansion
get Rs.1,200–1,300 per truck for loading 12 tonnes of coal. This
of the coal mines, their villages are like islands around mine
is shared among all the members of the group. On an average,
pits and the mining companies are eating into their village
the workers load 18–20 tonnes per truck and get an additional
lands till they have no choice but to allow land acquisition.
wage of Rs.100 for every tonne. However, their income is
entirely dependent on the availability of coal, which is erratic
and hence the workers do not earn any money on some days.

When questioned, the officials of CCL denied the presence

of any child labour in their mine sites but commented that
as child labour exists all over the country they are not to be
blamed.

“There is no child labour in the site and we prohibit

that in the mining site. The issue of child labour is
not new and not related to mining alone. Mining
is not responsible at all for the rising trend of child Children play with coal in mining affected community in Urimari Project area,
Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
labour and there is no relationship between mining
and the issue of child labour”. There is not even public transport facility provided either by
–As stated by the General Manager and Superintendent of Planning the company or by the government. There is a school that was
and Implementation (SOP) of CCL set up by the company but it is dysfunctional. The only other
facility provided is electricity, which is very erratic. Medical
On further questioning the officials admitted that children facilities are mainly provided to employees of the company
accompany their parents to the mine site and they may be and not to the local community or to the contract workers.
involved in assisting the adults in some of the activities due to
poverty. However, visits to the mine sites in the area revealed Discussions with the village headman of Burkhundwah village
that children were clearly a large section of the mine workers are testimony of the manner in which the village leaders are
and the officials preferred to turn the other side, almost as a bought over by the company to agree to the mining projects
favour to the mine workers’ families for allowing the children and to ensure that the people do not protest. The village is
to work and eke out a living. to be displaced and the village headman has already entered
into an agreement with the company for it to be relocated to
Women and children from almost every household collect another place, with little or no consultation with the affected
raw low-grade coal from the surroundings of the mine sites families, or with the women. The village leader was reluctant
for getting a subsidiary income. They burn the coal at home, to express any negative impacts of the coal mining.
 121

Status of Anganwadi Centres and expressed concern over the fact that most of the women
are malnourished and the likelihood of complications in
Children’s Health deliveries, infant mortality and children being born with
low birth weight, complications after delivery and ill-health
As part of our study, we enquired about the status of child during the first year of birth are high due to this. Besides,
protection institutions like anganwadis and primary schools. the condition of the roads is so bad with pot-holes made
Not all villages are covered by the anganwadi centres. In some by the constant movement of trucks that it is dangerous for
places we were told that there were only mini-anganwadis pregnant women to travel by these roads.
which is almost equal to not having an anganwadi. For
example, Burkhundwah village does not have an anganwadi but In Potanga village, the discussion with the anganwadi worker
is covered by the anganwadi in Potanga village. The anganwadi revealed the terrible health condition of the children. Of the
worker stated that she has 125 children in her register although 40 children who are enrolled in the centre (which still does not
the capacity of the anganwadi is only 40 children. Obviously have any infrastructure and activities are conducted under a
only children from Potanga village access it as infants and tree), five are absolutely (grade IV) malnourished, and 15 come
little children cannot come to the main centre. Although the under the Grade II and III categories of malnourishment. Of
record shows only five children as being malnourished, the the seven births recorded in the current year, only two have
worker admitted that majority of the children she visits are been institutional deliveries.
malnourished. As the anganwadi has no infrastructure, the
anganwadi worker is running it from her house. Only 20–25
children attend the anganwadi regularly as most of the children
are taken to the mine site by their parents.

The anganwadi worker stated that the main health problems

of the children were skin diseases, malaria and TB but there
is no medical facility, hence a lot of dependence is on local
healers whose traditional knowledge is also getting diluted
by external influences, and people said they were not totally
confident in these healing practices.

The ANM of Jarjara when interviewed shared her health

Displaced women, with children at their side, scavenging for coal, the only
records with the team. She serves a population of 18,350 which source of livelihood today, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
has 23 anganwadis in all. According to her records, atleast 20
per cent of the reported cases of TB come directly from people Three to five cases of TB have been identified recently in
working in mining activities and this has impacts on children. Burkhundwah village and the people attributed this to the
Not only adults, children are also very malnourished, with mining activity of CCL. The women in this village complained
absolute malnutrition cases among children reported by her that alcoholism has become a serious problem after mining
being 500–700, and among children between the ages of 3 started and said that 80 per cent of the income is spent on
and 6 years, she has reported more than 1,000 cases. There alcohol by the men. Because of this the women said that they
is no PHC in the vicinity and the anganwadi worker stated have to work harder to make a living and therefore, are unable
that the ANMs and health personnel do not regularly visit to find the time and stamina to take care of their children.
the anganwadi to conduct health check-up for the children. They also stated that because the men do not share their
The poor conditions of the roads due to mining trucks and majority earnings at home, they are unable to cope with the
lack of public transport to this area serves as an excuse for the rise in prices of food commodities and are not able to maintain
health personnel not to visit the villages. even a basic diet for their children.

The local communities do not have access to any of the CCL The CCL officials denied that there are any cases of TB or
hospitals but have to mainly depend on private practitioners silicosis among mine workers, whether permanent or casual,
in the town. Due to the difficult geographical terrain and and said that the company was taking precautions to prevent
lack of access to transport, very few women are able to go these diseases. They attributed the health problems to
to the PHC for institutional deliveries. The worker also consumption of alcohol by the workers.
122

Water: A Looming Crisis for Women to have skin diseases and diarrhoea. One of the reasons
for malnourishment could also be due to the worms in the
and Children stomach as a result of poor sanitation among the children.
The dust from the coal mines was found to cover the entire
One major problem discussed by the women was the area including the houses, the people, the water bodies, and
depletion of groundwater and the lack of access to water the food and water consumed. Probably, it is because of this
for drinking and domestic purposes. Their local streams are that the women complained that children suffered from cough,
highly contaminated and they complained that they cannot cold and fevers regularly and respiratory illnesses appear to be
use this water for drinking, for bathing or even for use by high among the minors while incidence of TB is high among
animals. Hence, they have to walk long distances to fetch water adults.
unlike in earlier times. The study team found that in some
of the relocated villages, the drinking water supply is totally
dependent on the company. The water trucks usually come Education
at midnight and women were found walking to the collection
point at 12 a.m in the night and waiting for hours before the A visit to the primary school in Bhurkhundwah village
truck arrived. This supply is also erratic and sometimes the revealed that there is only one para-teacher who works
women have to walk back with empty cans when the truck regularly and the regular teachers are either not posted here
does not turn up. Hence, women are working 24/7 whether or are allotted other non-teaching work by the government
directly in the mining activities or overburdened with domestic like taking care of mid-day meals, undertaking voters’ surveys,
chores created due to mining. and other government duties and hence, are rarely found
doing their job. The total strength of the school, which has
In Potanga village where CCL works in Piparwar, between classes I to V, as per the school record, is 130 children, but
Tanwah and Chatra areas, the young girls have to walk for the teacher admitted that not more than 30 or 40 students
1.5–2 km in the middle of the night for collecting drinking attend regularly. As the para-teacher is the only teaching
water and here again it is the same story. Only limited and staff available and there is barely any infrastructure to have
erratic water is supplied to the people and as this is the only separate classrooms, the children of all the classes are made
source, the rest of the water bodies being too contaminated to sit together and taught simultaneously. This is a reason for
for usage, the people have to fight amongst themselves. The lack of interest among students to come to school especially as
panchayat leaders do not respond to the appeals of the women the poverty at home demands their presence in the mine-sites.
about the water problems as they are accomplices to the Hence drop-out rate from school is high.
company agents.
The team managed to find the school headmaster in the main
The water shortage as well as the contamination has been town of Jarjara, and discussed with him the status of education
creating an unhygienic atmosphere for the children. They among the children. He was of the opinion that because of
cannot afford to bathe regularly nor can they wear washed the mid-day meal, the teachers’ attention was diverted to non-
clothes. Because of this, children in this area were found teaching activities and therefore, this was the main reason
for the drop-out rate. Although he was initially reluctant to
show the school registers and denied any drop-out rate or
poor attendance for fear of being held responsible, he later
admitted that the mining activities have a serious affect on the
children’s education as mining has created landlessness and
poverty and hence more children are having to work in the
mine sites as casual labour.

The Jarjara High School serves the children of three villages—

Urmari, Potanga and Jarjara—covering an area of 50–60
wards within a radius of 15–20 km. The total strength of the
school, as per the register is 345 from classes I to X, although
No anganwadi for this child– the mine site is his playground the DISE reports show only 306 enrolled. The headmaster
(Photo September 2009) expressed that due to lack of adequate teachers and distraction
 123

due to multiple government duties, the government school is

unable to provide quality education.
Conclusions
By year 2025 it is estimated that another million people will
He noted that the mining company gives grants to the private
be displaced by proposed coal mine expansion, according to
schools in order to build their public image but they do not
a study conducted by Central Mine Planning and Design
give the government schools such grants. He further stated
Institute (CPMDI). The large-scale displacement of people
that the drop-out rate is very high from class VIII, as, young
will be caused by land requirement for coal mining which will
boys and girls are engaged in coal loading and transportation
reach 2,925 sq km in 2025 from the current 1,470 sq km,
work in order to support their families. However, the
as stated by B. Dayal, General Manager, CMPDI. The study
headmaster shared that technically they do not consider that
conducted by us only touched the tip of the iceberg in a few
there is any drop-out as the students attend school a few days
villages in Urimari project, but even this glimpse revealed the
in a week and work in the mines on the other days. Many
harsh realities of the lives of children living in the coal belt.
of them sit for the exams at the end of the year in order to
Here again, the mining activities are under the public sector
ensure that their names are not cancelled from the registers.
company which has also won a mini-ratna. Yet little regard
Nevertheless, very few manage to pass the exams due to poor
has been paid to the quality of life of the children and to their
quality time given to studies.
development needs.
There is not a single NCLP school in the area although there
While the state services of anganwadis, primary schools and
are many child labourers. This is probably because there is no
health centres fail to meet the needs of the children, mining
official acknowledgement of child labour in the area.
has aggravated the situation of children by creating ill-health,
malnutrition, displacement, poverty and child labour. Every
In Potanga village the women complained that children,
mining area in every state visited provided the harsh ground
especially teenagers, do not go to school regularly, and
realities—India is reeling under child malnourishment in
instead, are influenced by anti-social elements of the mining
every mine site visited. Lack of food security is a major concern
communities. The mothers complained that they are addicted
in these regions as mine labour is erratic, sometimes with high
to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, waste their money in gambling,
wages and sometimes none at all, but most of all, the working
video games and mobile phones, instead of giving their
life of a mine worker is short-lived with their remaining life
earnings at home for household needs. Therefore, women have
being spent in suffering from various occupational illnesses.
to work harder and depend on the uncertain wages from the
mines. The headmaster of the high school in Potanga village
Especially in regions like Jharkhand where adivasi
also complained that the mining activities are not good for
communities led subsistence economies traditionally, with
children and the quick money they earn from mining, gives
a fair amount of food security thanks to the wide variety of
them the freedom to be deviant and not attend school. Table
crops and forest produce that was at their disposal, the shift to
2.13 gives the enrolment data for Badkagaon block.
a mining economy seems to have benefited only GDP figures

Table 2.13: Village-wise data for Badkagaon block, Hazaribagh

Block Village Total enrolment SC ST OBC Others
Badkagoan Bhurkhundwah Data not available -- -- -- --

Jarjara 306 7 270 29 46

Potanga 362 35 302 25 0

Badhkagaon 3,936 618 169 3,043 848

Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim

Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card
Source: DISE report card, September 2008
124

but not the actual economic lives of the adivasis and their for the laws of the Constitution laid down for the protection
children. Unless the Ministry of Mines imposes a strict clean- of the Scheduled Areas, whether it is the Fifth Schedule laws,
up by its public sector companies in the existing mines, with the 73 Amendment/Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled
clean-up starting from responsibility to the basic needs of Areas) Act, the United Nations Declarations on the Rights
the children, mining can never translate into any real socially of Indigenous Peoples or the Environment Protection Act
sustainable development framework. of 1986. All these Acts and agreements are universally being
violated by the state. Every mining project in our adivasi areas
It is common knowledge that mining is not sustainable for the is an example of this violation.
communities or the environment, but when the state policies
are geared towards exploiting these resources for meeting the (Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership
nation’s energy requirements, the least that the state is duty- with Swaraj Foundation, Hazaribagh which is working for the
bound to take care of, is to reduce the negative impacts and rights of adivasis and displaced communities in this region.
destruction of the lives of the people living here. Children We acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Arun Anand and his
should be the first priority for this instead of disputing their staff in coordinating the field visits for the data collection and
suffering. Here again, the state has to demonstrate its respect field interviews.)
 125

Uranium Corporation of India Limited: Wasting Child labour used in cosmetics industry
Away Tribal Lands The Sunday Times, July 19, 2009
by Moushumi Basu, Special to CorpWatch Nicci Smith

“I have had three miscarriages and lost five children Deep in the jungle of Jharkhand state in eastern India,
within a week of their births,” says Hira Hansda, a at the end of a rutted track passable only by motorbike,
miner’s wife. “Even after 20 years of marriage we have no a six-year-old girl named Sonia sat in the scorching
children today.” Now in her late forties, she sits outside midday sun, sifting jagged stones in an open-cast mine
her mud hut in Jadugoda Township, site of one of the in the hope of earning enough money for a meal.
oldest uranium mines in India.
Sonia was halfway through her working day and she was
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) already exhausted and dishevelled. Her hair was matted
operates that mine, part of a cluster of four underground and her pretty flower-patterned dress spoilt by dust.
and one open cast mines and two processing plants, in
East Singbhum district in the Eastern Indian state of She barely had enough energy to glance at her eight-
Jharkhand. The deepest plunges almost one kilometer year-old cousin Guri, toiling intently beside her as they
into the earth. searched the stones for pieces of mica, a shiny material
whose many uses include putting the sparkle into make-
Radiation and health experts across the world charge up.
that toxic materials and radioactivity released by the
mining and processing operations are causing widespread If the girls spotted enough mica, they might earn 63p
infertility, birth defects and cancers. A 2008 health each for a 12-hour day. If they found none, they would
survey by the Indian chapter of International Physicians probably go hungry.
for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), found that
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_ameri-
“primary sterility was found to be more common in the
cas/article6719151.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
people residing near uranium mining operations area.”
Jadugoda residents Kaderam Tudu and his wife, Munia,
considered themselves fortunate when their infant was
born alive, until, “I found that my baby son did not have
his right ear and instead in its place was a blob of flesh,”
says Tudu, a day worker in his late thirties. Their son, Shyam
Tudu, now eight, has a severe hearing impairment.
Even children who appear healthy are impacted. “The
youths from our villages have become victims of social
ostracism,” says Parvati Manjhi, and cannot find spouses.
“And a number of our girls have been abandoned by their
husbands, when they failed to give birth,” Now middle-
aged, Parvati and her husband, Dhuwa Manjhi, who used
to work for UCIL, are childless.

http://www.global-sisterhood-network.org/content/
view/2360/59/

Tribals make poor progress, stay at bottom of heap

New Delhi, January 16, 2010 : The first ever UN State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Report (2010) finds that indigenous
people across the world suffer disproportionately high levels of poverty, illiteracy, poor health and human rights abuse.
The poverty levels of India’s tribals have remained persistent over time and are lower than those of Scheduled Castes,
on a par with those of sub-Saharan countries, says the report” “Indigenous children face obstacles in their access to
education and the teaching in schools is often irrelevant to their culture, while traditional knowledge is not respected by
educators. Large dams and other big infrastructure projects have displaced indigenous peoples across the world without
adequate compensation, the report notes, citing the example of the displacement of tribals in Manipur by the building of
hydroelectric dams and of Santhal adivasis in Jharkhand by mining companies.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tribals-make-poor-progress-stay-at-bottom-of-heap/articleshow/5450938.cms
 127

Orissa

State Overview
Orissa has a population of 36,706,920221 and the state’s total
GDP was Rs. 1,033 billion in 2007-08. In terms of the number
of people living in poverty, it is the poorest state in India.
Currently, almost half or 46.4 per cent of its population are
classed as living below the poverty line.222 With 85 per cent of
the population inhabiting rural areas, the vast majority of the
people living in poverty, 15 million, can be found in the rural
parts of the state. Orissa has not been a focus of investment
by the central government, causing its infrastructure and
development indicators to lag behind the rest of the country.
Forest and agricultural land threatened by mining in Kasipur
In rural areas, less than 35 per cent of the population has (Photo October 2009)
access to safe drinking water.
produces pulses, coconuts, sugarcane, tea, rubber, cotton,
With its abundant natural resources and a large coastline, the potatoes and numerous other crops. Orissa has fertile soils,
state has recently started to attract vast amounts of private but shortage of water in many areas. Lack of irrigation
investment, particularly in steel mills, power plants and facilities in drought prone areas currently creates a serious
alumina refineries. The state contains a fifth of India’s coal, obstacle for many people working in agriculture. There is a
a quarter of its iron ore, a third of its bauxite reserves and serious disparity between the investment in agriculture and
most of its chromite.223 The central government has agreed the investment in industry in the state as priority is being given
to accord SEZ status to eight sites in Orissa. However, these to the development of industries. Large-scale displacement of
plans are facing strong resistance from the local population, rural and adivasi populations in the state is having a serious
who mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood and impact on agriculture and livelihoods, pushing the already
who are experiencing widespread displacement. Agriculture struggling population further into poverty. Orissa has one of
continues to constitute the major contribution to the state’s the largest concentrations of STs in the country. Over one-
economy and forms the chief occupation in Orissa, with fifth of the population or 22.13 per cent are STs and 16.53
around 76 per cent of the total working population engaged per cent are SCs. This is substantially higher than the Indian
in agriculture. average—only 8.2 per cent of the total population of India
constitute STs. There are 62 different adivasi groups living in
Orissa is one of the largest producers of rice in India, growing Orissa and some are exclusive to the state. The vast majority
almost 10 per cent of the total rice produced. The state also of them live in forest areas and are engaged in subsistence

221. Census of India, 2001.

222. Planning Commission, Government of India, Number and Percentage of Population Below Poverty Line By States, 2004-05.
223. Industrial Growth and Status of Orissa, http://www.amazingorissa.com/INDUSTRIES.HTML, uploaded: 5 September 2009.
128

farming and forestry. It is the adivasi population which is opportunities to participate in the state’s newfound industrial
bearing the brunt of the drive for industrial development, ‘success’.
particularly mining. With the erosion of customary rights
and access to forest resources, their food security has been The situation in terms of health is also a major concern in
adversely affected. This is leading to increased migration, the state. Although life expectancy in the state is close to the
loss of traditional occupations and dismantling of social national average (58.9 years), there are wide rural and urban
institutions and culture.224 disparities, with the rural life expectancy being 58.3 years,
compared to 66 years in the urban areas. It is estimated that
Displacement figures from various sources give an idea of nearly half or 48 per cent of women in Orissa suffer from
the extent of the problem. Moreover different sources give nutritional deficiency. The numbers are much higher in terms
different figures. Up to the year 2000 the total number of of illiterate women (54.6 per cent) and ST women (55.5 per
displaced families is given as 133,500.225 More recent figures cent).230 Malaria is a serious problem in Orissa, with the state
give the total number of affected villages as 2,170 from contributing to 23 per cent of malaria cases and 50 per cent
several displacement projects including mining.226 Another of malarial deaths in the country.231 The illness is particularly
source quotes those affected by development projects in the endemic amongst the ST population in districts such as
state in the last decade to be 2 million of which half a million Koraput located in the south of the state.
were physically displaced. Statistical figures indicate that
dams/irrigation projects have contributed to 70 per cent of
displacement, industrial projects 12 per cent, mining 3.37 per
cent, and wildlife sanctuaries, thermal and urban development
projects the remaining. On the whole over 1.4 million people,
mainly adivasis, have been displaced by developmental projects
in Orissa alone.227

Orissa has a HDI ranking of 0.579, which is lower than the

national average.228 Within Orissa, there are wide variations
amongst districts in terms of human development indicators.
The districts with the lowest HDI rankings are located in the
south and southwest part of the state, where there are the
Malnourished mother with malnourished child-mining affected in Damanjodi
highest concentrations of adivasis. The incidence of poverty (Photo January 2010)
among the SC and ST populations in these parts of the state
is extremely high. The literacy status amongst the SC and ST Status of Children
population is also very worrying. While 63.09 per cent of the
overall population in the state is literate, only 40.33 per cent of The number of children in Orissa (age group 0–14 years) in
SC women are literate, and only 23.37 per cent of ST women 2001 was 12,207,872 and 19 years and under was 15,739,256,
are literate (the average for STs is 37.37 per cent).229 This meaning that children comprise around 40 per cent of the state’s
in itself speaks volumes in terms of access to education and total population.232 Around 86 per cent of these children live
in rural areas. The official number of out-of-school children

224. Government of Orissa, Human Development Report, 2004.

225. An overview of development projects, displacement and rehabilitation in Orissa. Presentation made by Prof. A.B. Ota, Director Tribal Research Institute,
17 July 2009. URL: http://www.teamorissa.org/Convention_%20Presentations_%20Sessionwise/Session-5/Session5-2%20development%20Project%20
SWOSTI%20PLAZA.Ota.pdf
226. http://chittabehera.com/Rehabilitation/Orissa%20Displaced%20Study/Orissa%20Mining%20Ch-3.pdf
227. http://joharadivasi.org/industrialization-and-development-discontentment-among-tribals-in-orissa-dr-rajat-kumar-kujur/
228. Ibid.
229. Census of India, 2001.
230. Government of Orissa, Human Development Report, 2004.
231. Dr. N. R. Ray, Major Health Problems of Orissa, 24 March 2009, http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/major-health-problems-of-
orissa-831947.html, uploaded: 5 September 2009.
232. Census of India, 2001.
 129

aged between 6 and 14 years in the state was 350,703 (class occupations in the state, revealing that 21.4 per cent of all
I–V) in 2007.233 According to Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey, children in hazardous occupations in India can be found in
7.2 per cent of children aged between 6 and 14 years are out Orissa.238 This is likely to be much lower than the actual figure
of school in Orissa.234 Although there has been improvements particularly as the list of hazardous occupations has been
in terms of enrolments in the state, the number of drop outs expanded significantly since 1999. The NCLP is currently
in Orissa is still very high, indicating that there are serious operating in 18 out of Orissa’s 30 districts. In 2006-07, 1,781
problems in terms of the efficiency of the education system. children were rehabilitated through the scheme and up to
The rate of drop-out is 34.7 per cent at the primary level and May 2007, a total of 72,653 children had been rescued from
59 per cent at the upper primary level.235 This rate of drop-out work and enrolled in the NCLP schools.239
is higher amongst girls, SCs and STs.
The state continues to face many challenges in terms of child
Lack of access to schooling is still a significant problem in the health. According to the most recent NFHS-3, published in
adivasi areas—the majority of habitations without a school 2007, 44 per cent of children under 3 years are underweight in
are those with a predominantly ST population.236 Table 2.14 Orissa.240 The extent of anaemia among children aged 6–35
provides information on ST literacy, drop-out and out-of- months is also very high and around 72.3 per cent of children
school numbers for districts in Orissa that were a part of the were found to have some degree of anaemia. The IMR and
study sites. under five mortality rate are also significantly higher than

Table 2.14: ST children drop-out in Keonjhor, Sundergarh and Rayagada districts

District Popula- Area Population and Drop-out rate Out-of-school
tion in sq literacy rate children bet-
millions km ween 6-14 years

% of ST % of % of Total % of ST Total % of ST Total % of No of

popula- literacy literacy drop- drop- drop- drop- children ST out out-
tion (all) ST out in out in out in out in out-of- -of- of-
primary primary upper upper school school school
primary primary children

Keonjhor 15.16 8303 44.50 59.24 40.30 16.76 27.95 20.21 31.31 13.51 13.75 19,645

Sundergarh 18.29 9712 53.40 64.86 52.75 18.95 28.58 23.22 31.29 7.10 7.59 13,293

Rayagada 8.32 7073 52.82 36.15 20.23 5.96 15.01 18.60 36.29 23.76 27.26 22,771

State total 366.91 155707 22.13 63.08 37.37 10.53 22.88 18.05 32.44 8.67 12.93

Out-of-school children Koraput district-25,540

Source: “Multilingual education and other initiatives in Orissa” presented by Sri NB Dhal, IAS, State Project Director And Dr M.K. Mishra, State Coordinator SC/ST
and Minority Education, Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority, Bhubaneswar

According to the Census, there are 377,594 child labourers in the national average—respectively 64.7 (per 1,000 births)
the state (14 years and under).237 Official statistics show that and 90.6, as compared to 57 and 74.3.241 These figures are
in 1999, there were 23,761 children employed in hazardous attributed to several factors, including the poor professional

233. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008.

234. Pratham ASER 2008 survey
235. Government of Orissa, Human Development Report, 2004.
236. Ibid.
237. Census of India, 2001.
238. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2691, dated 9.8.2000.
239. Data accessed on indiastat.com; Compiled from the statistics released by: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3759, 09.05.2007, Lok Sabha Unstarred
Question No. 994, 20.08.2007 and Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2415, 03.12.2007.
240. NFHS-3, 2007.
241. Ibid
130

attendance at birth, the high percentage of low birth rate babies there are a considerable number of children migrating, with
and the lack of professional post-natal care in the state. For or without their families, in search of work.248 Girls are taken
deaths of children under five years of age, diarrhoea accounts from Orissa to other states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana
for 28 per cent, which can be linked to lack of access to safe and Punjab, for coerced marriages. Women and girls are also
drinking water, adequate nutrition and essential life-saving trafficked for domestic work and other forms of labour, as
medicines, such as oral rehydration salts.242 Again, the infant well as prostitution.249
and child mortality rates are found to be higher amongst the
adivasis. Immunisation coverage is also poorest in the case of Early marriage continues to be a problem in the state. In
the adivasis as compared to the total population. Orissa, almost 30 per cent of girls get married before 18 years
of age and there is a high degree of inter-state variation. In the
The ICDS, the only national scheme to address the health and backward districts, such as Koraput, Kalahandi and Balangir,
nutrition needs of children under 6 years, has made significant more than 50 per cent of girls are married before the age of
progress in Orissa. The NFHS-3 found that Orissa was one 18.250 However, in the coastal districts, such as Puri and Jajpur,
of only three states where more than 50 per cent of children less than 15 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18.
aged 0–71 months had received any service in the previous
year from an anganwadi centre.243 Orissa also has the highest
percentage (43 per cent) of children receiving health check-
ups from an anganwadi centre. However, serious challenges
remain for the state. There have been several shortcomings
with the scheme in Orissa, including an irregular food supply
in a number of areas. In 2007, it was revealed that although
Orissa has the second highest (after Madhya Pradesh)
number of women and children benefitting from the scheme,
spending per beneficiary per day is lowest in Orissa, at only
Rs. 0.59.244

A number of factors have led to Orissa becoming vulnerable to

trafficking problems. High levels of poverty, frequent natural
Iron ore being loaded in Joda-Barbil area, Keonjhar (Photo July 2009)
disasters, chronic food insecurity and a large marginalised
population have created the conditions which place people at
risk of various forms of exploitation, such as trafficking. SCs, Mining in Orissa
STs, landless labourers, women and children face particular
risks in these situations.245 The National Crime Records Orissa is very rich in minerals, and is currently the leading
Bureau (NCRB) data proves inadequate at analysing the producer of chromite, graphite, bauxite, manganese ore, iron
trafficking situation in India, as most cases go unregistered ore, sillimanite, quartzite, pyroxite and dolomite in India.
and unreported. In 2007, there were only 41 cases registered
under human trafficking in the state.246 However, NGOs In terms of value, Orissa’s mineral production is the second
working in Orissa have reported a significant child trafficking highest in the country, accounting for 12 per cent of the
problem in the state.247 At least 26 out of the 30 districts are country’s production. In 2007-08, Orissa’s mineral production
considered to be affected by trafficking. It is also often difficult was valued at Rs. 129.87 billion, a huge increase of 29 per
to differentiate between trafficking and wilful migration, as

242. Government of Orissa, Human Development Report, 2004.

243. NFHS-3, 2007.
244. Seventh Report of the Commissioners of the Supreme Court, November 2007.
245. Shakti Vahini, UNDP TAHA project, Trafficking and HIV Orissa, 2005.
246. NCRB, Crimes in India, Chapter 6, 2007.
247. Save the Children India, Child Trafficking, http://www.savethechildren.in/india/key_sectors/child_trafficking.html, uploaded: 7 September 2009.
248. Shakti Vahini, UNDP TAHA project, Trafficking and HIV Orissa, 2005.
249. Ibid.
250. Government of Orissa, Human Development Report, 2004.
 131

cent from the previous year.251 The most important minerals With the inception of the New Economic Policy, the
in the state are coal, bauxite, chromite, iron ore, manganese Government of Orissa has begun inviting both national
ore, limestone and dolomite. Together they constitute 99.2 and multinational companies to extract mineral resources
per cent of the state’s total mineral production. in the state. The number of companies who have signed
Memorandum of Understandings to set up steel plants in
In 2007-08, there were 227 reporting mines in the state. The the state has increased to 50, including the South Korean
total mine lease area covers 721,323 ha of land. This includes multinational Pohan Iron and Steel Company (POSCO),
over 16,795 ha of forestland which has been officially diverted which has agreed to construct a Rs. 580 billion steel plant near
for mining.252 Paradip port. This will be the largest FDI in India’s history.255
However, the local population in these areas, who are mostly
SCs and STs, are resisting these projects, fearing displacement
and a loss of livelihoods.256 Orissa is an example of how every
possible corporate crime and human rights violation happen
when mining is involved and how a state’s doom is led by the
havoc created by such large-scale mining.

The region of Lanjigarh, in Kalahandi district, has come

under severe pressure from mining development in recent
years and is now the site of one of India’s most high profile
mining struggles. In 2003, an agreement was signed between
the Government of Orissa and the British Vedanta Group
to establish a bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the
NALCO conveyor belt (Photo by Samata) Niyamgiri hills. However, the project has come under intense
scrutiny and opposition from local communities, NGOs and
The major source of bauxite in Orissa is found in Koraput environmental activists. Lanjigarh is the home of the Dongria
district, which produces 98.82 per cent of the state’s total Kondh tribe, with a population of 7,752. The community
bauxite production. The remaining 1.18 per cent of bauxite is objecting to the refinery project, which will displace them
is found in Sundergarh district.253 Fifty per cent of the from their indigenous habitat and destroy their traditional
state’s adivasis lives in these two districts. Damanjodi is a forms of livelihood.
small town in Koraput district. The vast majority of the
population of Damanjodi are employees of the National That the government has entertained mining in Lanjigarh
Aluminium Company (NALCO), a public sector enterprise even while the existing adivasi struggles in neighbouring
of the Government of India, which is the world’s seventh Kasipur of Koraput districts where the Utkal Alumina
largest producer of aluminium. NALCO operates Asia’s International Limited (UAIL) project has been facing fierce
largest aluminium complex, which comprises bauxite mines, opposition on similar grounds and was also witness to police
alumina refining operations, smelting plants and power firing and death of adivasis speaks of the brutal disregard to
generation. The NALCO mines have bauxite reserves people’s voices of dissent.
expected to last for 120 years. Despite this, Koraput is
still classified as a ‘backward district’ by the government Displacement for mining activities is a major problem in
and 83.8 per cent of the population here live below the Orissa. There are no up-to-date figures to reveal the number
poverty line.254 of people who have been displaced in the state for mining.
However, between 1951 and 1995, around 100,000 people

251. Ministry of Mines, Annual Report 2008-09.

252. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 234, dated 20.10.2008, Selected State-wise Forest Land Diverted for Mining by Ministry of Environment and Forests in
India (25.10.1980 to 30.09.2008).
253. Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Orissa, Orissa Review, November 2007.
254. Census of India 2001
255. Domain-b.com, Orissa steel project back on track, says POSCO, 27 August 2009, http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_p/posco/20090827_steel_
project.html, uploaded: 10 September 2009.
256. Prajna Paramita Mishra, Second Colonialisation: Mining Induced Displacement in Orissa, Research Scholar, CESS, Hyderabad.
132

were displaced for mining projects in Orissa, 40 per cent guarantee.261 It also states that it will provide employment,
of whom received no form of rehabilitation.257 More recent self-employment training and provision of homestead land
displacement figures from different sources give an idea of only to displaced families. However, the draft does not make
the extent of displacement from mining. Up to the year 2000 any mention of those families who are landless. Large sections
the total number of displaced families as a result of mining of the population, do not own land, but instead make their
is estimated at 15,000 or 11 per cent of total population living by working on other people’s land.
displaced.258 Another source quotes those affected by
development projects in the state in the last decade to be 2 Some of the adivasis have now moved into mining work
million of which half a million were physically displaced. Of in order to secure a living through wage labour. They have
this 3.37 per cent were as a result of mining.259 been forced into this work due to the decrease in available
land. Women are particularly affected by these changes.
Nearly half the state’s area is under the Fifth Schedule of the Adivasi women are usually the primary actors in agriculture,
Indian Constitution. Despite this, around 1,019 sq km of responsible for collecting forest produce and for livestock
land has already been leased out for mining, most of which is management. However, once displaced, they can no longer
in Scheduled Areas.260 In July 2003, a state committee headed continue their traditional activities. Studies in Orissa have
by the Chief Minister of Orissa concluded that the Samatha shown that the number of unwed mothers has increased in
Judgment, delivered to protect the rights of adivasis to their recent years, as have cases of trafficking, HIV/AIDS and
lands in all the Fifth Schedule areas across the country, is domestic violence.262
applicable only to Andhra Pradesh and does not apply to
Orissa. According to the Census 2001, there were 149,318 people
working in mining and quarrying in Orissa in 2001. Of these,
The draft Orissa Resettlement and Rehabilitation Plan 2,257 were children 14 years and under, and 11,203 were
2006 proposes to make displaced people stakeholders in the children 19 years and under.263 However, the actual number
industry that displaces them. Although the compensation has of child labourers working in mining and quarrying in the
increased from Rs. 37,000 per acre to Rs. 150,000 per acre, state is likely to be much higher than this.
it does not provide them with an alternative employment

Koraput district: Key facts

Total population: 1,180,637 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 423,358 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 35.72 per cent
Male 47.20 per cent
Female 24.26 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 17 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 43.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 24,010 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 540 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

257. Fernandes, W. and Mohd, A., Development induced Displacement in Orissa 1951 to 1995. A Database on its extent and Nature, 1997.
258. An overview of development projects, displacement and rehabilitation in Orissa. Presentation made by Prof. A.B. Ota, Director Tribal Research Institute,
17 July 2009. URL: http://www.teamorissa.org/Convention_%20Presentations_%20Sessionwise/Session-5/Session5-2%20development%20Project%20
SWOSTI%20PLAZA.Ota.pdf
259. http://joharadivasi.org/industrialization-and-development-discontentment-among-tribals-in-orissa-dr-rajat-kumar-kujur/
260. Kumar K., Dispossessed and displaced: A brief paper on tribal issues in Orissa, Discussion Paper, Vasundhara, Orissa, 2004.
261. Prajna Paramita Mishra, Second Colonialisation: Mining Induced Displacement in Orissa, Research Scholar, CESS, Hyderabad.
262. Ibid.
263. Census of India, 2001
 133

Rayagada district: Key facts

Total population: 831,109 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 303,760 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 36.15 per cent
Male 48.18 per cent
Female 24.56 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 17.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 51.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour: 16,982 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 565 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Keonjhar district: Key facts

Total population: 1,561,990 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 548,357 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 59.24 per cent
Male 71.99 per cent
Female 46.22 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 7.7 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 68.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour: 12,741 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 455 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Sundergarh district: Key facts

Total population: 1,830,673 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 699,304 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: 65 per cent
Male 75.34 per cent
Female 53.88 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 4.8 (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): no data available (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5 – 14 years): 9,407 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 372 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Background to the Research is also a state that has seriously impacted the lives of adivasi
communities who have been displaced multiple times for
As Orissa is one of the most intensively mined states in mining and related industries and now once again face the
India, we chose multiple sites in Orissa for our research in threat of displacement from new projects. We covered some
order to understand the impacts of mining on children. This of the earliest projects like NALCO (bauxite mining) where
134

the impacts are visibly evident with respect to the displaced work to support his family. He earns around Rs.1,200 per month
communities, to juxtapose this against the proposed mining while working in the hotel and sends home around Rs.1,000 every
areas like Kasipur (UAIL project) which is very close to month. He says,”Work in the hotel is difficult and there is no time
NALCO and has the same socio-economic background. for rest except after 12 in the night every day”.
These case studies bring out issues related to displacement, Source: Interview carried out in Dumuriput, Damanjodi, February 2010.
rehabilitation and the constitutional rights of adivasi children
when faced with a complete reversal of their resource base and Koraput is one of the poorest districts in Orissa and is a
indigenous cultures. Scheduled Area having 50 per cent ST (585,830 out of
1,180,637) and 13 per cent SC (153,932 out of 1,180,637)
The peaceful adivasi belt of Keonjhar, which was once the population. Undivided Koraput was a vast region of
pride of Orissa tourism, has now gained notoriety as the thick deciduous forests and fertile agricultural lands with
hotbed of crime, corruption, violence and smuggling after large traditional food crops and shifting cultivation practised by
corporations and contractors started plundering the areas like the adivasis. The adivasis cultivated two crops a year on rain-
Joda and Barbil for minerals. We studied the impacts that fed irrigation with the fundamental objective of subsistence
this transition has had on the children living in this region, and food security. Forestry and collection of forest produce
which can be compared to the situation of mining in Bellary, to sell in the local markets was the other main source of
Karnataka. livelihood. After independence, Koraput and its neighbouring
districts bear testimony to several development projects and
Sundergarh in western Orissa is also an adivasi area where industrialisation that led to land alienation, forced migration
mining of dolomite and limestone has been happening since and serious impacts on the natural resources and livelihoods
pre-independence and impacts are again clearly measurable, of the local people, particularly the adivasis. Hydro projects
especially with a large number of adolescent girls working in like Upper Indravati, Balimela, Kolab, Jolaput reservoirs drove
the mines for ridiculously low wages. out thousands of families from their villages and homes, not
once but multiple times. Setting up of the HAL factory,
The status of mining in Orissa alone and the impacts on NALCO and other ancillary industries further reduced the
people, particularly children, can be taken as an indicator local population to landlessness and poverty.
for the status of mining-affected communities in the rest of
the country. Orissa is also one of the poorest states in India The bauxite mining project and its township completely
with low human development indices especially in the regions changed the socio-economic fabric of the adivasis. The
where mining has been taking place. If mining, as projected, meetings with village leaders, Project Affected Person (PAP)
is a vehicle of economic development, what we saw in Orissa unions and group discussions with women in the displacement
is far from reflected in the lives of people living and working in (DP) camps and affected villages reflect the deplorable status
the mines. The general development pattern in the state and of the local people and the condition of the children whose
the case studies here speak for themselves. families were directly or indirectly affected, behind the
apparent urbanisation witnessed around Damanjodi town.
Impacts of Displacement on Our effort here was to understand the impacts that mining
has had on the lives of children whose families were displaced
Children in Damanjodi by the by NALCO and those living in this mining region and how it
has affected their health, literacy, education, social protection,
National Aluminium Company economic security and legal rights.
Limited’s Bauxite Mining Project
Prior to mining, the region had vast natural resources on
Rajesh (name changed) is 15 years old and comes from the village which the adivasis depended for their survival. Development
of Janiguda. He works in a roadside restaurant at Dumuriput of intervention from the government whether for education,
Damanjodi. His family lost all their land for the NALCO project medical support or economic upliftment, was negligible and
and converted his father, who did not get a job in the company, the adivasis barely received any benefits. Mining was declared
into an alcoholic. Having spent all the compensation money on as the need of the hour for the nation as well as for the local
liquor, the father has left the family on the streets. Rajesh dropped population and it was meant to bring economic prosperity
out of school and had to come to Damanjodi town in search of for both and therefore, the NALCO bauxite project was
 135

opened up in Damanjodi, Orissa. This case study looks at As per the initial resettlement made by NALCO, 597 families
the ground realities in the context of children in the region, were taken as displaced families. Out of these, 441 were
which may differ from the popular understanding of mining rehabilitated in Amalabadi DP camp, which was meant to
and development. provide resettlement for 13 villages affected by the project.
This was later increased to 156. A second DP camp at
Champapadar was initiated for 75 households for the displaced
Overview of National Aluminium from Khoraguda (a village affected but not visited by our study
Company Limited team) and Champapadar villages.265 At present there are more
than 200 families who are living in the Champapadar DP
NALCO, one of the first public sector mining companies camp. The housing provided by NALCO consists of 10x10
in India, was established in the year 1981 with the purpose ft structures. As rehabilitation was never properly completed,
of extracting bauxite ore from the vast reserves in the the PAPs invested their own money in building their houses
Panchpatmali hills of Koraput district and processing it or supplementing the inadequate housing provided by the
into alumina. The total deposit of ore being extracted by company. The DP camp of Champapadar is situated far away
NALCO is 112.8 million tonnes and the refinery complex from the township of the company while that of Amalabadi is
in Damanjodi, which is 11 km away from the mine site, has closer. The two DP camps were provided with basic drinking
an installed capacity of 8 lakh million tonnes of alumina water facilities. Some villages have tube wells and taps but
annually. The total land area occupied by the company is most of them also depend on the stream and river water for
10,058.76 acres, of which 427.3 acres is for mining, 2638.96 their domestic purposes. A huge protest and rally taken out
acres is for the township and 6,992.5 acres is for the plant by the employees of affected families last year to demand for
area. Out of the total land 2,805.49 acres is government inclusion of women headed households in the rehabilitation
land and 2,834.56 ha, which is around 41.36 per cent of the programme, reflects the neglect of single women and widows
total land area, belongs to local farmers.264 NALCO has a among the PAPs. The company does not provide any
captive power plant with a capacity of 55.5 mw as against its medical facilities for the affected families and basic services
like drinking water, electricity and education are either not
actual need of 32 mw.
provided or marginally provided by the company.

Displacement and Compensation/ Most of the villages affected had lost fertile agricultural
land. Damanjodi had the highest number of displaced
Rehabilitation families (around 170) where private agricultural land was
also alienated. The people reported that they received a
From the primary data collected through interviews with
compensation of Rs.3,000 per acre for paddy land and
PAPs, it was gathered that 26 villages of Koraput, Potangi,
Rs.1,100 per acre for dry land. In Putsil it was found that
Semiliguda and Laxmipur blocks were directly and indirectly
the average compensation received per family was Rs.1,300
affected with 597 families directly displaced, both in terms per acre. In Marchimala, 50 households lost their land but
of land and housing. This action research was conducted not their houses. These families did not receive any alternate
in the villages of Amalabadi, Champapadar, Damanjodi, land. They were only given a monetary compensation, which
Goudaguda, Janiguda, Marichimala and Putsil, which are averaged around Rs. 1,500 per acre. Only one person who
apparently some of the most affected by the project. Out lost his land and house was given a job with the company. In
of the total project affected population, 254 households or Janiguda village more than 240 acres of land was taken by the
families are from the adivasi communities, 56 families are company but people who had lost their land were not given
from dalit communities and the rest of the families are OBCs any alternate livelihood. Only cash compensation averaging
like the Malis and Sundis. According to the statements made Rs. 1,500 per acre was given. Since the villagers only lost land
by displaced people the recent update of displaced families for and not their homes the company did not provide any jobs.
NALCO, is 631 families. The 75 families displaced from Champapadar received an
average compensation of Rs. 1,500 per acre.266

264. EPW, June 15, 1996, pp 1533-1538.

265. Source General Secretary of NALCO Displaced and Land-loser Employee Association
266. Statement of the villagers at Janiguda
136

for construction and other industrial activities. The literacy

rates in all these affected villages vary between 10–30 per cent
with the exception of Damanjodi, which has a 60–70 per cent
rate due to outsiders settling here.

Employment at the company was given at the most, to one

person per family where the eldest son got a job and the
others had to become landless labourers. Jobs were given
only if both land and house were taken away. The nature of
jobs given to the displaced persons, involved mainly semi-
skilled and unskilled work such as drivers, operators, office
attendants and manual labour. The people reported that in
Displaced camp, Damanjodi the 25 years of the company’s existence, only seven out of all
(Photo June 2009)
the displaced people were promoted from unskilled to semi-
Compensation for land was given only to farmers who had skilled level. Of the displaced who got jobs, 108 persons are
pattas (title deeds), so some of the adivasi and dalit families dead and more than 20 have retired, but none of their family
who did not possess pattas did not receive any compensation members were given jobs after them. So far only 20 women
and also lost their livelihood. The PAPs also reported that from the displaced communities are working in the company
most of the families are now working as landless labourers according to the PAPs. In Champapadar DP camp 59 persons
either in agriculture, animal rearing or as daily wage labourers of the 75 displaced families, got jobs of which only seven are

Table 2.15: Population of affected villages

Sl. No. Village name Families Total No. of Compensation No. of jobs
affected amount of families received from NALCO
land lost displaced

1 Amalabadi -- -- -- -- 200

2 Champapadar 75 Data not 75 Average 59

available Rs.1,500
per acre

3 Damanjodi 170 Data not 170 Average 170

available Rs.1,500
per acre

4 Gouduguda -- -- -- -- --

5 Janiguda 129 240 acres No Average 0

households displacement Rs. 1,500
per acre

6 Marichimala More Data not 1 Rs. 1,550 1

than 50 available per acre

7 Putsil Above 20 Data not 18 Around 18

available Rs. 1,300
per acre

Note: 1. Amalabadi is where the new DP camp was set up.

2. Gouduguda is a village located next to the bauxite mining. While no land or house has been lost the residents
here are indirectly affected as a result of mining
Source: PAP unions and village elders (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)
 137

from SC community and rest are OBCs. In Amalabadi DP these institutions and have very unreliable transport facilities.
camp there are more than 400 families but only 200 managed The people also reported that they do not like to send their
to get jobs in the company. NALCO acquired 240 acres of children to the NALCO run school as the children cannot
agricultural land from the community in Janiguda village but cope with the curriculum and many of them drop out in high
none of the families were given any jobs. They merely received school. Besides, the social barriers between adivasi and dalit
meagre cash compensation in 1981. In Marichimala, of the children and those of employees and management level staff
more than 50 affected households, only one person who of NALCO are another cause for the displaced community
lost both land and house was given a job with the company, children not attending these schools. Most of them attend
while in Putsil 18 families, who lost both land and house, the government primary and upper primary schools,
were given a job. which have poor infrastructure and quality of teaching.

Table 2.15 gives data collected in some of the affected School drop-out rates are seen to be alarming in the area.
villages visited by the study team regarding families affected, Table 2.16 is indicative of the high drop-out rates among
compensation provided and jobs in the company. children in the affected villages. This is also indicative of the
number of children who are involved in child labour. Table
2.17 gives the official DISE data as a comparison for some of
Education Status of Children the affected villages.
Living in the Mining-affected
In the Janiguda village school, there are two regular teachers
Villages and one para-teacher but out of them, only the headmaster
is regular to the school, as reported by the villagers. The
There are two schools maintained by NALCO—Delhi
school building is in very poor condition and has minimal
Public School which is an English medium school and the
infrastructure facilities for students. The headmaster stated
second is the Saraswathi Vidya Mandir which is an Oriya
that the school drop-out rates are increasing and this is an
medium school. It was seen that the educational institutions
issue of concern as children are taken for agricultural labour

Table 2.16: Some data on children of affected families in Koraput district

District Block Village Total number Total no. of No of child No of school
of children school going labourers drop-outs
children

Koraput Damanjodi Amalabadi 800–900 250–300 150 20 last year

Koraput Champapadar 300 60–70 50–70 Data not

available

Damanjodi Damanjodi 3,000-3,500 Around 2,500 500–600 Data not

available

Kakiriguma Goudaguda 650–700 222 60 15–20 last year

Damanjodi Janiguda Around 250 30–35 Around 150 More than 150

Source: Local community leaders (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)

set up by the company are mainly for children of employees or for grazing cattle. At least 50–60 children from Goudaguda
and management staff and not for the local communities. village were reported to have dropped out from school and 20–
Hence, almost none of the adivasi and dalit children of the 30 children were irregular. At Janiguda the villagers reported
displaced families or surrounding villages attend the company that more than 150 children had dropped out of school.
run schools except for the children of employees living here.
For one, the schools are located close to the township where There is one primary school, which barely functions regularly,
the employees live, whereas the affected adivasi and dalit in Champapadar village. For a colony of its size, there are only
communities and the DP camps are located far away from 3–4 college level students and 4–5 youth with a diploma.
138

Table 2.17: School enrolment data

District Sub-district Village Total enrolment SC ST OBC Others

Koraput Damanjodi Amalabadi 44 9 24 0 0

Koraput Champapadar 28 0 4 0 0

Kakiriguma Goudaguda 176 14 59 0 0

Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim

Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card
Source: DISE report card, September 2008

Table 2.18: Educational institutions in the area

Name of the village No of primary schools No of high schools No of colleges

Amalabadi 1 0 0

Champapadar 1 0 0

Damanjodi 6 2 1

Goudaguda 1 0 0

Janiguda 1 0 0

Marchimala 1 0 0
Source: Local community leaders (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)

In Janiguda village, there is one primary cum upper primary of absolute malnutrition. Here it was also reported that, at the
school but they do not function properly. Table 2.18 gives an time of the study, the total number of neonatal delivery cases
indication of educational institutions. at the centre were three and total number of pregnant women
were three. Very few children attend the anganwadi regularly
as facilities are almost negligent. Except for occasional
Status of Children in Anganwadis health camps by NALCO, there are no medical facilities.
and Malnourishment The anganwadi worker reported that there were cases of TB
but could not give the exact number. Table 2.19 gives the
At Paraja street anganwadi, which was one of the three enrolment in the anganwadi centre at Paraja street. There is an
anganwadi centres in Goudaguda, it was reported by the anganwadi centre in Janiguda but the worker lives in another
worker that of the 51 children enrolled, 10 children within village and visits the children occasionally. Champapadar
the age group of 0–5 year are within normal range, whereas village has one anganwadi centre which does not function on
11 children suffer from grade III malnutrition, 12 children a regular basis.
from grade II and, the rest of the children are in the category

Table 2.19: Enrolment at anganwadi centre, Paraja street, Goudaguda

Name Total ST SC
Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl

Paraja street 25 26 19 23 6 3
Source: Anganwadi centre, Goudaguda, Paraja Street
 139

Child Labour As 131 families of the Amlabadi DP camp are headed by

widows who have no source of income, most of the children
Child labour is a clear indication of the social and economic of these families are working as manual labour in mining and
status of a community, coupled with the inaccessibility to associated activities. In Marichimala it was reported that 200
basic education, the reduced livelihood opportunities and male and 100 female children, approximately, were working as
landlessness due to the mining project. All these factors child labourers. In Putsil, a handful of children are working in
have resulted in more children dropping out of school to mining and related daily wage activities. In Goudaguda more
supplement their family incomes. Also, the township’s than 50 children are engaged in wage labour. At Janiguda the
demand for domestic labour has increased the female girl villagers reported that the 150 children who had dropped out
child’s absorption into menial labour as house-maids and of school were involved in daily wage labour and agricultural
domestic help. The youth who were interviewed stated that activities.
as they do not qualify for the matriculation examination due
to their poor school education, and very few are able to reach Many of them were seen to be working in hotels, dhabas and
college level education, they end up as cleaners and drivers of petty shops and therefore, it can be estimated that around
trucks, ply autos and buses for private contractors or are hired 500–1,000 children of the project affected areas are working as
in petty shops and businesses. labourers in the region of Laxmipur, Kakiriguma, Damanjodi
town, Koraput, Semiliguda and Potangi. Many youth are also
reported to have migrated to the cities of Chennai, Mumbai,
Hyderabad and other cities for livelihood.

Health and Environment

Concerns
Air and water pollution are reported to be high, by the local
community. The most adversely affected villages are Kutundi,
Karadiguda, Bhitarguda, Lachuani and Gouduguda.267 Water
scarcity is one of the major problems faced by the people.
Women and children have to walk long distances to collect
Child labour outside NALCO township water. People from these villages stated that due to mining
(Photo Samata)
activities, traditional water sources (natural springs) of the
There is a high incidence of child labour around the NALCO Panchpatmali hills have dried up and some of the perennial
area although there is no child labour within the company streams have reduced flow. Hence water for both domestic
premises. In Mathalput region, close to Damnajodi NALCO uses and agriculture has become inaccessible, particularly in
township, there is a higher incidence of child labour as it is a summer. Contamination of the water bodies due to drain-
settlement of migrant workers. According to the local villagers, off from mine tailings and unsafe sewage disposal due to
there are 500-600 children working in various forms of child expansion of the local and migrant population as a result of
labour in Damanjodi. Of these, the majority of the children the mining project is another major problem identified by
working are found in Mathalput slum, which is an extension the people. Therefore water related diseases like diarrhoea
of Damanjodi town. Both boys and girls of the DP camp of and skin problems. Terminal illnesses like cancer were also
Amalabadi and Champapadar, work under contractors. In reported by the community leaders and union members,
Champapadar around 30–40 male children below the age of although this has to be medically verified. Of the 18 employed
18 are working under contractors as daily wage labour and in the NALCO mines from Putsil village, 10 persons have
20–30 female children are working as domestic labour or died and the villagers said that they had been suffering from
under contractors. In Amalabadi it was reported that around cancer as understood by them from the reports of NALCO
150 are engaged in various daily wage activities in the mining hospital.268 In Janiguda village 30–40 cases of TB were
township and its surrounding area. detected among daily wage labourers, during the study. The

267. Statement made by members of NALCO Displaced and Land Loser Employee Association
268. Ibid
140

village also complained of contamination in their drinking children who had no exposure to such social disturbances in
water and how their health is affected due to this. the earlier times, have to now face a degenerate social order.
This is both an intangible price and beyond the boundaries
Government health infrastructure consisted of one SHC of compensation. This is a price that a nation is willing to pay
in Goudaguda and Amalabadi each, and one PHC at for the economic returns, because, mention of such impacts is
Damanjodi. normally ridiculed as giving undue importance to insignificant
and inevitable impacts vis-a-vis the economic image of an
industrially advanced India.
Social Disturbance and Sexual
Harassment
Conclusions
Villagers have reported 10–15 cases of sexual harassment
of the women from their community. Women walking to The rehabilitation of the community displaced by NALCO,
the mine sites for daily wage work have faced intimidation even after three decades, remains incomplete. The fact that
by migrant labour and truck drivers.269 Some of the single at the time of this study in 2009, the PAPs were organising
women and widows who have no other source of livelihood strikes and agitations to demand for proper rehabilitation
have been forced into the sex trade in the fringes of Damanjodi shows that the displaced families’ problems are yet to be
and Mathalput. Also there were at least 100–200 HIV/AIDs addressed by the NALCO authorities. There has been no
affected persons but it is difficult to give accurate estimates. impact assessment report made public, if any was undertaken
Damanjodi has acquired the reputation of being the second during this period, and no stocktaking of the rehabilitation
Ganjam (a city in Koraput district with high incidence of process, or a review of the basic services provided were
HIV/AIDS) in terms of HIV cases. Considerable number undertaken in consultation with the PAPs. Particularly, there
of migrant workers come from Ganjam and coastal belt.270 has been no assessment of the impact on children, even when
high incidence of child labour, school drop-out rate and
malnourishment are visibly evident. The presence of a large
section of single mothers, widows and destitute women in
the displaced camps, where they are unable to provide basic
survival for their children, is a direct impact of the mining
project; yet no attention has been given to their plight. The
new Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of India provides
for mere cash compensation with voluntary assurances that
social responsibility will be demonstrated by the respective
projects and governments.

(Acknowledgements: This case study was done with the

assistance of NALCO Displaced and Land Losers’ Employee
Single woman—vulnerable and destitute, Damanjodi Association, who provided us with data, introduced us to the
(Photo June 2009)
communities and helped in the field data collection.)
The social environment of the DP camps has changed from a
village community to a slum community with problems like
alcoholism, domestic violence, theft and crime being common. Dolomite and Limestone
Although basic amenities do not exist in DP camps, liquor Quarries of Sundergarh
is the most easily available commodity with liquor shops set
up within the rehabilitated colonies. In Damanjodi it is no “My name is Anjana (name changed). I am 15
different, and the wages earned by men are directly drained years old. I am working in a crushing unit here
out for alcohol, which is a cause for domestic violence, since the last 1 year as my family is very poor. For
frequent brawls and physical abuse on women. The adivasi

269. Villagers from Janiguda and Champapadar

270. Statement made by members of NALCO Displaced and Land Loser Employee Association
 141

loading one basket of the ore into the vehicle the The case study was conducted in the area of Birmitrapur
owner of the crusher gives us Rs. 0.25. I usually municipality which is one of the most excessively mined areas
earn Rs.40–50 per day and with this I am helping in Sundergarh. The report has been gathered from visits made
my two younger siblings, a brother and sister, go to to dolomite and limestone mines in Kukhrajola, Chanabahar
school. The owner of the crusher provides us with and Kansabahal villages and BSL mines in Mundatolli and
sugarcane at weekly intervals so that I can work Bramhanimara villages. The visit included Purna Panni
more. I have never been to school.” dolomite and limestone quarries and village which is an
abandoned mine site.
Source: Interview carried out near to the Bramhanimara village,
Sundergarh, November 2009
Sundergarh district, comprising of 17 blocks and 262 gram
panchayats, has a predominant ST population. Of the total
Sundergarh district has a long history of dolomite and
population of 1,830,673, the STs number 918,903. The major
limestone mining. Birmitrapur in Sundergarh district, where
adivasi groups in Sundergarh are Kharia, Mankidi, Mankidia
the case study was conducted, has seen mining since the early
and Birhor who constitute 50.74 per cent of the population
nineteenth century. The mining was undertaken by the British
of the district. The district falls under the Fifth Schedule of
initially through the company Birds India Limited, which is
the Constitution.
today called Bisra Stone Lime Company Limited (BSL). The
estimated reserves of limestone and dolomite are 375 million
tonnes and 265 million tonnes respectively. Status of children in Anganwadis
According to the Department of Mines, Orissa, Sundergarh In Birmitrapur, the age group of 0–6 years is around 2,500 but
district has a total of 87 working mines of which dolomite very few of them have access to anganwadi. In Bramhanimara
and limestone are 19 and dolomite alone is four. There are village both the anganwadi centre as well as the school
268 applications for mining leases still pending with the functions under the same roof as there is no separate building
department. There are also 49 sponge iron factories in the for running of anganwadi centre. As it is one of the bigger
district. Each factory has 15–20 deep bore-wells whose villages in Birmitrapur municipality it has a sizeable number
depth is at least 800 ft from the ground level. Some of the of children in the age group of 0–6 years. The total number
sponge iron plants and mines had to be closed down due to of children of the village, Bramhanimara village, between 0–6
non-compliance with pollution norms. It is a known fact, as years is 91 with a break-up as given in Table 2.20.
expressed by the ex-Chairman of Birmitrapur Mr. Kishore
Kujur, that there are as many illegal mines as legal mines in Table 2.20: Details of children in Bramhanimara
the region.The government is now inviting multinational anganwadi
corporations to establish large-scale industries of cement in
Category Total Boy Girl
Sundergarh.
ST 58 27 31

SC 18 11 7

General 15 8 7
Source: Anganwadi centre, Bramhanimara village

This year, there are 18 malnourished children in the centre,

out of which 3–4 are under severe malnourishment category
and the rest are under grade I, II, III and IV categories.

According to the anganwadi worker there are 3–4 cases of TB

patients in the village this year, undergoing medical treatment.
According to her, there are at least 8–9 registered cases of
filaria. This is mainly because of the pollution of water as
NCLP school, Birmitrapur, Sundergarh
(Photo November 2009)
observed by her. The Child Development Project Officer
of Birmitrapur ICDS project provided some revealing facts
142

about the status of children in this municipality. According of the municipality. In Birmitrapur there are 15 government
to their records there are 3,390 children below the age of 6 schools, one college and three high schools. The dakua group
years and the Table 2.21 gives the status of children’s nutrition (women’s SHG) of Birmitrapur which met the team at the
levels as per the records of September 2009 in Birmitrapur anganwadi centre, stated that at least 20–25 children from
anganwadi. The Table shows that only 41 per cent of children each ward do not go to school and that every year at least 30
are barely or just above malnourishment. per cent of school-going children drop out of school.

Table 2.21: Children’s health status: Birmitrapur

anganwadi
Grade Total children Percentage to
total children

Normal weight 1,397 41

Grade I 1,363 40

Grade II 582 17

Grade III 20 0.59

Grade IV 02 0.05
Source: ICDS office Birmitrapur
No infrastructure for this anganwadi. Children and animals attending the
anganwadi under the trees, Brahmanimara, Sundergarh
In Kansbahal village the anganwadi centre has no infrastructure (Photo November 2009)
and operates under a tree. The anganwadi worker stated that
atleast 12 children are absolutely malnourished and around According to the villagers and the local organisation
50–100 cases of TB have been identified from the village. Gangpur Adivasi Forum for Social and Cultural Awakening
(GAFSCA), the poverty of most families, becomes a cause
In Chanabahar village according to the villagers, around 100 for many children not to attend school regularly and to
children (80 per cent of the total children) below the age of drop-out after primary school. The women stated that
6 years are malnourished. In short it was reported in almost another reason for children dropping out of school is the
all the villages that a majority of children are malnourished poor teaching and teacher absenteeism. In Mundatolli
and a considerable number of children drop out of school. village, which is a small settlement of around 25 households,
None of the villages reported that they receive development we found that there were atleast 55 children of school going
support for children either in the form of education, nutrition age. As there is no government or private school in this
or medical facilities from the mining companies operating in village, none of the children have opportunity to go to school
the area. except for five boys and four girls who are in high school and
walk to the Don Bosco school in the neighbouring village,
every day.
Education
In Bramhanimara village there is only one teacher in the
The overall district literacy rate is 65 per cent but a look at school with a total strength of 25 children Table 2.22). The
the elementary education statistics shows an alarming drop in DISE report card (September 2008) gives the enrolment for
student rural enrolment from 82,016 at primary level to 7,425 class I–V as around 219. According to the teacher there is no
at secondary education level. This reflects the poor access to
higher education that adolescents in the district have, which Table 2.22: Enrolment in Bramhanimara primary
further reflects the poor social and economic conditions of school in 2009-10
the majority population. Class ST SC GENERAL
Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
In this backdrop, we present here the situation of children
living in Birmitrapur block which is one of the worst mining I–V 7 2 3 8 3 2
affected regions in Orissa. There are around 4,000–5,000 Total 9 11 5
children below the age of 18 years living in Birmitrapur town Source: Attendance register, Bramhanimara primary school, Bramhanimara
 143

drop-out rate and there are only two children working in the wait for compensation, but the landlessness has forced them
mines. However, she admitted that most of the children go to make their children drop out of school and take them for
to the mine sites to help their parents and also, alternately, mine labour. The impoverishment is clearly visible with daily
attend school. This category of semi-labour participation by wage labour being the only form of subsistence.
children is one of the most invisible forms of child labour.
When we visited the Purna Panni Limestone and Dolomite
In Chanabahar village, the community reported that atleast Quarries, the Assistant General Manager gave information
20 children have dropped out of school because of poverty about the social welfare activities taken up by the company
caused by mining and around 25 teenagers are working in the under corporate social responsibility (CSR), although the
mines as daily wage labour. mines are currently shut down and may be reopened as a
joint venture with SAIL. He talked about how the mining
There is one NCLP school up to class V, in Birmitrapur, provided economic opportunities to the local people besides
which is managed by an NGO from Rourkela. There are only other facilities like electricity, roads, health camps, fishing
40 children enrolled, of which only 11 children were present rights and other amenities. However, the testimonies of the
on the day of our visit. The teacher stated that there are more people of Purna Panni village disputed these claims.
than 200 child labourers in Birmitrapur town itself, but they
are unable to come to the NCLP school due to abject poverty In Purna Panni village, 40 per cent of the population fall
of the families, and therefore have to supplement the family below the age of 18 years. Atleast five villages were affected
incomes. by Purna Panni Limestone and Dolomite Quarries and were
forced to migrate to find wage labour elsewhere like Gujarat,
Delhi, Punjab, Andamans and other places. The company
Displacement has not employed the 1,000–1,200 locals displaced by their
project, whereas compensation and jobs were promised at the
time of land acquisition. Not even drinking water or medical
facilities were provided to the community.

In Chanabahar the local village leaders complained that

companies like M/s. Chariot Steel and Power Private
Limited, M/s. Tripathi Company and others were involved
in illegal mining activities and were encroaching on to adivasi
lands. They reported that about 81 acres of such illegally
acquired land, affecting about 10 families, were under mining
operations. The villagers said that the affected families were
given Rs.1,500 per acre as compensation and were promised
employment and other benefits, which they have not received
Dolomite mining of BSL, Sundergarh
(Photo November 2009) so far. All these families are in a state of impoverishment and
work as landless labourers today.
Inspite of the existence of mining companies, migration of
unskilled workers is high in Sundergarh, which speaks for the
low employment opportunities that mining companies create Water Contamination and Its Impact
for local people. This is also the reason why Sundergarh has on Health
become one of the junctions for trafficking and migration,
especially with respect to young girls being whisked away by Water is the most serious problem expressed by the local
organised trade for human labour as well as for prostitution.271 communities besides the malnourishment of children. Prior
to mining, the local river was a common property, which was
In Birmitrapur, alteast 50 more families whose lands were the main source of water for drinking and irrigation. After
taken for mining, have yet to receive compensation. These BSL company got the mining lease, water was diverted to
families continue to live in the slum in Birmitrapur as they

271. http://comhlamh.org/assets/files/pdfs/Web_Focus80(1).pdf
144

exposed to the toxicity from the mine tailings that get mixed
in these water bodies.

In Brahmanimara village which is the worst affected by

mining, around 810 households mainly belonging to ST
families, face a severe problem of drinking water as well as
water for irrigation. As the mining activities have depleted the
groundwater, the water that is pumped up for drinking has
high levels of limestone and dust but the villagers are forced
to consume this water, having no other option. The farmers
stated that the land productivity has gone down drastically
due to lack of adequate water and therefore, more and more
Contaminated drinking water in mine workers’ colonies, Sundergarh families have to migrate seasonally.
(Photo November 2009)

the company and the mine tailings were dumped into the Only in Mundatolli the study team was told that the BSL
river converting into a highly polluted water body unfit for company provides medical aid and benefits and provides
consumption. It was evident that the water in the entire region drinking water to both workers and the community.
is contaminated and consists of heavy metals and dust, as a
result of overdrawing of water and dumping of mine waste. The Junior Engineer of the Public Health Department shared
The sponge iron factories have dug up bore-wells creating that, of the 11 wards in Birmitrapur municipality, drinking
serious groundwater depletion. The 49 sponge iron factories water is supplied to 7–9 wards after treatment at the BSL
with each having 15–20 deep bore-wells having a depth of water reserve, but he confessed that it may not be completely
about 800 ft from the ground level is more than a cause for free from pollutants and that not all the affected villages have
alarm for the people of this region. access to this water. He further informed that there are 181
tubewells whose approximate depth was 200 ft but as the
The area has been witnessing serious health problems related mining companies were exploiting the water resources right
to waterborne diseases due to the contamination of water. down to 400 ft, this has led to water crisis and therefore, the
Problems like filaria, hydrocele and gynaecological problems companies are being denied permission to do mining.
were reported by the local leaders as well as by the women
interviewed. Serious occupational health hazards were
reported around the cement factories in Rajgangpur. In the
Health Condition of Children and
summer months and for many parts of the year, severe water Community
shortage is experienced due to low groundwater levels. It is
mainly the girl children who accompany their mothers for Common health problems related to children were stated to
collection of water, which is contaminated. They are constantly be malaria, filariasis, TB and gastroenteritis. Most of their
health problems are connected to the highly contaminated
water because of which gastroenteritis, jaundice and diarrhoea
are commonly suffered by the children. Diabetes is also highly
prevalent in this area. As the stagnant water from the mine sites
and the mining dumps are breeding grounds for mosquitoes,
the children are living in poor sanitary conditions. They are
suffering from malnutrition and malaria which affects them
cyclically making them anaemic and more susceptible to
illnesses. The anganwadi workers claimed that some children
have TB. A serious health problem among the children here
is filariasis as stated by Fr. Nicholas Barla of GAFSCA. A
survey conducted by them in the year 2006 in Purna Panni
village, showed that there were 40 cases of filariasis in this
Water crisis! Water contains mine tailings and is unfit for human or animal village alone, and among them, 10–12 were children. The
consumption, Sundergarh (Photo November 2009)
 145

reason, according to them, for such high incidence of the

disease in this village could be due to the stagnating water in
the mine pits and the abandoned mines where rainwater gets
collected.

In Bramhanimara village the people stated that they used to

work in the mines earlier but many of them contracted TB
due to this work. Also, the proximity of the mine site keeps
them in constant danger of accidents and injuries from mine
blasting. The village has not received any social or health
benefits from the company either in the form of education,
housing, roads, electricity or other facilities although this is
the most directly affected by the project. Young girls working in Dolomite mines and stone crushers at Birmitrapur,
Sundergarh (Photo November 2009)

According to the medical officer of the CHC in Birmitrapur, activities like road construction work, loading of trucks,
occupational health problems are significantly high in the area breaking stones, working in the crushers or as cleaners for
and he informed that people suffered from respiratory illnesses, the trucks. Groups of young girls go to the mines together
malaria, TB (See Table 2.23 for data on TB cases), filaria and every day and work until 5 p.m. They work with the limestone
other waterborne diseases mainly due to the mining activities. with their bare hands and have no safety gear given to them.
He also stated that there is severe shortage of medicines in the In Dillu quarry near Bramhanamari village, we found several
PHC due to the high rate of illnesses but the hospital does adolescent mine workers, most of them girls between the
not get any help from the mining companies. ages of 14 and 16. There were 11 child labourers other than
Table 2.23: Data of TB for the last 4 years till these adolescent girls, who were found working. The girls
October 2009 responded that they are hired as contract labour and earn
around Rs.40–50 per day for the tough work in the mines.
Year Reported Positive
The girls are mostly hired in the stone crushers where they are
cases of TB cases of TB
paid low wages but as the economic condition of the families
2006 228 52 is very low, the girls are sent to work in the crushers. The
girls also reported that the mine owners give them sugarcane
2007 227 53
every week, probably to boost their energy levels and extract
2008 376 53 more work from them. Because of this impoverishment, the
local organisations complained that young girls are trafficked
2009 433 41
to cities like Delhi and Mumbai by local agents who pose as
Source: CHC, Birmitrapur, (excluding the figure of the BSL run hospital)
middlemen for employment. Local organisations working
for the rights of children have taken up the cause of human
Child Labour trafficking in Sundergarh, which is mainly due to indebtedness
created by mining and other industries. Most of the boys
There are many women and teenage girls below the age of 18 working in the mines were reported to be addicted to gutka,
years working as unskilled labour either directly in mining alcohol and gambling. Strangely, we found many orphanages
activities or indirectly in construction of roads and factories situated in this region but the reasons for the significant
in Birmitrapur area and the women said they get a wage of number of orphanages in one area, was not clear as we could
Rs.60 per day while the men get Rs.100. Interviews with not interview the heads of these institutions.
workers in all the mine sites revealed that while those under
direct employment receive some form of benefits, the majority
of the contract labourers receive no benefits except for their Social Issues
daily wages.
The SHG or dakua women interviewed stated that due to the
Children from displaced families and mine workers’ families mining activities there are many unwed mothers and there is a
were found to be working either in mining or other ancillary high rate of trafficking of young girls and women and migration
146

for labour elsewhere. The presence of five orphanages in such quarry areas of Sundergarh is the biggest problem expressed
a small area is evidence of this. by women who fear to collect this water for their domestic
use. The frightening situation is that they have no alternative
Earlier the Birds group had taken up social welfare activities source and this crisis brought on the region by rampant
by putting aside some part of its profit to create a ‘shesh fund’. mining activities does not stir any response from mining or
Student scholarships were provided through the ‘Edward state authorities. Besides, it is not only the mineral extraction
Benthol Fund’ as part of their philanthropic activities. but the existence of several sponge iron factories, both in the
case of Sundergarh and Keonjhar, which are adding to the
high levels of air pollution and water contamination in the
Conclusion region. New projects are being cleared in Sundergarh and the
people expressed a deep sense of fear and frustration that it
Sundergarh has been declared as one of the most polluted is the mining lobby that controls the administration in the
and backward regions in the country and stands at a junction district and not any governance institutions. Hence, in state
between three states where trafficking of children and women after state, we have witnessed a complete collapse of the state
is known to be extremely high. The human development and its institutions as a result of mining.
indices for children are some of the lowest in the country and
this is reflected in the scale of child and human trafficking in (Acknowledgements: The case study in Sundergarh district was
the district. It was estimated by a survey done by the Rourkela undertaken in partnership with GAFSCA. We acknowledge
Social Service Society that every day there is trafficking of the help and support of Fr. Nicholas Barla and his team in
at least 20 girls to the urban cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
facilitating the field visits and meetings in the villages, as well
At least 7,000 girls were trafficked in each year from the
as in sharing the data and information available with their
Sundergarh district according to their survey. In 2003-04, a
organisation).
survey done by the same organisation shows that in the same
year atleast 35,000 girls were trafficked to different parts
of the country. The main reason for this high incidence of Proposed Mining in Kasipur and
trafficking is the stark poverty, and non-implementation of
the developmental schemes and mining projects in the areas. Conflict due to Utkal Alumina
As industrialisation, especially mining, spread rapidly in the
district, adivasis, who form a majority of the population have
Limited Limited
become vulnerable to migration and trafficking. The district Ajit (name changed) hails from Dom Koral village of Tikiri. He
has also an alarming rate of unwed mothers and prostitution. is 17 years old. As he lost his father 5 years ago, he was forced
In the year 2006, 12 persons afflicted by HIV/AIDS from
to take on the entire burden of the family and become the sole
the areas of Birmitrapur and Rajgangpur died.
bread-winner. He works as a manual labourer under different
contractors in mining activities and earns around Rs.60 per
Sundergarh has also witnessed a spurt of violent actions from
day day. He stated that the mining work is erratic and hence his
extreme left (Maoist) groups and the region is now considered
earnings are irregular. “I do odd jobs at the mine site as there is
as politically disturbed. With multinational mining interests
construction work going on.Work is very tough and therefore, I
eyeing the adivasi lands in Sundergarh, it is anticipated that
have gradually become addicted to liquor and gutka, but I can’t
political violence between the state and Maoist groups will
help it.”
increase in the future. Sundergarh stands as an example of
how an agricultural adivasi region has been taken over by Source: Interview carried out in Dom Koral, Kasipur, June 2009.
mining contractors, traders, land mafia, corporate agents in
nexus with police and political forces. The fact that the Indian Kasipur block is in Raigada district of undivided Koraput
Bureau of Mines team which was sent to conduct investigations region in the state of Orissa. The hills of Kasipur, in
into alleged mining scams, had been interrupted in their field Koraput district, have very rich deposits of bauxite and the
investigations, makes one suspicious on the pressure that the mining industries, both national and multinational, have
mining conglomerates could bring on the political powers. been eyeing these resources for unscrupulous exploitation
The alarming status of groundwater depletion and the at the cost of social, economic and environmental
contamination of water bodies in the dolomite and limestone destruction.
 147

UAIL earlier a joint venture of Norsk Hydro, ALCAN and

HINDALCO, is now completely owned by HINDALCO of
the Aditya Birla Group, and proposes to extract bauxite with
a capacity of 1–3 million tonnes per annum.

History of the People’s Struggle in

Kasipur
In the year 1993 the local people first came to know that
UAIL, a multi national company, had decided to set up an
alumina extraction plant near Kucheipadar in Kasipur Block.
Pre-mining area, Kasipur Prakrutiko Sampado Surakshya Parishad (PSSP) is a people’s
(Photo June 2009) movement, which emerged as a resistance to the Utkal project.
Kasipur area is mainly inhabited by adivasis living in the midst The struggle is unique in its nature as it is the local adivasi
of thick forests and hills. These areas are, in legal terminology, community that has led the movement.
called the Scheduled Areas as per the Fifth Schedule of the
Indian Constitution where majority adivasis live and have
exclusive ownership of land. Out of the total population
of the district nearly 72.03 per cent of the people are BPL
families272 and more than 50 per cent of its total population
belong to adivasi communities. Kasipur consists of 20 gram
panchayats which is a conglomeration of around 270 villages.
According to Census 2001, the total population of the block
is 67,254. The Jhodia, Kandho, Paraja tribes and the Panos
(untouchables or dalits) constitute around 70–80 per cent of
the total population of the block and the rest are OBCs. The
adivasis here mainly subsist on agriculture and collection of
forest produce.
(Photo: Samata)

Proposed mining projects in the The people of Kasipur have, right from the beginning, opposed
region the alumina project tooth and nail, and refused to give their
lands to the company. Since 1993 the local community resisted
The Baphlimali and the Niyamgiri hills of Kasipur account all activities initiated by the company like construction of roads,
for 67.7 per cent of bauxite reserves in India. This region of bridges, resettlement colonies and put up strong resistance
Orissa, mostly from the western part, contributes around 13 whenever company staff or government officials tried to
per cent of the world’s bauxite reserves. The content of alumina engage them either through frivolous community development
in the bauxite ore in this region is around 45–48 per cent. It is projects like the Utkal Rural Development Society (URDS)
proposed that UAIL will extract bauxite ore from Baphlimali. or through false promises of future employment or economic
Similarly Larsen and Tubro will have its mines at Sijumali, gains. Unable to break through this resistance, the state along
Sterlite India Limited will have mines at Niyamgiri and Aditya with UAIL, filed false criminal cases on the leaders of PSSP
Birla’s Hindustan Aluminium Company (HINDALCO) will several times, took them into illegal custody and tried to
have another independent unit by mining at Kodingamali terrorise people into submission.
hills. All these units together are meant to affect about 2,700
families of nearly 200 villages.

272. Orissa Human Development Report, 2005

148

State Excesses and Human Rights with a local teacher. The rehabilitation and resettlement plan
according to UAIL’s promises consists of a house, a tank for
Violations bathing, community centre, a pond for bathing and washing,
school, playground for the children with other essential
facilities to the displaced people. It was also stated that
rehabilitation and resettlement would be based on land for
land compensation. Further, each displaced family was to be
given 10 cents of land with a house of 300 sq feet.273

However, no such rehabilitation took place so far, although

the families have been displaced. The villagers complain that
the compensation given to the displaced is worse than what
was provided in Damanjodi by NALCO. As expressed by the
affected families, 80–90 per cent of those who lost land are
yet to receive compensation. In the initial stage, UAIL gave
Rs.21,300 per acre and in the second phase it decided to give
Struggle of people from Kasipur Rs. 1 lakh per acre as compensation. Further, the company
(Photo Samata )
declared to increase the compensation prices to 1 lakh more
per acre. However, this was not implemented as promised.
More than 60 false criminal cases have been filed on the local Promises of jobs were made by the company, but only irregular
leaders of the movement so far. People, however, organised daily wage labour is currently available and the people see no
rallies, public meetings and strikes to prevent the project from scope of employment in the future either as they have come to
being implemented. On 16 December 2000, police entered know that the mining will be highly mechanised.
the area and opened fire indiscriminately at the people and
three adivasis were killed with many seriously injured. Since The affected area is the source of around 130 streams
then, the situation in Kasipur is tense, with clashes between which feed the three major rivers that flow from here-—he
adivasis who are opposing the project and those outside, who Nagavali, Indravati and Vamsadhara. Most of the land lost
are instigated by corporate agents. The interference of police for the project is wetland with atleast two crops of paddy and
and sporadic clashes that occur every time increase pressure multiple cereals and pulses grown in these lands.274
and harassment on people, and have threatened the security
and peace in the area. It was with great difficulty that the case
study was conducted as the study team, faced antagonism, Situation of Children in the
suspicion and intimidation from the community who have had Displacement Camp and Villages
to deal with constant political and corporate manipulations.
Table 2.24 gives some demographic details of the project area Affected
in Kasipur.
The community leaders, PSSP leaders and anganwadi
According to the official statistics, the project will displace 148 workers of the area were interviewed to get a picture of the
households of three villages namely Dom Koral, Kendukhunti status of education of the children in this area. It was told
and Ramibeda. Table 2.25 gives some information on by the above that almost 50 per cent of the children are out
dispalcemet in Kasipur villages visited. In 2007, two villages, of school and involved in either agriculture or mining related
Ramibeda and Kendukhunti were relocated to the DP camp labour. The information from discussions with the above
at Nuapada. A total of 147 families shifted to this colony from groups is distinctly varying from the information available
the two villages, while the resettlement colony for Dom Koral under the government DISE report cards, with regard to
is still under construction. At the new DP camp, the company school enrolment and drop-out rates. We present below both
provided housing, electricity, drinking water and a school the sources of information, but unless an indepth household

273. Das. V 2001 Mining Bauxite, Maiming People, Economic and political weekly July 2001, pp- 2612-2613, interview carried out in Maikanch on 24th June
2009
274. Statement of Bhagvan Majhi, Convenor, PSSP
 149

Table 2.24: Some demographic details of the project area, Kasipur

Sl Total no. Total Sex-wise Village- Drinking Medical Occupations
no. of house- population population wise caste water care
holds break-up source
Male Female

1 300 Approximately 1,100 900 50/SC (Dombo); River, 5 1 PHC Agriculture,

2,000 6/OBC working wage labour,
(blacksmith); borewells teacher, police
244/STs force

2 340 2,600 1,250 1,350 280/ST; 20/SC; River, stream, No Agriculture,

40/ OBC (sundi); borewell wage labour,
1/Brahmin exchange of
skills (barter
system)

3 30 130 60 70 / ST River, tube No Agriculture

well

4 45 220 120 100 > 30/ST; River, No Agriculture

remaining/SC borewell

5 400 2,500 1,300 1,200 70/ST (approx); River, 5 No Agriculture,

330/SC borewells wage labour,
barter of labour
govt. jobs

6 170 1,200 700 500 15–20/SC; River, stream, No Agriculture

remaining/ST borewell

7 150 850 450 400 70/SC; >80/ST River, stream No Agriculture,

borewell barter of labour

8 147 1,200 700 500 107/ST River, 1 sub- Earlier

(DP Camp bore well PHC agriculture,
inhabitants); now wage
30–40/SC labour in
company

Village name: (1)Kucheipadar, (2) Maikanch, (3) Ramibeda, (4) Kendukhunti, (5) Koral both D. Koral and Tala Koral, (6)
Bagrijhola, (7) Dwimundi, (8) DP Camp
Source: Primary data collected (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)

survey is conducted, it would be difficult to get an accurate activities, after the mining related construction work started
picture of the actual number of children out of school and since 2005. Table 2.26 gives information on enrolment data
working as child labour. However, the other sources of for study villages in Kasipur block.
secondary data provided in the state overview of Orissa show
that there is a substantial rate of school drop-out children in The families displaced are mainly working as daily wage labour
this area of Koraput and Rayagada. First person interviews in the company activities like road construction, construction
with families who were resettled revealed that many children of bridges, walls and other odd forms of casual labour which
have now shifted to construction and other daily wage labour is not a regular income or livelihood.
150

Table 2.25: Information collected on displacement, Kasipur

Sl Total land acquired Total no of Total amount of rehabilitation and
no for the project displaced families compensation received

1 Approximately 150 acres of paddy land No First payment in 1992: Rs.21,300 per acre
and 100 acres of dry land, 1 river diverted but none received any compensation in
II and III phase.

2 No land but one river is coming under the No No

UAIL mining activities

3 More than 150 acres of land 30 Last payment in 2003 was Rs. 1 lakh per acre

4 Above 100 acres of land Around 30 Last payment in 2003 was Rs. 1 lakh per acre

5 Around 850 acres of land 92 Last payment in 2003 was Rs. 1 lakh per acre
but not all families received compensation

6 Nearly 65 acres NA Last payment in 2003 was Rs. 1 lakh per acre

7 67 acres of land Most are displaced Most are rehabilitated in the DP camp;
and kept in the Last payment in 2003 was Rs. 1 lakh per acre
DP camp

8 Around 25 per cent of the total land 147 All rehabilitated through the company by
required for the project. All the residents providing house and temporary worker
of the camp are from the three villages of designation
Ramibeda, Koral and Kendukhunti who lost
land and also houses

Village name: (1) Kucheipadar, (2) Maikanch, (3) Ramibeda, (4) Kendukhunti, (5) Koral both D. Koral and Tala Koral, (6)
Bagrijhola, (7) Dwimundi, (8) DP Camp
Source: Local leaders and affected families; (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)

Table 2.26: Village level school enrolment data from primary data
District Block Village Total SC ST OBC Others Primary data

Rayagada Kasipur Kucheipadar 280 88 164 28 38 100

Maikanch 235 47 190 58 3 150

Ramibeda 25

Kendukhunti 45

Koral both D. Koral 248 119 104 72 1 350

and Tala Koral

Bagrijhola 130

DP camp 160

Dimundi 217 82 116 29 2 Data not

available

Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim

Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card
Source: DISE report card, September 2008 and primary data collected (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)
 151

Table 2.27: Some figures regarding status of children, Kasipur

Sl Total Sex-wise Educational Literacy rate No of children No. of No. of children
population below 18 institutions (percentage) attending school drop- working in
below 18 population out mining/
children other sectors

Male Female Male Female Male Female

1 900 500 400 2 (1 government 5 60 40 Around 250 100

and 1 private) (approximately) 350

2 1,000– 600 500 2 (1 primary and 5 80 70 Around 20 10 in

1,200 1 high school) (approximately) 300 children non-
in non- mining
mining activities
activities

3 50 30 20 No primary < 5 15 10 Around Around 10–15

school 30 30 in domestic
mining, maids
hotels,
helpers
for
truckers,
truck
drivers

4 80 50 30 1 primary school < 5 25 20 Around Around Data not

30–40 20 available

5 1,100 600 500 1 primary school, 30 (appr) 200 150 200–300 Minimum 100–150
1 middle school 200 to in mining
300 and other
labour

6 500 300 200 1 primary school < 5 Within Around Around Around Some
100 30 50–70 100 children
working
as wage
labour.

7 440 240 200 1 primary school Data not Data Data not Around More Around 15
available not available 50 than 50
avai- children
lable

8 550 300 250 1 primary < 10 Nearly > 60 Around Around 20–30
school 100 100 70 to 80

Village name: (1) Kucheipadar, (2) Maikanch, (3) Ramibeda, (4) Kendukhunti, (5) Koral both D. Koral and Tala Koral,
(6) Bagrijhola, (7) Dimundi, (8) DP Camp
Source: Interviews with local people (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)
152

The DP Camp is far away from the village and hence the Child Labour
children do not have access to the primary school in the
village and therefore, some of the younger children attend the
company school within the resettlement colony. However, this
is temporary in nature and there is no certainty that it would
continue. Many of the children above 12 years do not attend
school and either remain at home or take part in the labour
activities of mining or construction work. Most of the youth
are working as manual labourers in mining and construction
activities, or in tea stalls, hotels and other petty shops in the
area. Table 2.27 gives information of status on children in
villages visited in Kasipur.

It was observed that hardly 50–100 children of each village

regularly attend school. For example, in the villages of Child labour in Kasipur Area
Ramibeda, Kendukhunti, the school is in Dimundi village. (Photo June 2009)
Even if a school officially exists, there is no infrastructure The anganwadi worker in Tikri stated that the number of child
and there are no teachers who attend regularly. On the other labour is rapidly increasing in the area. At present, around 30
hand, the people stated that there is increase in child drop per cent of the children in the age group of 10–15 years are
out rate in almost every village every year. Villagers stated that directly or indirectly involved in the mining activities. In the
at least 10 per cent of children in each village drop out every nearest town of the mining project, it can be estimated that at
year for different reasons but mainly due to the poor financial least 500 children are working in the hotels, shops, garages,
situation of the family. Most of the children in the area were railway station and tea stalls.275 From each of the villages
found to be working in different construction sites, mining, affected by the UAIL project, there are an average of 50–60
small hotels and in the markets where they earn a daily wage children and adolescents under 18 years of age, working in
to supplement their family’s subsistence. the construction site of mining under local contractors. At
present (just before closure of the mining activities) there
According to the interview with the ANM of Tikiri who is in were 400–500 children and youth of both sexes working in
charge of 11 villages and supervises four anganwadi workers, the mine site as daily labour.
the total population of her area is 4,479 and around 700–800
children are in the age group of 0–5 years. Although she does In Kucheipadar village, there is only one primary school and
not maintain a detailed register, according to her estimates, one Panchayat school. Roughly, it was estimated that around
only 20–30 per cent are literate. The basic health problems 300–400276 children are working as child labour in mining
of the children in the area are malnutrition, malaria and and non-mining related activities. As per the statements of
diarrhoea. She has noticed an increase in the number of TB the villagers, these groups of children, especially adolescent
cases in the villages. A random count by her in Koral village boys, are involved in anti-social activities like alcoholism,
showed that there are about 10 absolute malnutrition cases stealing, gambling, petty theft and consumerism due to the
among the children but she commented that there were many new influences.
more anaemic and malnourished children.

This year the institutional deliveries were 70 out of 120 Basic Amenities and Health
deliveries and the IMR is 51 per 1,000 live births, which is Status of Children
highest in the district. In the previous year there were at least
4–5 identified cases of HIV/AIDS in the area. In Kasipur it was found that the area is desperately lacking
in basic amenities like anganwadi centres, primary schools,
drinking water, electricity and medical facilities. Southern

275. Interview with the ANM of Tikiri

276. Meeting with Bhagaban Majhi
 153

Orissa including Kasipur is well known for malnutrition and is true that the existing development situation is no better in
starvation deaths. The people in Kasipur villages reported that terms of education and health indicators of children, mining
every year 25–30 children below the age of 6 years die due to is unlikely to improve this situation. Rather, it may only lead
malnutrition and related illnesses. Waterborne diseases like to more alarming indicators as is seen in the NALCO affected
malaria, diarrhoea and communicable diseases like TB are communities and even in Kasipur itself where immediate
highly prevalent in the area. Immunisation of children is badly impacts have been an increase in child labour.
implemented making them vulnerable to some of the fatal
childhood illnesses. Due to neglect from state administration Unless rehabilitation clearly spells out commitments from the
the region continues to suffer from health problems and infant state and the mining companies with respect to children and
mortality. improving their access to quality education, health care and
social security, the amorphous promises may end in the mine
On the one hand as existing administrative neglect poses tailings dumps. Unless these specific development programmes
serious threats to the health and development of the children, and investments are set as a pre-condition to sanctioning
on the other hand the displacement due to mining, shift of mining leases and a strong regulatory mechanism that
from agriculture to manual labour and lack of food, has led regularly monitors the implementation with respect to child
to child labour and increased child malnourishment. The related interventions, monitors the health and nutrition levels
constant state of terror and violence that has been perpetrated of children there will be no serious and concrete responsibility
in the area due to mining, gives reason for community level displayed.
government staff like teachers and health service providers,
to further neglect their duties and not visit the villages. This Moreover, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
forespeaks serious trouble ahead for the children of this Indigenous Communities emphasises the right to Free Prior
area. The complexities in the political disturbance have been and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local adivasi communities,
aggravated, with religious fundamental groups, both Hindu which is ratified by India but not respected when it comes
and Christian taking advantage of the vulnerable situation. to Greenfield projects in adivasi areas. Neither in Kasipur
The multiple pressures from the police, corporate, Maoist, nor in neighbouring Lanjigarh has the Orissa government
communal, non-adivasi and other interests on the adivasi implemented the FPIC principles, especially in the context
population have created a prolonged situation of terror with of children and the communities’ demands for protection
innumerable false police cases hanging on the heads of the of their children’s rights. At one stroke, these projects have
local agitators, thereby creating not only a messy political wiped out the constitutional Fifth Schedule rights as well as
situation, but also severe insecurity and uncertainty of life for that of the verdict given in the Samatha Judgement, to the
the women and children living in this area. adivasi children of Kasipur, whose ownership to lands as
future land-holders is being destroyed by transferring their
Many of the women, whose husbands face false cases, are lands to private mining companies.
helplessly living in starvation, have had to withdraw their
children from school and are faced with the burden of Therefore, it nullifies the purpose of the Fifth Schedule for the
supporting their families while their husbands are either in future generations of the adivasi people. This is particularly
and out of jail or spend most of their time and money on so in Orissa, where almost every inch of adivasi land is
attending court hearings. being proposed for some project or the other and where a
large portion has already been shelved off to industries. It is
difficult to envisage mining as a sustainable development for
Conclusions children or for the community as long as legal and voluntary
commitments remain on paper alone. This is the greatest
injustice that mining in India has brought to the adivasi
It is not clear what benefits the proposed mining project will
children.
bring to the adivasi children in an area which has already high
rates of malnourishment, infant mortality and low school
(Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership
attendance. Rehabilitation, mostly restricted to monetary
with Ankuran, Rayagada and the assistance of Mr. Badal
compensation with little promise of employment, as bauxite
mining is technology intensive, holds hardly any hope for the Kumar Tah, Mrs. Bidulata Huika in the field visits to Kasipur
local community in terms of economic sustenance. While it and surrounding villages. We specifically thank Mr. Navin
154

Naik and Mr. Prahlad Naid who accompanied us to the Keonjhar forms a part of northern central plateau with an area
villages for all the data collection and interviews. We thank of 8,240 sq km. The district is bounded by Singhbhum district
the time given to us by Mr. Bhagvan Majhi, PSSP, and for of Jharkhand in the north, Jajpur in the south, Dhenkanal and
sharing his perspectives of the campaign against UAIL.) Sundergarh in the west, and Mayurbhanj and Bhadrak in the
east. It lies between 21°1’N and 22°10’N latitude and 85°11’
E to 86°22’ E longitude.
Mining in Keonjhar
Orissa contributes around one-third of the total iron ore
“My name is Mohit (name changed). My age is deposit of the country and around one-fourth of the total coal
around 16–17 years, I am not sure. I am from the deposits.277 Keonjhar contributes nearly 75 per cent of rich iron
village of Salarapentha. After my family lost our ore deposits present in the state. By the turn of the twentieth
land for the mining company, my father became century mineral deposits were discovered by geologists, and
sick with TB after working for some time in the Joda formed the nucleus of mining and industrial activity
mining company, and he died. The company in Keonjhar in 1905. The early 1990s threw open the gates
initially promised all the affected that jobs will be for exponential expansion with large-scale investments from
provided to all families, but so far no villager got the private sector and foreign investors. There are nearly 118
a job. I am the highest qualified person from my mining leases, large and medium in Keonjhar.
village as I failed in matriculation. I work in the
mines as a daily wage worker and earn Rs. 60 per Keonjhar district had been witnessing large-scale mining
day. Sometimes I earn Rs.1,800 per month when activity during the past three decades. Rampant mining of
there is full time work, but most often, work is iron ore has been taking place in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and
irregular. We do not have access to drinking water, Sundergarh areas, both legal and illegal. According to reports,
medical facilities or housing from the company. I more than 100 open cast iron ore mines covering over 60,000
am married and I have a lot of tension to make ha of land are in operation and a large area is under illegal
my family survive. So I take mahua sometimes to operation within Keonjhar forest division.278
beat the stress. My mother is also a victim of TB
and it is very difficult to handle the expenditure
on medical costs and also buy food. I was very Profile of Mining Companies
interested in going to college but I have to support
my family.” It is very difficult to provide details of companies operating or
the area under operation as illegal mining is as much or more
Source: Interview carried out in Salarapentha, Keonjhor, February
than legal mining. Even large companies operate through
2010
contractors, so it is difficult even for local communities to
understand the ownership of the mines. The local leaders
commented that there were 100–200 illegal mines and around
400 illegal crushers. Table 2.28 gives details of some existing
mining companies in the region.

Keonjhar has the distinction of containing one of the oldest

rocks of the world, approximately 38,000 million years old,
covering an area of 100 sq km at Asanpat. At least 30 per
cent of the total area is covered with dense forest having vast
mineral resources. Almost 60 per cent of the area is covered
by reserved forest and the rest is under the control of the
Revenue Department. The total area under mining activities
Rich agricultural land proposed for mining, Keonjhar in the district is 312 sq km.
(Photo June 2009)

277. http://www.boloji.com/analysis2/0173.htm.
278. http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136864
 155

Table 2.28: Details of some of the existing mining companies in the region
Sl no Company/lease holder Items of production Location

1 M/S SAIL Iron ore Bolani

2 M/S Essel Mining & ind. Iron ore, dolomite, limestone Kasia

3 M/S BPMEL Iron ore Thakurani

4 Dr. Patnaik Iron ore and manganese ore Thakurani

5 SR Steel Iron ore and manganese ore Dobuna

6 Kalinga Sponge and Steel company Dobuna

7 Ferro Manganese Manganese ferro alloy Joda

8 SR Steel Iron ore Bodokalimati

Source: Field visit July 2009; data of the above are mainly based on the opinion of the villagers and Lutheran World Service india (LWSI)

Demographic Profile of the Villages communities in the district. Out of these 16 prominent tribes
of the district constitute 96.12 per cent of the total adivasi
in the Area population in the district. Table 2.29 gives village-wise data
of sites visited in Keonjhar.279
As it is one of the adivasi dominated districts of the state,
Keonjhor is home to Juangs and other adivasi communities The areas, which the researcher visited during the field trip,
especially the Bhatudi, Gond, Mundas, and Santals. According had majority ST and some SC families. Some of the data given
to the 2001 Census the total population of the district is below are based on the views of the villagers and it reflects the
1,561,990 out of which the the ST population constitutes socio-economic and political situation of the villages, the price
44.5 per cent and the SC population is 11.62 per cent. of displacement and the mining in these areas especially with
Importantly, 75 per cent of the total population lives in the respect to ecological imbalance, the issues concerning women
rural areas. Census 2001 shows that there are at least 46 adivasi and child labour in the mining areas.

Table 2.29: Village-wise data, Keonjhar

Sl Name of the Total house- Total Sex-wise Total population Sex-wise
no. village holds Population under 18 years

Male Female Male Female

1 Bolani 350 1,500 800 700 900 500 400

2 Kasia 350 2,000 950 1,050 1,100 550 600

3 Tanto 135 700 370 330 300 160 140

4 Thakurani 100 500 250 250 200 100 100

5 Dobuna 350 1,700 900 800 700 400 300

6 Bodokalimati 190–200 1,000–1,300 650 600 500 250 250

7 Joda 120 600–700 350 300 300 200 100

Source: Field visit July 2009; above data is in approximate figures and is mainly based on the opinion of villagers

279. Impact of Mining and Allied activities in Keonjhor and Mayurbhanj, LWSI, 2006.
156

Social Cost of Displacement On one side, the socio-economic condition of the villagers
is below the poverty line, but on the other side, government
As seen in Salarapentha and Madrangajodi villages, those who programmes like widow pensions, BPL cards or NREGA
lost land only received cash compensation ranging between do not reach the community. Only 15–20 women are able
Rs.2 and 10 lakhs, depending on the type of land lost. In most to get the widow pension and a few families have BPL
of the places the villagers complained that they received only ration cards.
between Rs.60,000 and Rs.70,000 as compensation. However,
this compensation did not enable them to purchase new Another major problem of the village is alcohol. As mining
land and they have ended up as manual labour in the mines. companies are hand in glove with the police and excise
Almost all of them are below the poverty line but many do personnel, they have many liquor shops in the area, thus
not hold BPL cards or NREGA cards due to the negligence making the community and workers vulnerable to alcohol.
of the revenue officials in issuing cards to them. Here it was found that not only men, women and young girls
are also addicted, due to the heavy work load in the mines.
Tikarapada village, having a population of 1,200, is one of
the worst affected villages due to the mining activities in the Impact of Mining on Primary
area. Most of the villagers, who are STs, used to depend on
agriculture and forestry as their main occupation. Almost Education of Children in the Region:
all the families in this village lost their agricultural land for Implications on Child Labour
mining, and today they are forced to work as daily wage
labour for the mining contractors. Their economic condition Following tables give population and other details of villages
is deplorable because of which their children have dropped covered under the study, both from Census sources as well
out of school and are also involved in mine labour activities. as from field interviews. The increase in population in the
Displacement has forced many youth of the villages to shift primary data could be due to the fact that it is almost 10 years
to mine labour work. The influence of external migrant since the census data was collected. The Census 2001 data, the
population like truck drivers (where about 60,000 trucks school enrolment data from the DISE cards and the school
ply in the area each day), has led to social disturbance among drop out rates from primary data show that a considerable
the adivasi youth who were not vulnerable to addictions like number of children are out of school and working in various
alcohol, gutka and crimes like theft and pick-pocketing, prior forms of child labour. For example, in Bolani village there are
to mining. This has changed the social cohesion of the adivasi 650–700 children under 18 years as per local communities
communities in the young generation. but the school enrolment for this village is only 480, which
implies that at least 100–150 children are out of school.
The village Salarapentha is situated in the heart of five big Khasia has a minor population of 700 but the enrolment data
mine processing factories and crushers. The village has not only gives 143 children. There are only 78 children enrolled
only been badly affected by mining but has also not received in Tanto village whereas, the under 18 population is around
any development facilities or basic amenities. Most of the 250. As in other places, some children are also attending
villagers had sold their land to the mining companies at very schools and working in the informal activities, part time. The
low prices. The villagers expressed that they hardly got Rs. census data shows that majority of the children are from ST
1,500 per decimal of land. At least 80–100 acres of land of communities, with the SC children being the next largest in
the villages are under the mining companies. number. Table 2.30 provides Census 2001 data and Table
2.31 gives primary data collected on population. Table 2.32
Madrangajodi village is situated in the hilly part of the district gives comparative information on primary data collected and
and has vast forest cover and mineral resources. Mining DISE report card 2008.
companies have acquired 20–30 acres of land from here and
converted them into mine labour. However, the workers are
paid only Rs.2,000 per month as salary after losing their lands.
Thus, most of the local people who lost land were promised
employment, but the situation is more or less similar to that
of Madrangajodi village.
 157

Table 2.30: Village data from Census 2001, Keonjhar

Sl Name of Total Total Population Sex-wise Total population based
no. the village households on caste

Male Female

1. Bolani 305 1,562 811 751 SC-137, M-71, F-65, ST, M-591, F-576

2 Kasia 295 1,301 646 655 SC-207, M-124, F-83, ST-848, M-416,
F-432

3 Tanto 115 535 276 259 SC, M-9, F-9 ST, M-238, F-229

4 Thakurani 61 318 162 156 ST-266, M-136, F-130

5 Dobuna 263 1,140 564 576 SC-289, M-121, F-168

ST-499, M-250, F-249

6 Bada Kalamati 163 663 346 317 SC-69, M-39, F-30, ST-435, M-221, F-214

7 Joda 90 433 228 205 SC-2, M-1, F-1, ST-312, M-156, F-156
Source: Census 2001

Table 2.31: Some tentative figures for population, Keonjhar

Sl Name of the Total house- Total Sex-wise Total population Sex-wise
no. village holds Population under 18 years

Male Female Male Female

1 Bolani 350 1,600 800 700 650–700 350 300

2 Kasia 350 1,700 950 1,050 700–750 450 300

3 Tanto 135 700 370 330 250 150 100

4 Thakurani 100 500 250 250 200 100 100

5 Dobuna 350 1,300–1,350 700 650 350 200 150

6 BadaKalamati 190-200 800–850 450 400 350 200 150

7 Joda 120 600–700 350 300 300 200 100

Source: Field visit July 2009; data of the above are mainly based on the opinion of the villagers and may be approximate figures

Mining activities have certainly had a serious negative impact on the education of the children, and the primary and secondary
data available for this region substantiate this situation.
158

Table 2.32: Comparative village-wise school enrolment data and primary data , Joda block, Keonjhar
District Block Village Total enrolment SC ST OBC Others Primary data

Keonjhar Joda Dabuna 366 88 179 99 21 300

Badkalimati 234 51 143 40 2 250

Thakurani 112 0 108 14 30 70

Bolani 480 26 397 0 11 350

Tanto 78 0 78 0 2 100

Khasia 143 22 99 22 2 600*

Joda

Others=Repeaters, CWSN and Muslim

Note: Discrepencies in totals exist but the data is as given in the DISE report card
*There are two hamlets in Khasia. Primary data was taken from both hamlets together, but it is not clear whether the same
was followed for DISE data.
Source: DISE report card 2008; primary data based on the opinion of the villagers and may be approximate figures.

Primary Level Information on Child Table 2.33: Data on child labour and school
drop-out, Keonjhar
Labour and School Drop-out in the Name of Child labour in mining/ School drop-
Region the village other sectors outs
Male Female
In every village, as given in Table 2.33 not less than 50 children
are involved in daily wage labour activities. Although there Bolani 150 100 150–200
are gaps between number of school drop-outs and number of Khasia 100 50 250–300
child labourers, this could be because it also includes children
below 6 years of age and some of the children may be staying Tanto 50–100 50 Data not available
at home, and not working on a regular basis. Table 2.33 gives Thakurani 50 30 100
information on child labour and school drop-outs in villages
visited in Keonjhar. Dobuna 150–100 100 200

BadaKalamati 100 50 250

Joda 150 50 Data not available

Source: Interview with community leaders; primary data based on the opinion of
the villagers are approximate figures.

Therefore, statistics clearly show that after mining activities

have begun in the region, many children have dropped out
of school and have been forced by economic compulsions, to
work in the mines or as agricultural labour. Especially, as the
mines are all around their villages, the access to daily wage
labour, however low, creates a situation of compulsion for the
children to work in the mines.

Tikarapada village has a primary school but there are atleast

Children working at roadside dabha near Khasia mining site, Keonjhar
(Photo July 2009) 40–50 children here who do not attend school. In some
of the villages like Tanto, Bodokalimati, Kasia people said
that although the primary school exists, it does not function
 159

regularly, so the children go for mine labour work. In Thakurani The Rajabandha Primary School has children from Bhuinya
people reported that there was no government school and Sahi, Santal Sahi and Janardhanpur villages were also enrolled
therefore, the children are not going to school. In Salarapentha here as it is the largest primary school in the area. The official
village there are at least 80 children below the age of 18 years document shows that there is no student drop out from the
who are under the curse of child labour as mining companies school but the headmistress of the school told us that according
are located in the periphery of the village. There is not a single to her estimates at least 100 children of the surrounding villages
person from this village who has passed matriculation. were not attending school and that these children have to
support their families in economic activities. The school has a
The school in Salarapentha is an example of the poor quality shortage of teachers and the ratio between student and teachers
of education in this area. There is just a small room called a is quite high. Table 2.35 gives information on enrolment for
school building and the people reported that there is only one Rajabandha primary school for the year 2009-10.
teacher posted here in the school. On the day of our visit only
four children were present. According to the teacher at least
45 children are always irregular to the school as they have to
work in the forest or in the mining activities due to the poor
financial situation of their families. Table 2.34 gives enrolment
figure for Salarpentha village.

Table 2.34: Enrolment for the year 2009-10, Salarpentha village

Class Total strength ST SC Other

Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls

I 19 4 1 0 0 7 7

II 40 0 0 0 0 18 22
Source: Primary School, Salarapentha, Keonjhor

Table 2.35: Enrolment in Rajabandha Primary School, 2009-10

Class Total strength Total ST SC Others

Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl

I 52 34 18 30 15 4 2 0 1

II 48 20 28 17 25 3 3 0 0

III 44 24 20 19 17 3 2 2 1

IV 43 24 19 21 16 3 2 0 1

V 50 26 24 23 17 0 6 3 1

Total 237 128 109 110 90 13 15 5 4

Source: Rajabandha Primary School, Keonjhor
160

Rajabandha also has a low cost hostel for ST students. It is a Table 2.38: Nutritional status of children in
residential facility but there are very few students enrolled here. Janardahnpur anganwadi 2009-10
Table 2.36 gives enrolment in low cost hostel in Rajabandha
Grade Total children
2009-10.
Grade I 31
Table 2.36: Enrolment in the low cost hostel, Grade II 3–5
Rajabandha 2009-10
Grade III 10–12
Class Total strength ST
Grade IV 02
Boy Girl Boy Girl
Source: Anganwadi centre, Janardhanpur
I 5 4 5 4
Table 2.39: Age group of the children in
II 4 3 4 3 Janardhanpur anganwadi 2009-10
III 2 4 2 4 Age group Total no. of children

IV 5 7 5 7 0–6 month 7
6 month–3 years 24
V 4 2 4 2
3–6 year 19
Total 20 20 20 20
Source: Anganwadi centre, Janardhanpur
Source: Rajabandha primary school, Keonjhar
The reasons for this skewed status of children in the area,
whether there is mining or no mining, is because of the feudal
Anganwadis in the Area nature of the economic situation where most of the families are
landless agricultural or mining labour while a small minority
Most of the anganwadis are poorly functioning and some of is in control of the majority land.
them are only mini-anganwadis. In Sarlapentha village, there
are 59 children enrolled in the anganwadi centre, although only
a small number attend regularly. Some of the infants are taken Impacts of Mining on the
to the mine sites by their mothers as the anganwadi centre is
closed for most part of the day. The anganwadi helper stated
Environment and Implications on
that atleast 30 children here are malnourished. A sample of Health of the Community and
the status of children’s enrolment and nutrition can be seen in Children
Janardhanpura anganwadi centre in Table 2.37 and Table 2.38.
Table 2.39 gives the age group and total number of children in It was very evident that there was serious air and water
the Janardhanpur anganwadi. pollution in the entire belt of Joda and Barbil. Environmental
degradation is perceptible through the reduced forest cover as
Table 2.37: Enrollment in the anganwadi centre forests have been cut down, both legally and illegally, for the
2009-10, Janardhanpur purpose of mining. In a day, atleast 60,000 trucks run through
Category of Total children Boy Girl
the children

ST 48 25 23

SC 2 0 2

General 0 0 0
Source: Anganwadi centre, Janardhanpur

Iron ore being loaded in Badakalamati area, Keonjhar

(Photo July 2009)
 161

the Joda and Barbil region with loaded ore, to different parts have died due to TB and the villagers reported that 12–15
of the state, leading to severe dust pollution, apart from others are undergoing treatment for TB.
social problems. The main rivers of this region, Baitarani and
Brahmani, are highly polluted and have reduced flow. There
is no safe drinking water for the villages in this region as the Opening Up Greenfield Areas to
water sources and canals are contaminated by the pollution Mining in Keonjhar
from the companies. Almost all the villages visited complained
of water pollution and the indiscriminate dumping of mine The state government has not taken any action on the serious
waste into the water bodies. The companies sometimes supply legal and human rights violations that have been constantly
water when the communities protest, but this is very rare. brought to the focus by media and NGOs. Yet, in a region
saturated by mining, more projects are in the pipeline. Without
The most common diseases in the Joda area are waterborne proper assessment of the impacts on the area and especially on
diseases. In most of the areas visited it was reported that the women and children and the adivasi population here, the
incidence of malaria is very high. The local communities government has proposed to exploit fresh villages for mining.
reported that occupational hazards like TB and skin diseases Some of the proposed areas are remote adivasi villages, which
are very common among the people working in the mines, have very fertile lands where people have reported that three
particularly near Joda. The area lacks health care facilities crops are harvested annually. These are villages where the local
both for workers and the communities. Many of the workers governance machinery is barely functional and the social and
reported that cases of cough, cold and respiratory problems economic security of these communities is dependent on their
are high in the region. Most of the villages complained that own traditional livelihood and resources.
they had no access to medical facilities.
Keonjhar is a traditional feudal agricultural belt where majority
Khasia village has no health services and has severe health of the people depend on agricultural labour and cultivation
problems like TB, malaria, malnourishment and several of food crops. The imminent threat to the children from the
waterborne diseases. They have to go to the nearest town proposed mining is the danger to their food security and the
Barbil, for any medical help. In Bolani and Badakalimati shift from these proposed villages to mine labour work as is seen
villages, people also reported several cases of HIV/AIDS and in the other mining impacted villages in the district. Almost
STD. In Dobuna village people complained of skin diseases all the land proposed to be acquired is either rich agricultural
and heart problems apart from the above mentioned diseases. land with paddy cultivation or forest land rich in non-timber
Tanto is one of the most polluted mining villages where people forest produce. In eight of the nine wards in Janardhanpur, the
are suffering from all the above mentioned illnesses. Recently villagers are agitating against Sterlite, of the Vedanta group,
12 people from the village of Madrangajodi were reported to which plans to acquire their lands. Table 2.40 gives information

Table 2.40: Land to be acquired for M/s Sterlite Iron and Steel Limited
Name of village Total families Land to be acquired/ percentage No. of families proposed to be displaced

Tikarapada 370 600 acres/33 84

Mahadeijoda 383 270 acres/13 Data not available

Siliguan 393 73 acres/25 16

Singhraisuan 15+ lower santal 124 acres/99 Data not available

Kadagarh 282 440 acres/40 16

Gopinathpur 245 124 acres/31 16

Janardhanpur 271 248 acres/35 Data not available

Dhatika 65 220 acres/91 29

Narasinghpur 83 55 acres/24 Data not available

Source: Village head, Rajabandha (figures are approximate based on people’s statements)
162

on land to be acquired in some of the villages by M/s Sterlite planning projections of each mine site. As clearances can be
Iron and Steel Limited, part of the United Kingdom based obtained in India without serious scrutiny of mine plans or
Vedanta group. social or disaster management plans, given the dysfunctional
nature of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, mining
This is but one company that will acquire lands for iron ore companies are greedy for more and more land. Whether they
mining. There are several others acquiring land legally and will mine in their lease areas or simply gain control over land
illegally for mining activities. is a question that is yet to be answered. The overzealous
approach to handing out land for mining projects has to be
seriously questioned, when it has led to considerable levels
Conclusions of malnutrition and school drop-out among the children in
Keonjhar who are now forced to work as mine labour. This
Mining in Keonjhar has completely destroyed the agriculture is no indicator of a progressive economy when the status of
and forestry of the adivasi people. Keonjhar has been reported children degenerates from their earlier living conditions.
widely for mining impacts on the local community as well as
children, especially on the impact of thousands of trucks that (Acknowledgements: The case study, in Keonjhar, was done
dominate the life and disturb the social fabric of the district. with the help of LWSI and particularly Mr. Subash Das.
Yet, new mining projects are being planned with large areas We have taken the help of Mr. Niladri Mishra, Mr. Santosh
proposed to be acquired. In most cases, there is no technical Kumar Das, Mr. Dayanidhi Marandi and Mr. Shiv Shankar
validity of acquiring such vast areas of land either for extraction Marandi to organise field visits to the villages in Keonjhar and
or for processing. Neither are the companies having clear and we wish to acknowledge their assistance for this study).
technically sound designs for the proposed projects, with mine
 163

Abuse of Children in the Media by Mining Companies:

Enter Bhubaneswar and one is swarmed by the billboards of mining companies-blinding one with their aggressive
media campaign on how happy they are making the people, particularly the children of this state. Education, sports,
good health, happy families, sound livelihoods, joyous celebrations-the messages are bold but largely deceptive. Using
children in advertisements, especially where the affected children are, in reality, malnourished, out of school, home-
less, starving, and working in the mines or elsewhere due to poverty induced by mining– is a serious indirect abuse of
children’s rights. Such public image building through misuse of children should be strongly condemned.
 165

Andhra Pradesh

State Overview working. Andhra Pradesh was the second highest among
the Indian states in agricultural services, with 62.3 per
cent of state population engaged in agricultural work284.
The total population of Andhra Pradesh in 2001 was
Andhra Pradesh provides maximum employment in rural
76,210,007 of which almost 70 per cent live in rural area.
sector (13.14 per cent of total number of employed)285
Of the total population 5,024,104 constitute STs and
IT is the fastest growing component in the service sector.
12,339,496 are from the SC community.280 In terms of
At present, Andhra Pradesh is ranked fourth in software
economic growth in comparison to all India and the other
exports after Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
states, it is seen that the GSDP growth rate for Andhra
The state capital Hyderabad is the major destination for
Pradesh also rose beyond the earlier low rates during the
IT companies286. Andhra Pradesh has substantial number
last two and half decades. The growth rate of Andhra
of migrant population. According to census 2001, about
Pradesh was lower than the all-India rate but has been
2.3 crore people, in the state, are migrants.
catching up with time. The average growth rate was 8.7 per
cent during 2004-08. Presently, for the year 2007-08, the
Andhra Pradesh remains one of the three least literate
annual average growth in Andhra Pradesh is higher than
states of India. Total literacy rate of Andhra Pradesh is
the all-India average.281
60.47 per cent. By gender, 70.32 per cent of men and 50.43
per cent of women are literate. Literacy rate among rural
Andhra Pradesh was among the very few states in the
women is very low, only 43.5 per cent of rural women are
country, which experienced the Green Revolution,
literate. Women’s literacy among SC and STs is especially
especially in respect of rice, in the 1970s. Agriculture plays
low at 43.4 per cent and 34.8 per cent respectively. Sex
an important role in the economy of the state. The share of
ratio of Andhra Pradesh is 978 females to 1,000 males.
agriculture is higher in employment and GSDP is higher
when compared to all other states.282 The contribution of
Vital rates, including infant and perinatal mortality rates
the non-agricultural sector to the total GSDP has been
remain high across the state when compared to other
increasing continuously over a period in the state as well as
southern states, particularly in rural areas. Malnutrition,
all-India. It has increased from 50 per cent in the 1960s to
anaemia and the growing number of HIV infections
79 per cent in 2005-06.283
continue to represent major public health challenges in
the state. Malaria is considered as a major challenge. It is
According to recent NSSO (2004-05), it is estimated that
estimated that around 160,000 people are also suffering
around half the population of Andhra Pradesh is reportedly

280 Census of India

281 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007
282 Ibid
283 Ibid
284 Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2002-03, Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Planning Department, Govt. of Maharashtra
285 The Financial Express, URL http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/316250/
286 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007
166

from TB in the state and the state accounts for 10 per cent Census report also shows that 11,660 children aged between
of the TB related deaths in the country.287 5 and 14 years and 37,586 children between 5 and 19 years are
working only in the mining and quarrying sector and 7,760
According to the estimates given by National AIDS children are working in hazardous occupation293. In Andhra
Control Organisation (NACO), of the total number of Pradesh the total number of children covered under NCLP
103,857 AIDS cases reported in the country till 31 July is 50,921.294
2005, as many as 11,280 cases, accounting for nearly 11
per cent, are from Andhra Pradesh and so far, the state has IMR of the state in 2005-06 was estimated at 54 per 1,000
recorded 739 AIDS related deaths.288 live births and the under five mortality is 63 per 1,000 live
births. Infant mortality in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh is
Nearly 39.91 per cent families in the state were below the almost double that in urban area. In the first year of life, girls
poverty line, which is better than the all India average of in Andhra Pradesh face a lower risk of mortality than boys;
41.23 per cent289. On the other hand alternative estimates but between the age of one and five, girls have a slightly higher
made by independent researchers show that the poverty mortality rate.295
rate in the state is closer to the all India pattern i.e. 26 per
cent in rural areas and 12 per cent in urban areas290. The Malnutrition is a huge problem in the state as almost half of
Sachar Committee Report 2006 provides different levels the children show signs of prolonged malnourishment; 43 per
of poverty for different groups. In their estimates SCs/STs cent of children under the age of 5 years are stunted. Children
together are the most poor. in rural areas are more likely to be undernourished and in the
case of girls the likelihood of undernourishment is relatively
higher than that of boys.296 High rate of malnutrition has
Status of Children also been seen among the children of migrant labours. Most
of the children of the migrant labours are underweight and
According to Census 2001 there were 17,713,764 children have spots on their faces.297 In Andhra Pradesh prevalence of
aged 14 years and under and 25,293,728 in the age group of anaemia among the age group of 6–15 months is very high
5-19 years, in Andhra Pradesh. Official statistics give the gross (more than 70 per cent).298
drop-out rate of the state as 43.03 per cent—42.62 per cent
for boys and 43.46 per cent for girls. The government statistics Andhra Pradesh has a very high rate of child trafficking and
of Andhra Pradesh reveal that close to a million children in accounts for 40 per cent of the total cases. 26 per cent of
the age group 6–14 years are out of school291. According to women or girls enter into prostitution between the ages of
the estimation of Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey, 3.4 per cent 14–16 years, 20 per cent between the age of 16–18 years and
children of the same age group are out of school and around 16 per cent before the age of 14.299
12.1 per cent children between 3 and 4 years of age are not
enrolled in any anganwadi centre or pre-school.292

According to the Census 2001, there were 1,363,339 children

aged between 5 and 14 and 4,504,471 children aged between

287 http://www.whoindia.org/en/section3/section123.htm
288 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007
289 Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question no. 2688, dated 8.8.2001
290 Deaton (2000, 2001) estimates unit prices for different states for the years 1987-88, 1993-94 and 1999-00 using the NSS data.
291 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007
292 Pratham’s ASER 2008 survey
293 Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question no. 2691, dated 9.8.2000
294 Annual report 2001-02, Ministry of Labour, Govt of India
295 NFHS-3
296 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007
297 The Hindu, Andhra Pradesh, Monday 16 November 2009
298 NFHS-3
299 Human Development Report Andhra Pradesh 2007

5 and 19 years working as child labour in Andhra Pradesh.

 167

Mining in Andhra Pradesh the state. Between 2006 and June 2009 alone the Ministry
of Mines has recorded 411 instances of illegal mining. Illegal
mining is not limited to the iron ore industry in the Anantapur
Almost all the important minerals are produced in Andhra
district but appears to be a common practice in several other
Pradesh. These include coal, limestone, barytes, dolomite,
districts of the state302.
felspar, iron ore, manganese ore, silica sand, ball clay, laterite
and mica (crude).300
There is no exact estimate on the entire area under mining or
for the total amount of forest land diverted for mining in the
state, but it is estimated that 206,250 ha are currently under
mining and that between 1980 and 2008, 18,178.55 ha of
forest land was diverted for mining303.

In 2004-05 alone Andhra Pradesh produced about Rs. 6,200

crore worth of minerals, accounting for about 8 per cent
of the total value of minerals produced in the country. The
value of minerals has increased significantly over the last two
decades and the value of mineral production across the state
at Rs.9,841 crores in 2007-08 was higher by about 14 per cent
compared to the previous year304.
Youth help in loading activities at the quarry sites
Despite huge profits generated by the mining industry, the
contribution of mining to the state’s revenue remains little as
Andhra Pradesh is heavily mined as it claims the third
the state collected about 864 crore as royalty from minerals in
position among the states in the country with a contribution
2004-05 which accounted for only 3 per cent of total revenue
of 9.1 per cent to the total value of the mineral production.
receipts in the state. Half a million people are estimated to be
The number of recorded mines appears to be fluctuating over
employed in the mining sector, a number that is likely to be
the years—415 mines in 2006-07, 372 in 2007-08 and 406
much higher if we consider workers employed in the numerous
in 2008-09301. However, the actual number of mines is likely
illegal mining sites305.
to be significantly higher as illegal mining is endemic across

Visakhapatnam district: Key facts

Total population: 3,832,336 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 850, 611 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 60 per cent
Male 69.68 per cent
Female 50.12 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 3.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 98.3 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 51,536 (Census of India 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 153 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

300 Ministry of Mines: Annual Report 2008-09

301 Ibid
302 http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Andhra+tops+list+in+illegal+mining&artid=YUcRSNuCQA0=&SectionID=e7uPP4%7CpSiw=&MainSectio
nID=e7uPP4%7CpSiw=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=illegal%20mining,%20andhra,%20OMC,%20janardhan%20reddy,
303 Centre for Science and Environment, “Rich Land Poor People: Is Sustainable Mining Possible?” and Forest Land Diverted for Mining by Ministry of Environment
and Forests (MOEF) in India (25.10.1980 to 30.09.2008)
304 Ministry of Mines: Annual Report 2008-09
305 Centre for Science and Environment, “Rich Land Poor People: Is Sustainable Mining Possible?”
168

Cuddapah district: Key facts

Total population: 1,283,704 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 285,324 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 63 per cent
Male 75.83 per cent
Female 49.54 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 2.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 86.6 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 312,391 (Census of India 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 92 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Chittoor district: Key facts

Total population: 3,745,875 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 791, 554 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate: Total 67 per cent
Male 77.62 per cent
Female 55.76 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 1.9 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 84.9 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 46, 841 (Census of India 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking): 79 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)

Children in Stone Quarries

Nirmala, from Vaddi community in Chittoor
district, is 9 years old and had to drop out of school
while studying class IV. Both her parents were
quarry workers. Her mother died due to TB and
her father is too ill to earn a living. The family is
now dependent on the son who is 16 years old and
a daughter who is 15. The family also has to take
care of the grandparents who are above 80 years
of age. While the two older children work in the
stone factory and quarry, Nirmala and her younger Teenager working in the quarry for the last few years

brother, had to drop out of school to take care of their are primarily in the adivasi belt in the northern and northeastern
father and grandparents and to take responsibility regions of the state while most of the minor minerals and
for cooking and other domestic work. quarries are found in the southern region of Rayalaseema in
Source: Interview with family in T. Vadduru village, Palamaneru, June 2009 Andhra Pradesh. Due to the location of these quarries, the
Rayalaseema region also has a number of cement factories.
Minor minerals have a major role in the mining activities in
Andhra Pradesh. The state has both major minerals like coal, This study was undertaken as three micro level studies in
bauxite, limestone and manganese. Particularly coal and bauxite Cuddapah, Chittoor and Visakhapatnam districts in very
 169

small areas where there are quarries, stone crushers and ore, black stone and sulphur. The study identified 10 large
traditional small-scale mining taking place in scattered quarry companies working here that included Krishanappa
numbers. This study was undertaken by three local Barytes, Rangarajya Minerals, Gandhi Company, Caltex, PVS
organisations who are working with the unorganised sector Mines, IBE Sivaganga, Pratap Redday Mines, YS Mines, Tiffin
workers and communities in these regions as part of their Mines, Blue Diamond and other several small mines which
larger community development work. In Cuddapah and are spread across the district. While a few mines only follow
Chittoor districts the areas covered under the study have safety and labour regulations, many are reported to flout laws
witnessed mining activities for a long time now and where the and also have illegal mines. Apart from these companies three
mining economy and power decides the political power in the large cement factories are also operating in this area.
region. The area chosen in Visakhapatnam gives information
about the increase in new quarries being dug up in order to The study was conducted covering 201 families involved in
provide construction material for the expanding urbanisation mining activities in Cuddapah district. Among these families,
and housing that is happening all over India, causing a threat majority of the population belonged to the ST, SC or OBC
to agriculture and traditional land use. In all these instances, communities. The quarries surveyed are 2 to 3 km from the
mining has serious impacts on children and the disintegration mandal headquarters. Table 2.41 gives details of families
of support institutions for children is visible in this changing surveyed in Cuddapah district.
shift towards migrant labour and the increasing problems
among communities traditionally involved in stone-breaking In order to avoid problems of labour, most of the companies
and quarrying. These studies look at the conditions in which have shifted to heavy machinery and crushers and therefore,
children are being forced into the mine labour activities and mining has become almost mechanised now. The few workers
the status of the institutional structures for children. who are employed are migrant labour brought from far off
places by the contractors. Small groups of workers belonging
to SC, ST and Vaddera (stone-breaking caste) communities
Case Study: Cuddapah District are brought by the contractors by paying them an advance,
and made to live in makeshift tents. This is similar to
In Cuddapah district alone there are about 25 different types of bonded labour as the workers are completely at the mercy of
minerals extracted. Barytes, asbestos, soapstone and uranium the companies, having taken the advance. They work at
deposits are found abundantly in Pulivendula. Also found are different shifts all through the day and night, depending on
yellow ochre, white ochre, shale, dolomite, laterite, calcite, iron the load of work.

Table 2.41: Details of quarry workers’ families and their children, Cuddapah
Mandal name No. of No. of Caste Men Women Boys Girls Total
quarries families population
Chakrayapeta 2 18 BC 18 18 7 9 52
Gaaliveedu 4 26 BC, SC 26 29 27 35 117
Lakkireddypalle 2 17 BC 19 23 14 13 69
Rayachoti 2 14 BC 16 19 10 10 55
Chinnamandem 1 9 BC 14 13 7 6 40
Sambepalle 2 21 BC, SC 22 24 8 8 62
Ramapuram 3 28 BC, SC 31 35 11 13 90
Chundupalle 1 11 BC, SC 12 11 5 4 32
Porumamilla 3 14 SC 17 19 8 5 49
Chinthakommadhine 1 28 SC, BC, ST 28 18 23 30 99
Badhwelu 2 15 BC 15 22 9 7 53
Total 23 201 218 231 129 140 718
Source: Survey done by VRDS in October 2009
170

Problems of Mine Workers’ Children and alcohol. Discussions with the workers and particularly
with the women provided the study with the following
Since enitre families are brought to the mine site by the information. The mine owners escape from responsibility
contractors, both adults and children work in the quarries. towards the workers and their families on the pretext that
Both the husband and wife are working in the quarry the whole most of the wages are spent on liquor and drugs, and hence
the poverty of the mine workers is because of their social
day and have no opportunity to take care of their children.
habits. The migrant nature of work combined with the
Children grow up in the quarries and are therefore, exposed to
highly stressful conditions, also lures the workers into other
the heavy dust pollution from the mines and crushers. They are
addictions like gambling. In the quarry sites surveyed in
vulnerable to mine accidents, blasting, and to noise pollution.
Cuddapah, the most serious problem stated at every place,
In most of the quarries, the mothers complained how the
was the addiction to ‘mutka’-gambling, which is a highly
children find it difficult to sleep at night due to the deafening
organised racket with several political power structures
noise from the crushers that are continuously operating.
reported to be illegally involved in promoting this. Therefore,
because of mutka and alcohol, domestic violence and abuse
Child Labour and Education on women is very high among the quarry workers, also
because the men do not have the social checks and balances
Children start working alongside their parents from the as in a village community. Children are continuously
age of 7 years and get Rs.150 per day. Of the 269 children exposed to these social abuses and live in an environment
covered in this survey, it was found that only 53 were enrolled that is insecure, both socially and physically.
in school. However, the survey has limitations in data as the
age group covered in this survey are less than 14 years of age. TB and/or silicosis are the main health problems that were
Majority of children who work in the mines are in the age expressed by most of the mine workers. They complained
group of 14–18 and these children were not included. Small that they become incapable of performing any tasks after
girls as young as 6 and 7 years were also found working in 10–12 years of working in the mines and most of their
stone quarries. The women stated that, by the age of 12 or13 life is spent in ill-health and medical expenses. In the area
years the girls are married off by their fathers who select the surveyed, 6–8 cases of HIV positive cases were reported
sons-in-law depending on the amount of liquor provided to among the mine workers in Vaddepalli and Elagallu quarries
him. Therefore, young girls are completely bonded to mine and three cases were identified in Devipatla quarry.
labour from a very young age in this region.
(Acknowledgements: The study in Cuddapah district
As the workers are from migrant families and the quarries was carried out by Mr. Vijaykumar of Vennella Rural
are located outside a village or town, the children have no Development Society (VRDS) as a part of the current study
access to schools or anganwadis. The temporary nature of and his contribution to the same is acknowledged.)
the work also discourages the parents from finding a school
for their children, apart from the financial need to have extra
help at work from their children. Except for Galiveedu and
Case Study: Visakhapatnam
Chintakommadine, the other quarry sites have an average District
of 20 children of different ages, and neither the institutional
structures of anganwadis nor primary schools exist for them. The quarries studied here are small-scale and between 6
None of these places were found to have NCLP schools and 20 years old. Anakapalli Mandal in Visakhapatnam
as they are scattered in numbers. Some of the children are district is a rich agricultural and industrial belt, close to the
enrolled in their native villages, but as they are migrants, they national highway. The quarries operated here are by local
do not attend the school for long durations. contractors and politicians who take hills on lease all around
the agricultural lands and supply the stone to local stone
crushers. The work in the quarries is mostly dependent
Social Problems that Aggravate the on migrant labour who come from the surrounding north
Situation of Children coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, either seasonally or for
a few years at a time. However, some families have settled
Mining being a hazardous activity, which requires heavy down here for the last 10–20 years and continue to work in
physical labour, most of the workers are addicted to drugs the quarries or maintain lorries and trucks. There are many
 171

other families also working in these quarries, but they are more pains, stomach pain, weakness, headache, skin diseases and
seasonal in their migratory pattern. The quarry workers are fevers. In the second site at Vetajangalapalem quarry colony
mainly from Scheduled, backward and other backward castes there were 11 children identified as working in the quarries
who are landless and do not have alternate employment. breaking stones. In the SC colony of the same village, 16
children in the age group of 14–18 years were found to be
working in the quarries for the last 2 years. Some of them
Child Labour were earning up to Rs.3,000 per month. In Rongalavanipalem,
there were 43 child labourers in the quarries, working as a
Child labour is both visible and invisible here because some of stone crushers and truck cleaners. Here four children have
the children go to school and are enrolled, but they also work completely dropped out of school. In Kundram, village of
in the quarries. In Vetajagalapalem there are 13 children SC residents, 22 children said they work in the quarries, in
who are working in the quarries whose parents are all quarry loading, in stone-breaking and in truck cleaning activities.
workers or ply autorickshaws. Here most of the families have Those who work in the trucks said they work continuously,
members who are also lorry drivers and ply lorries for carrying 24 hours a day and there are no fixed timings, while the other
the loads to the stone crushers. All the children surveyed here children work for 5–10 hours a day. Some of the children
said that they had to drop out of school, fully or partially, started working after the death of a parent. In the second
because of financial problems, death of their parents or Kundrum colony 18 children were found working since the
indebtedness. They earn between Rs.300 and Rs.1,700 per last 2 years. In Kunchangi village, 16 children were working
month and work for 5–8 hours a day, depending on the work and in Kunchangi quarry colony, 10 children. Some of them
available. The children complained that they suffer from joint less than 13 years of age, were working after they lost one of

Table 2.42: Details of quarry workers’ children in eight survey sites, Visakhapatnam
Village Panchayat No. of Age of child Whether Class Reasons Type of work Working
children labourers attending for working since
working in school
quarries
Veta Jangala Jangala Palem 13 13– 18 years Yes On average Poverty Stone crushing, 6 months
Palem Class VII–VIII loading, truck -3 years
cleaners

Rongalavani Rongalavani 43 12–18 years 39 attending Primary level Poverty, Truck cleaners, Average
Palem Palem school; 4 to college parents illness stone crushing, 2 years
drop-outs and death loading work,
of parent carpentry,
cycle shop

Veta Jangala Jangala Palem 16 14– 18 years Yes Class IV–X, Poverty Labour work, Average
Palem SC colony one ITI stone crushing 1-2 years

Veta Jangala Jangala Palem 11 15– 18 years Yes Class IX–X Poverty, Death Labour work, Average
Palem quarry of parents stone crushing 1-4 years
colony

Kundram SC Kundram 22 12– 18 years Yes High school Poverty, Death Stone crushing, Average
Colony of parents loading work, lorry 3-7 years
cleaning,
agriculture labour

Kundram Kundram 18 13 to 18 years Yes On average Poverty, parents’ Labour work, stone Average
till class IX–X illness, death of crushing, 2 years
parents electrician tea stalls

Kunchangi Kunchangi 16 13– 18 years Yes High school Poverty, Death Labour work, stone
of parents crushing,
agricultural work

Kunchangi Kunchangi 10 12–18 years Yes On average till Poverty, Illness Lorry cleaning and Average
quarry camp class VII of parents labour work 1 years

Source: Baseline survey done by SGVS, Visakhapatnam, 2009

172

their parents and were driven by poverty to take up work in

the quarries. Almost in all the places, the children said they
Case Study: Chittoor District
had similar health problems such as headache, fevers, body
pains and weakness of limbs due to the heavy work of stone- Demographic Profile of the Region
breaking. Very few of the childrens have reached college level
education as they are unable to concentrate on their studies A brief survey on the quarry workers’ children was
while also doing such strenuous labour activities to support undertaken in three mandals of Chittoor district in
their families. Andhra Pradesh, by Mitra Association for Social Services
(MASS), which is based in Palamaner. Palamaner mandal
There is not a single NCLP school in the surrounding area is situated on the borders of the states of Tamil Nadu and
the eight villages/quarry colonies; even though, almost 150 Karnataka and consists of 16 panchayats and 96 habitations.
children are in the stone-breaking activities. Table 2.42 gives Baireddipalli mandal is situated in the borders of Karnataka
details of quarry workers children in the eight sites surveyed state which consists of 24 panchayats and 102 habitations.
in Visakhapatnam district. Peddapanjani mandal is situated in the border of Karnataka
state and consists of 22 panchayats and 302 habitations.
This area was selected because of the presence of clusters of
Social Impacts traditional stone-breaking communities and because of the
work of MASS with these communities.
Although the violence and social disturbance is not of the king,
as witnessed in large- scale mines or mining regions, there is
a clear impact on the education and health of the children.
Not only quarry workers put also local farmers are negatively
affected as this is a rich agricultural belt. Due to dust pollution
from the quarries and crushers, there is a perceptible impact on
the crop yields. The farmers are complaining that agriculture
is becoming unviable for them and that the marginal farmers
are becoming daily labourers in the quarries. Hence, there is a
visible impact on the local livelihood of the farmers.

Education is most affected as seen in the Table 2.42. The

mine labour work and the constant fevers and physical ill-
health have resulted in many children dropping out of school. A mine worker’s child who dropped out of school to support her family
(Photo July 2009)
Dust pollution has created health problems for children of
the surrounding villages. The villagers complain that children
suffer from cough, cold and bronchial infections.
Socio-economic Status of the Quarry
Stray cases of accidents by lorries carrying stones, have been Workers
reported in the area, but the quarry owners do not take
responsibility for major accidents. Minor treatment or first • The quarry workers mainly belong to the Vaddi/Vaddera
aid was given at the local PHCs when such accidents occurred (stone-breaking caste) community and some of them
in the past. belong to the SC community.
• Majority of the quarry workers are landless and depend
(Acknowledgements: The survey in Visakhapatnam district on stone-breaking as their main source of livelihood.
was undertaken by Society for Grama Vikasa Saradhy Some of them are marginal farmers but cultivate only
(SGVS) on behalf of the current study and as part of their seasonally, as they have only 1–2 acres of dry-land, and
activities with the quarry workers in the area of their work. therefore, depend on the monsoons.
We acknowledge the work of SGVS and its Secretary, Ms. K. • When they do not have sufficient quarry work, they
Prabhavati who has conducted this survey with her team and migrate to nearby cities like Bengaluru, Chennai
shared the findings with us for preparing the Andhra Pradesh and surrounding towns to work in the brick-making
state report.) factories.
 173

Nature of Quarry Work take up heavy work of making foundation stones and selling
each for Rs.5 or they work in the stone factories as daily
Traditionally, being born in the Vaddi community implies wage labour where they earn Rs.150 per day. A large section
that they have to continue the occupation of stone-breaking of male youth is also involved in this work.
and working in quarries. Literacy levels, among the adults,
are very poor–less than 25 per cent as per the survey of Life of the Quarry Workers’ Children:
MASS and as most of them are landless. Stone breaking
is the only occupation they are mainly involved in. Stone Child Labour and Education
breaking is like self-employment within the unorganised
sector. They are completely dependent on the contractors Poverty is the most dominating aspect in these children’s
to supply them with raw material. The contractors bring lives. Starved, yet working to make the day’s earning is the
the stones by trucks, to their village and dump them near typical day of a child worker. As the work is mainly done
the houses of the Vaddis. The Vaddi community works in just outside the house, the children are pushed into this
informal groups of one or multiple families and purchase occupation right from childhood. The economic situation
the raw material from the contractor. Again the workers are being always on the brink of starvation, most children do
dependent on the middle-men who give loans or advances to not attend school or drop out whenever the family situation
purchase the raw material and charge a high rate of interest demands their time for stone-breaking activity. Adding to
from the workers. the family poverty is the poor functioning of the education
system in the rural areas because of which, children do
not have motivation to go to school. When the study team
visited these villages, we found several children participating
in the women’s group meetings. When questioned about the
reasons for the children not attending school, the women
stated that, although they tried to force their children to go
to school, they keep dropping out because they do not find
it interesting.

Therefore, we found a lot of anguish among the women

who stated that they wanted their children to study so that
they could prevent them from entering the stone-breaking
occupation. But the children find the allurement of earning
Children of mine workers–some work in the quarries and also attend school a daily wage very hard to resist, as it gives them a purchasing
(photo July 2009) capacity at a young age. The women also mentioned that
while the girls normally give their majority earnings to their
When the study team visited these villages, the women mothers, the boys learn from a young age to fritter away some
workers reported that they purchase a truckload for around of their money. The older boys’ who earn larger amounts,
Rs.600 and 6–7 persons work together to break the stones. start getting addicted to liquor and gutka.
It takes them a week to break a truckload of stones, for which
they get Rs 1,500. This is shared by all the individuals who We saw primary schools in these villages and also saw the
work in the group. This includes mostly women and children, efforts of the local organisation MASS, which had earlier
particularly girls who work along with their mothers. The run NCLP schools here but found it frustrating both with
age group of the children working in the quarry activity is respect to motivating the children as with respect to well as
between 6 and 16 years. They earn, on an average, Rs.30–35 the government to take education seriously. This is a clear
per day breaking the stones. The contractors return to the failure of the education system in the country which does not
village to collect the load again and this is supplied to the impart quality education to the child, who prefers to work
highways which are close to these villages and to the real hard in the hot sun breaking stones, than to study under
estate industry. The workers say that there is an increasing the roof of a school. It is a reflection on rural education in
demand for stone as the construction activities around the India as we found similar problems being expressed by poor
Bengaluru-Chennai region are rising at a fast pace. The men parents in Karnataka and Rajasthan also, where they do not
174

want to see their children sucked into the bondage of mine Mine accidents are also rampant in these areas. Around 50 per
labour but are unable to convince their children to go to cent of the children living in these villages, are not going to
school. Only a few children were found to be going to the school.
high school from these communities, but as the distance to
the high school is far, this number is very small. The children from the Vaddi community and some of the
dalit families are prone to several kinds of health problems,
due to the hazardous and strenuous work from which there
Health Problems is no relief. Right from birth, the children are anaemic. The
women said that they cannot feed the children with proper
The study team also found that there were many widows diet and therefore, the children are malnourished. They were
among the mine workers—35 in Kothaindlu, 26 in G. Koturu, found to be mainly suffering from anaemia, skin problems,
12 in Sallavaripalli and nine in Gadduru. Around 203 women malnutrition, body pains and respiratory problems. The
quarry workers, of the 1,321 women surveyed, are widows who women did not report to vaccinating their children except for
have lost their husbands either to ill-health like TB or because polio drops. The habitations do not have proper sanitation.
of quarry accidents. This was one of the reasons for children, The Vaddi communities are usually located on the fringes of
especially girls dropping out of school and being forced to help the villages with small crowded semi-pucca houses, without
their mothers to make a living. The average age of the widows toilets, electricity or drinking water. Only some of the houses
did not appear to be more than 35 years reflecting the short life seemed to have electricity connection. Single mothers lived
span of a mine worker and the occupational illnesses that either in poor huts or sheds. There did not appear to be any sewage
cause high mortality or prolonged illnesses that sap their daily facility because of which sanitation is poor and malaria is
earnings, pushing children into mine labour at a younger age. rampant.

Table 2.43 shows that, among the 1,248 children, 210 are Women’s health is of grave concern as they were found to
working as stone quarry labourers and 544 children are not be anaemic, malnourished, and the women said that due to
attending school in study villages in Chittoor district. The frequent child-bearing and miscarriages (which were said to
survey covered seven villages and among these villages most of be common), they find it difficult to cope with the strain of
the families are working in stone quarries. The total population breaking the stones. Among adults, both men and women, TB
of children studied was up to the age of 18 but the age of is a major health problem, and especially, the mortality rate of
children attending school is only up to 14 years. Hence the age men because of TB is very high. Added to this, the women
group 14–18 years not attending school has not been covered here are forced into unsafe sexual practices, both due to being
under this survey. There was not a single NCLP school found widows and being seasonal migrants, and they suffer from the
in this area even though children were found to be working in problems of STD and respiratory tract illnesses.
mining and non-mining activities.

Table 2.43: Details of quarry workers’ children in Palamaneru area, Chittoor

Village Kothaindlu T.Vadduru G.Koturu Sallavaripalli Gadduru P.Vadduru Obulapuram
Total children’s population 205 333 126 104 109 122 121
in village (0–18 years)
Number of children working 12 70 35 40 19 21 13
in mining activity
No. of children attending 138 170 57 15 19 76 71
school (up to 14 years)
Daily wages for children (Rs.) 50 40 40 30 40 35 40
Number of children and Mason-3, Tailor-5, Labour-10, Tailor-3, Tailor-2, Mason-5, Mason-3,
youth in non-mining labour Factory Factory Tailor-7 Labour-17, Labour-12, Tailor-4 Tailor-2
worker-3 worker-10 Carpenter-2 Carpenter-1 Gold
smith-1
Source: Survey conducted by MASS, Palamaneru, 2009
 175

Conclusions
The three micro-level case studies in the three districts of
Cuddapah, Visakhapatnam and Chittoor were studied from
the perspective of understanding the life of the children
of mine workers and quarry workers. The three studies
show how transient the life of quarry workers is, without
certainty of work and without sustainable livelihoods. The
sharp correlation to this economic activity is the presence
of an almost equal number of children, working in highly
unremunerative and inhuman conditions. Particularly in
Chittoor district, the life of the children in the traditional
Vaddi community is highly exploitative, with high levels of
school drop-out both due to poverty and due to the poor
quality of education. This points a finger directly at the state
responsibility in providing fundamental right of education
since the enactment of the new Right to Education Act
2009. Merely setting up a primary school in these areas
will not ensure that the fundamental right is met unless it
is addressed with the quality and child-centred focus that it
can bring in order to motivate the child to go to school rather
than to the mine site. The fact that many of the children in
the quarries in Visakhapatnam district are also enrolled in
school is a deceptive reality, as most of them do not attend
regularly or do not have opportunity for education that
can see them through high school. The example of quarry
sites in Cuddapah show that there is a need for urgent
attention on how the state will meet the needs of these small
numbers of migrant children, who, for no fault of theirs, are
not living anywhere close to the child support institutions
like anganwadis or primary schools. The need to provide
education as well as a healthy habitat where they are not
exposed to the pollution and made vulnerable to getting
sucked into mine labour, are issues for several departments
including child welfare, labour, health, education and also
mines, to develop cohesive and coordinated policies that will
effectively do justice to these migrant children.

(Acknowledgements: The study in Chittoor district was

done in partnership with MASS, Palamaneru and we
acknowledge the contribution of B.Sunanda and her team
in facilitating the field visits and in sharing their information
and work details with us for this study.)
176

Kids Being Trafficked from N.E. as Child Labor Mine trucks’ bloody trail
in Tamil Nadu V K Rakesh Reddy
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 2:29:16 PM First Published : 15 Nov 2009 05:31:00 AM IST
Indian Express
76 trafficked children hailing from Manipur and Assam, ANANTAPUR: While Gali Janardhan Reddy, Karnataka
used as child labor, were recently rescued from a home at Tourism Minister and promoter of the Obulapuram Min-
Kulitorai in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district. ing Company (OMC) defended himself tooth and nail in
Prabhakaran, a member of the Child Welfare Committee, the face of a snowballing political controversy over the
which rescued the children, said the young kids were alleged illegal mining of iron ore by his firm on Friday,
forced to live in appalling conditions. the human loss being caused by the OMC seems to have
eluded attention of all.
“Children hailing from Manipur and Assam regions were
smuggled to this place to work in stone quarries. We Statistics drive home the point –– more than 50 people
traced them from a place named Kulitorai, all huddled lost their lives in the last three months in Anantapur
in unhygienic condition with no proper accommodation district. Almost all of them were mowed down by trucks
and care. Many of them even did not have proper clothes. carrying iron ore. Not a single truck driver has been con-
Fortunately, we could save them and now they are under victed till date and no truck has been seized either. Most
the care of Sharanalayam at Tirunlveli,” he said. of the trucks involved in the accidents, sources say, be-
long to the OMC.
Source-ANI
TRI http://www.medindia.net/news/Kids-Being-Trafficked- ……Another accident caused the death of a young girl
from-NE-as-Child-Labor-in-Tamil-Nadu-64323-1.htm who died after the Independence Day celebrations in her
school this year. She was run over right outside her school
by a truck carrying iron ore and died on the spot.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Mine+tr
ucks’+bloody+trail&artid=NFUxa/rkTX4=&SectionID=e7uPP4|pS
iw=&MainSectionID=e7uPP4|pSiw=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2u
YAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=Obulapuram%20Mining%20Company
 177

Part III
Summary and Recommendations
 179

Summary and Recommendations

Almost every state and district in India has some kind of However, for mining affected children, this is being
mineral extracted or processed. However, it would have been exacerbated by a ruthlessly exploitative industry which is
impossible for our team to cover the entire geographical pushing this neglect into a situation of desperation where
area of mining or range of minerals whose extraction has increase in poverty, landlessness, food insecurity are forcing
serious impacts on the lives of children. Therefore, we children into child labour in mining and other forms of
chose a few sites in eight states that show clear impacts on labour, exposing them to crime and violence, making them
children due to mining. These case studies could be, to a vulnerable to trafficking, chronic ill-health, and inhuman
large extent, representative of many of the mining situations living conditions. Children of local communities, workers
that children in India are suffering from. They provide a (unorganised, contract), farmers around mine sites were
glimpse into the real life situations of adivasi, rural, migrant rarely found to benefit from mining in this study. The rapid
and other poor sections of child population in India that degeneration in general living conditions and governance
are impacted directly and indirectly by mining. These site- wherever mining projects came up has brought further
specific stories provide information not only of mining but deterioration to existing institutions and development
also of the general development situation of children in structures like schools, anganwadis, PHCs or transport that
these regions. are intended to meet the basic needs of children. Therefore,
instead of improvement, the quality of life was seen to
In most of the secondary data compiled from the state have alarmingly reduced to a struggle for survival for many
level child statistics, it shows that low child development children and their families.
indicators are most often overlapping with mining affected
regions. This trend signifies the status and direction in Yet, the paradox of mining lies in the fact that the mining
which children of marginalised sections in these states are industry or the mining administration is not legally
located today, which further substantiates the perspectives responsible for ensuring most of the rights and development
being put forward by most civil society and human rights needs of children. India boasts of several legal protections
groups—that mining has not contributed significantly to for children, with the Right to Education being the latest
the development of children but rather, it has largely created fundamental right. These laws are strengthened by positive
negative impacts on children in these areas. schemes to bring children out of poverty and marginalisation,
very few of which provide any protection or relief to mining
The primary data from the case studies reiterates this picture affected children. Several other departments like the
and also reveal a very bitter truth—problems are glaring Women and Child Welfare Department, the Education
but accountability is elusive. A large number of children Department, the Tribal Welfare Department, and Labour
in India face marginalisation due to state irresponsibility Department, to mention a few have to address the problems
in delivering basic development services, and because of created by mining. This makes for an inter-departmental
which large sections of rural, dalit and adivasi children are conflict of interest and leaves ample room for ambiguities
seriously suffering from malnutrition, illiteracy, starvation, in state accountability. In this process, the child is being
homelessness and several life threatening illnesses. forgotten.
180

Whose Child is India’s Mining children are enrolled or are being taken care of by NCLP
schools. But the Census data, DISE cards of the Education
Child? Department itself and our own case studies in the field reveal
that many children are out of school or working in different
The Ministry of Mines’ fundamental job is to mine. Many informal activities. The case studies also show that very few
of the violations and human rights abuses that result from mining affected areas have NLCP schools.
mining, especially with respect to children, are not the
mandate of the Ministry to address. The responsibility lies We found that children of migrant mine workers do not
elsewhere, due to which seeking justice for the child poses have a decent roof over their heads and the mine site doubles
several obstacles. up as their playground and house. Migrant labour is not
directly the responsibility of any specific department in
In adivasi regions, mining has caused landlessness and terms of providing basic development facilities. Therefore
depletion of forest resources. Children’s nutrition has been they do not have rights for housing or land. Children of
seriously affected by this displacement and depletion. For migrant workers are malnourished as their families do not
the Revenue Department, however, their task is to acquire have ration cards and do not have the purchasing capacity
lands because mining is a ‘public interest’ activity and hence, to buy sufficient food from the market. These families find
the health and nutrition of children does not seem to fit into it extremely difficult to get ration cards issued to them by
their domain. the Revenue Department as they do not have a proof of
residence or a stable identity.
The Women and Child Welfare Department is responsible
for providing supplementary child nutrition and to address Water is a very serious problem expressed by the women as
issues of child mortality. But it is not consulted at the time of mining activities everywhere have depleted water resources
granting mining leases to protect the food security of adivasi and reduced the existing water bodies to highly contaminated
children from being affected by mining. Their supplementary cess-pools unfit for human or animal consumption. Our
nutrition programmes, even if they are implemented (which case studies found that water bodies were dried up, courses
most times are not, as seen in many of the case studies) are of streams and rivers have been changed, groundwater levels
far from adequate to deal with the malnutrition and threat have fallen and in many places, the only water bodies left are
to child mortality in mining areas. the cess-pools of water from mine pits. Children in mining
areas visited were found to be vulnerable to water and air
Many children were found not to be attending school due borne diseases as pollution from mining activities forces
to poverty created by mining. The Education Department them to either consume contaminated water or live without
is responsible for ensuring retention of children in school access to water.
and to ensure enrolment and attendance. However, the
responsibility is shifted on to the parents who are treated as In many places women showed their pots of dark and
the main culprits for the children being out of school. But the dirty drinking water, which ought not to be consumed.
mining activity or mining company is never held responsible No authority is directly responsible for providing these
for the school drop out rates or for the situation of child basic amenities to migrant workers’ settlements. The local
labour inspite of the fact that in every mine site visited, panchayat/municipality is not responsible for supplying
children reported poverty and indebtedness in the family drinking water, as the migrant colonies are not within
caused by mining as the main reason for leaving school. their jurisdiction of governance. The Ministry for Water
Resources is never consulted as a stakeholder when mining
The reason for children not attending school is because they projects are sanctioned, so their role in regulation and
are forced to work in the mines as their parents are either protection of water bodies with regard to mining affected
dead or too ill to work. It is the responsibility of the Labour areas is almost negligent. Crisis over water not only has
Department to address child labour issues. The Labour impacts on children’s health and hygiene in the immediate
Department has been simply denying that there is child surroundings but has implications downstream to a larger
labour as was evident from the responses we received to region, whether with respect to reduced food security due
the RTI applications regarding child labour. The Education to lack of irrigation for farmers or health hazards due to
Department has either been claiming that majority of toxic waste in the waters.
 181

Health problems of children living in mining regions were the companies or the state as meagre cash compensation is
found to range from chronic to severe respiratory illnesses, being offered as rehabilitation in the new projects in lieu of
malaria, dysentery and diarrhoea, birth deformities, lands being taken for mining.
mental and physical disabilities, sexual abuse—all related
to pollution, contamination and vulnerability caused by The degeneration of social security due to an industry ruled
mining. The Health Department does not have adequate by mafia, crime, corruption and violence was visible in all
data or records to either take action or provide diagnostic the mining areas visited. If one looks at juvenile crime,
analysis of the health problems they treat and the pollution particularly in adivasi areas, one rarely comes across issues
due to mining. It is difficult for affected communities or even of adivasi children in conflict with law. Yet in mining affected
individual patients to get accurate diagnosis as it is normally regions, where the case studies were conducted, it was seen
claimed that pollution is within permissible limits and that even adivasi children are exposed to crime and are in
that health problems are related to social malpractices and conflict with law, which is a direct negative impact that mining
addictions of mining communities rather than associated has brought on the social fabric. In every case study area,
with mining. Most of the case studies, however, identified women had a serious common complaint—that alcoholism
several diseases, deformities and chronic illnesses among dominates their lives and how it is destroying their economic
children, associated with mining, as reported by the parents and social well-being as no other facilities are as accessible in
and communities. mining areas as liquor is. In most of our field visits we found
schools and anganwadi centres surrounded by mine sites in
The most glaring situation that was witnessed in all the case their backyards where truck drivers and mine workers were
study areas visited was the high levels of malnutrition among seen to be gambling or consuming alcohol under the shade
children in the mining regions. Majority of the children of school/anganwadi premises. Yet all pillars of democracy
were found to be severely and chronically malnourished. Ill- stand incapable and helpless in controlling this lawlessness
implemented anganwadi programmes are far from adequate and statelessness.
to address this serious problem of food insecurity created
by mining. Coupled with this, the recession in the mining Thus, in the entire chain, the mining companies have shown
industry since 2007 that also overlaps with a sudden little responsibility since accountability is voluntary and
increase in the price of basic food commodities and fuel, has based on best practices of CSR. Child labour, for instance, is
aggravated the malnutrition situation among mining affected an issue that evokes global public conscience, and is the most
children whose families are unable to purchase food to feed tangible reality that is a non-negotiable human rights issue.
them. Neither did we find the NREGA programme, which This in itself is one of the most difficult to provide numbers
is intended to guarantee employment, and therefore food, or evidence to hold the companies accountable. In India the
being implemented for more than 15–30 days in a year, in large companies do not engage child labour directly. Yet, most
any of the case study areas. often they are dependent on supply of raw or processed ore
from informal mines, contractors or illegal mines which are
Majority of mine workers are in the informal sector where the geographically scattered, activities are erratic and are mostly
mine owners and contractors cannot guarantee sustained work dependent on migrant labour whose numbers are difficult
or wages to the workers. Hence, the conversion of agricultural to trace. This was seen in Keonjhar, Bellary, Panna, Jodhpur
lands to mining activities, has led to a situation where neither and Sundergarh where child labour in the mines is a huge
mining is providing a regular income nor is agriculture, which reality but the companies are elusive.
has been made unviable due to a crisis brought by air pollution
and water depletion from mining activities. While conducting research for the case studies we found
children openly working in several mine sites, but scattered
Adivasi children have been losing their Constitutional in numbers, partially attending school and partially working.
rights over their lands and forests when their families are However, as there is no proper record of informal or illegal
displaced from their lands. The results of rehabilitation that mines itself, the existence of child labour is nullified. The
we saw in Orissa and Jharkhand reflect the apathy of public intimidation faced by children and their families prevents
authorities towards displaced persons. That the displaced/ them from articulating their problems or giving accurate
affected have ended up in impoverishment with no means of information. Although mineral stones like sandstone, marble
regular livelihood or incomes does not seem to have affected and others which are exported, have started receiving global
182

attention on child labour issues, there are serious difficulties mining companies. More so, there has been no assessment
on the ground to trace the routes or to trace the linkages or stock taking of the status of rehabilitation especially with
between mines that use child labour and the companies that regard to the status of children. With India’s thrust for the
buy the products. future being privatisation of mining projects, for sustainable
mining to be implemented with seriousness, best practices
Similar case of state and industry irresponsibility were seen have to be more forthcoming from the public sector and the
even where a precious stone like diamond is concerned. looming gaps that exist in the law and regulatory mechanisms
Children are working in Madhya Pradesh to find diamonds have to be plugged.
for local contractors. The Obulapuram mines and the
child labour in Bellary is another clear example. The local Yet, the new projects proposed in Kasipur and Lanjigarh by
contractors who hire child labour do not even make a private and global mining companies like Vedanta/Sterlite,
pretension of hiding the facts. In Bellary they stated that whose human rights records in earlier projects across
they are immune from laws and regulations, which they the world, do not set a precedent for socially responsible
flout openly because ‘it is taken care of ” by the Obulapuram mining, justify the suspicion and strong opposition from
Mines. This reflects the arrogant defiance to law as law- communities and the civil society. The corporate induced
keepers up to the highest levels of power can be easily conflicts and state of terror in these regions, particularly in
purchased as stated by them. Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand were visible all through
the study where data collection was interrupted several times
In most of the EIA documents we reviewed, social impacts due to strikes, bandhs, non cooperation of local communities
and rehabilitation promises of mining companies vaguely due to fear of police and industry repercussions, and the
refer to indirect benefits to local communities and children as inability to travel without fear of violence. It is of greater
it is assumed that the local economy grows, thereby leading concern that the adivasi children are being thrown out of the
to local market forces entering with private educational Scheduled Areas (as seen from the migration in Damanjodi,
institutions, hospitals, employment opportunities and Panna and other tribal areas after mining activities began)
consumerism. In reality what we saw was that these are not and these areas are being thrown open to multinationals,
opportunities accessed by affected dalit and adivasi children against the laws of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution
but more so by children of the middle class and white-collar and the verdict given in the Samatha Judgement. Hence, the
employees of the companies. More often, the fact is that adivasi children of today stand to lose their Scheduled Area
the local children end up as child labour in the tea stalls, ownership and protection as their lands are allowed to slip
mechanic shops, hotels and other economic ‘opportunities’ into the hands of the private mining industries. This is the
and ‘benefits’ generated by mining companies. most brutal state injustice to adivasi children.

Also, in every case study where large-scale mining projects These case studies are not stories but the real life facts of
were set up, the people stated that they were promised jobs not scattered or obscure numbers- these are a few million
and employment before the mining activities started, but mining children in India. And we are no closer to our
later, hardly any persons from affected communities ever got MDGs that we have set for our country to fulfil the needs
jobs. Most of the case studies were also done in mine sites of of our children, than when we started. This is because our
public sector companies who are meant to be more socially development policies work inversely to our goals, and as
responsible. It is over 30 years since the NALCO bauxite the state overviews presented along with the case studies
project was begun. In these 30 years the data from the case demonstrates, growth indicators for the marginalised
study reveals that there has been little upward mobility for children are shockingly low, in each of the mining affected
the children of the affected families, either educationally or districts. This inverse-ness of the development trajectory
economically. This is the fate of those affected by a public contributed significantly by mining, is only making the
sector project where social responsibility is intended to be situation worse for children in the mining regions and for
the principal agenda. There does not appear to be a single the government to meet its targets.
mining project that has fulfilled the rehabilitation promises
in a manner that has improved the life of the affected Therefore, a lot depends on the political will, public
communities or that could set a precedent for a best practice accountability and bureaucratic transparency. A lot also
that the government can set as a pre-condition to private depends on a nation’s conscience. We hope that the case
 183

studies here can help evoke a glimmer of this conscience. We longer live in denial regarding the existence of children
also hope that the case studies can help us explore legally in labour in mines.
binding mechanisms for addressing the issues concerning • There is need to examine all the concerned laws and
children and help review the current policies that directly or amend them wherever needed to address the specific
indirectly affect them, and what institutional mechanisms needs of mining children.
can be lobbied for, in order to protect the children.
o The National Mineral Policy 2008 states that the
guiding principle shall be that a ‘miner shall leave
Recommendations the mining area in better ecological shape than he
found it’. In the context of the child, the definition of
ecology should include all human-ecology aspects.
Children live in families and communities. It therefore
Further, the government should not, in the guise of
becomes difficult to isolate the impacts of any particular
an “enabler”, abdicate its fundamental responsibilities
issue on children without also dwelling on impacts on
to children in mining areas. Especially in the case of
the environment in which they live and the family and
Scheduled Areas, the state must take the principal
communities to which they belong. And yet it is also critical
responsibility for all aspects of mining projects and
to identify the specific impacts on children themselves
should not transfer this responsibility to private
also to gain an understanding of what specific measures
players. The problems of children in mining areas
may be required to address their particular needs. The
cannot be treated in isolation and has to be placed
recommendations arising out of the report are therefore
in the Policy, Programme and Project contexts.
addressed to all the concerned departments and ministries.
o In mining situations many laws and policies come
into force regarding land acquisition, rehabilitation,
Over-arching recommendations on environment, pollution, forests, mining processes
children etc. Some already exist and others are being
considered. They seldom reflect children’s concerns
• The government must recognise that children are
and needs. It is essential to mainstream child rights
impacted by mining in a number of ways, and these
concerns into policies, amendments to the existing
impacts must be considered and addressed at all stages
laws on mining and those that are being proposed
of the mining cycle.
by the respective ministries, whether with regard
• The biggest problem that mining children face is that to the Rehabilitation Bill, the Mines and Minerals
they do not ‘belong’ to any one ministry or department. (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Bill, the
While the Ministry of Mines is the prime mover of Social Security Bill, the Land Acquisition Bill, to
mining projects and responsible for violation of their name a few.
rights, it is not directly responsible for children whose
o In the context of child labour, the Mines Act,1952
concerns in the present governance structure are the
and its Amendment Act 1983 defines a child as
responsibility of several other departments in the State
anyone under 18, which is in harmony with the
and Ministries in the Centre like Education, Women
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and
and Child Welfare/ Development, Labour, Tribal and
the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act, 2000
Social Welfare, Health and Police etc. It is essential that
(Amendment 2006). However, both the Child
all ministries and departments to address their concerns
Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986
and ensure convergence at the legal and policy level as
(CLPRA) and even the Mines Act (1983) allows
well of services to ensure justice to the mining child.
for children below the age of 18 years to work in
• There is a large section of children, under the age of 18 mining.306 Given the extreme hazardous nature of
years, working in the most hazardous mining activities the activity, the Mines Act, 1952 and the Mines
in India, and there should be official acknowledgement (Amendment) Act, 1983 must be amended. This
of this problem. The governments and society can no should ensure that children below 18 years of age
306 The CLPRA does not prohibit the employment of children in all mines upto the age of 14 years and allows for children to work in mines beyond the age of
14 years. The Mines Act 1952 and the Mines (Amendment) Act, 1983, lay down that no person below eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in any
mine or part there of (Section 40) or in any operation connected with or incidental to any mining operation being carried on (Section 45), it simultaneously
allows for children of sixteen years to be apprentices and trainees.
184

are not working in the mines. The Act should also other grievance redressal mechanisms or support
be amended to ensure that the “loop-hole” clause, structures for protection of their children.
which allows the employment of trainees and o The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection)
apprentices from the age of 16, is removed. Amendment Act of 2006 is most applicable to
• There is a need for linking the existing child protection children in mining areas—children working in
institutions, particularly the State Commissions for the mines, child labour in other sectors because of
Protection of Child rights as well as the National impoverishment created by mining, and children
Commission for Protection of Child Rights with living in mining areas are vulnerable to the
children affected by mining. exploitation and crime rampant in mining areas.
o There is need for extending the support (in a more
Recommendations for Specific Minis- focussed way) by the Juvenile Justice Boards, the
Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and the State
tries Juvenile Police Units to adivasi children in areas
Ministry of Women and Child Development where displacement and landlessness has led to their
exploitation or brought them in conflict with law.
• To address the high levels of malnourishment, hunger
and food insecurity in mining areas, as has been found o The CWCs should be part of the monitoring
in this study, and in keeping with the Supreme Court committees that regularly assess the impacts on
Orders in the Right to Food Case,307 it is essential to children and monitor the implementation of
undertake stock taking of implementation of ICDS conditions agreed upon by the mining companies. In
project in mining areas. mining areas, as crime and vulnerability is high, the
CWCs should be better equipped with manpower
• Migrant children of mine workers are an important
and resources at their disposal to ensure protection.
section of child population who currently do not receive
any institutional support under ICDS. Therefore,
innovative programmes need to be developed to ensure Ministry of Human Resource Development
ICDS programmes reach out to children of migrant • Free and Universal Compulsory Elementary Education
families. is a right for all children. Recognising their special
• Specific recommendations as given under section on situation and having paid the price for “development”, the
pre-conditions to mining need to be dove-tailed into the government must ensure that children in mining affected
Ministry’s policies and laws. areas, rehabilitated, displaced and migrant communities,
• As the Ministry of Women and Child Development are especially targeted to receive accessible and quality
gets into the act of signing MOUs with the states for education. Number, quality and reach of primary
implementation of its flagship scheme on child protection and elementary schools, including infrastructure and
called the ICPS — Integrated Child protection Scheme, pedagogic inputs, have to be adequately scaled up.
it must prioritise on vulnerable areas such as the mining • Right to education also means right to “equal and quality
areas. The aim of the scheme is to reduce vulnerability as education”. The Ministry must move from the current
much as to provide protection to children who fall out method of temporary, ad hoc and para-teacher form
of the social security and safety net. of running schools to a more planned, permanent and
• It is essential to implement the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 sustainable education of children in mining affected
to address the condition of the children in mining areas areas, same as what is available to children of officials in
in a manner relevant to their specific situations: the mining colonies.
o The institutional structures for providing
protection to these children in mining areas have Ministry of Labour
to be strengthened in order to bring stronger • The lacunae in the Child Labour (Prohibition and
monitoring on players exploiting the children and Regulation) Act, 1986 with respect to children working
to provide institutional support to, especially the in mines must be addressed by amending the law must be
migrant communities of mine workers who have no
307 Website of the Minsitry of Labour. URL: http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (accessed 11 March 2010)
 185

addressed to include all mining operations in Schedule state institutions that exist for the protection of children.
of Prohibited Occupations under Schedule A of Act.308 Pre-conditions (specific to protection of children’s rights) for
• The Ministry of Labour claims “elimination of child getting a mining lease:
labour is the single largest programme in this Ministry’s • The MMDR Act is an Act stated to undertake mining
activities”309, and yet so far its efforts at addressing and use of minerals in a ‘scientific’ manner. The rules laid
the situation of child labour in the mines have been under this Act mainly relate to mine planning, processes
inadequate. The National Child Labour Programme of mining, the nature of technology, procedures and
(NCLP) must be extended to all children working in eligibility criteria for obtaining mining leases and all
mines, which means it must be upgraded substantially aspects related to mines. It does not give significant
in terms of numbers, financial allocations and quality of reference to the manner in which mining is to take
delivery as well as monitoring. place, from the social context, except for some broad
• Mainstreaming of all children attending NCLP schools guidelines in terms of environment, rehabilitation and
into regular schools is mandatory and this must be social impacts. Given the huge negative impacts of
ensured from children rescued from labour in mines. mining on children, specific pre-conditions should be
• Regular visits by the Labour Inspectors with mandatory clearly laid out prior to granting of mining leases, where
submission of their reports, is a must to monitor and mining companies have to indicate concrete actions for
address the child labour situation. the development and protection of children. In order
to undertake responsible mining, unless some of the
following social impacts and accountability particularly
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with regard to children, are incorporated within the Act
• There must be a comprehensive assessment of the health and the Mine Plan, violation of children’s rights will
impacts on children living and working in mining areas. continue in mining areas.

• Considering the high levels of environmental pollution • The proposed amendment should have, apart from
and occupational diseases as a result of mining the technical specifications on how to mine and procedures
Ministry needs to have delivery services that will address to obtain licences and leases, eligibility criteria and pre-
critical child health and mortality issues. conditions in terms of standards, responsibilities, socio-
ecological rehabilitation mechanisms, clearly laid out
• Periodic health assessment as per defined indicators rules on penalties for offences, which are legally binding.
that provide early warning, preventive and mitigative These should include all the three stages of mining—
measures should be a continuous intervention. prior to beginning the mining activities, during the
• Special attention to children and their parents with period of mining and post-closure of the mines.
chronic and long term health problems arising out of • Pre-conditions based on adherence to international
mining activities, related pollution, contamination, conventions and national laws protecting children should
toxicity, disappearance of resources like water bodies be set clearly before the initiation of any project related
that have affected the nutrition and food security of the activity on ground or clearances and should be subject to
communities, etc monitoring by civil society groups, workers themselves
• Specific recommendations as given under section on and local governance institutions to provide checks and
pre-conditions to mining need to be dove-tailed into the balances. These should clearly state in the rules of the
Ministry’s policies and laws. MMDR Act that mining leases will be given only after
clearances are obtained from the respective departments
like Women and Child Welfare, Education, Tribal
Legal and policy recommendations to the Ministry of
Welfare, Labour, Health, Police, to name a few, with
Mines and other Ministries
regard to partnering with the company or in directly
The following recommendations are directed to the Ministry providing institutional support for children of displaced/
of Mines are also recommended for incorporation into affected/migrant mining communities. This is to ensure
respective laws and policies of all the concerned ministries and sustainable development framework in mining, which is
308 At present mining and collieries are the only forms of mining included in Schedule A.
309 Website of the Minsitry of Labour. URL: http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (accessed 11 March 2010)
186

proposed to be the basis of the National Mineral Policy, • Rehabilitation must be undertaken before the mining
from the children’s perspective. project begins in a time-bound manner. This includes
• Similar changes within policy and programme decent and adequate housing with toilet and potable
framework of other departments in order to incorporate drinking water, supply of which is not ad hoc in
these pre-conditions, so as to fulfil their responsibilities nature, good quality schools within the rehabilitation/
towards children within their mandate and jurisdiction resettlement colony, electricity, anganwadi centre with
of work. supplementary nutrition to pregnant women and single
mothers.
Inclusion of children’s issues and concerns in mining activities • To address the concerns of alcoholism and violence
into the three cycles of the mining activities at the time of that ensues forced evictions it is essential to have a
granting mining lease: written agreement that the company will not set up or
Pre-Mining Plan: facilitate the setting up of liquor shops within or near
the rehabilitation colony.
• Lease/license to the mine owner will only be granted
after a documented assurance that child labour • Infrastructure development in mining areas in and
will not be engaged in mining or any other related around the mines, beyond the rehabilitation colonies,
activity. If children are found to be working within the needs utmost attention such as construction anganwadis,
mining premises/lease area, the mine lease should be schools, colleges, health institutions both traditional
immediately cancelled. and governmental, water resources, houses, roads and
transport.
• Every mining project must undertake a clear baseline
assessment of existing economic situation, education, • Specifying the quantity of water, extent of forest and
health and food security (both from forest and land) revenue land that will be diverted for the activity and
indicators of the pre-mining situation, and provide a permissions should be taken both from the Department
plan for development of children and their families of Water Resources as well as from the local panchayat.
within the project plan and project costs (exclusive of • Company should provide guarantee that the mining
funds diverted from government departments). activity will not be located near the school, anganwadi,
• The baseline survey will also include details of how water sources and health centre of the village
mining operations will affect the existing resources, • Only specified areas far away from the village will be used
water bodies, cultures and social institutions to ensure for parking of trucks and lorries and these areas should
minimum impact and replacement. be designated before the clearance of the lease so that
• The mining plan must indicate how it plans to address the children are protected from a socially threatening
and ensure that education, health, nutrition levels, safety environment that is created by movement of floating
or economic development will be achieved, over and population.
above the existing status, based on the baseline survey • Dust and water pollution will be mitigated through
undertaken. regular precautionary actions (which already exist in the
• Details of how the mining project will improve the law) but penal action will be taken if regular mitigating
existing economic and development status of the activities are not undertaken.
communities in very direct terms (currently, indirect • Health check up and treatment should be provided
benefits are deemed to accrue to communities as by the mining company both to workers and to the
normally mentioned in EIA documents). community, and results of the same should be available
• Rehabilitation must be an integral part of the lease for public scrutiny at the office of the company and also
agreement and the Rehabilitation Plan should clearly submitted to the District Medical and Health Officer at
specify the impacts on children and the plan for regular intervals fixed at the time of the lease or provided
rehabilitating them based on the baseline survey. This in the Mines Safety Rules of the MMDR Act.
would include providing livelihood to displaced/affected • Violation of any of these impacting children should
families. Special attention must be paid to widows and result in the cancellation of the lease. Penalties should be
single mothers with children mentally and physically defined for non-implementation of rehabilitation as per
challenged. projected plans and assessments with recommendations
 187

made by the monitoring committee. the township and resettlement colonies without any
medical facilities.
Mine Plan during mining phase:
• A withdrawal plan, which has formally laid procedures
• All the above promises are fulfilled as per time bound and permissions for handing over of these services to the
planning. public health departments with financial commitments
• Undertake a periodic/regular assessment based on the during the transition period, should be a clearly specified
social development indicators developed at the time document.
of Mine Plan with the involvement of all stakeholders
including company, community, workers, concerned General recommendations
departments, child rights committees and NGOs. Small-scale mines: Further with respect to protection of
• Submission of periodic reports and follow up actions the rights of mine workers and their children in small-scale
in consultation with the local communities, PAPs and mining and quarrying, the pre-conditions should include:
NGOs apart from the departments concerned and child • The wages and working conditions of mine workers
rights committees. should be clearly specified and displayed for pubic
• Free health services and hospital facilities for employees scrutiny. Considering the hazardous nature of the mine
as well as communities around the mining project, labour, a proper wage should be fixed that ensures viable
particularly child health care facilities that address the living conditions for workers’ families so that child
pollution and other problems that result from mining. labour is prevented.
• The mining companies must set aside a health fund that • Workers should be provided with work safety gear,
is independently handled, for the treatment of children and individual uniforms (mining wear) that provides
who suffer from serious illnesses. The mining companies protection at work. Accident benefits and insurance
should compensate the children with health problems/ should be specified at the time of the mining lease being
deformities/birth defects that are associated with mining granted.
activities. An independent medical certification of the • Women workers should be provided with crèche facilities
same has to be provided for to avoid biased medical which is safe from mine dust and noise, has full-time
reports on behalf of the company. Some existing mining caretakers, supplementary nutrition and women should
areas have been receiving reports of alarming rates be given breaks during working hours to attend to
of health problems among children—these hotspots their infants while at work. Safe drinking water should
should be identified and declared as health emergency be provided at the mine site for workers as well as for
zones and an urgent health intervention programme infants of workers who are in the crèche
should be taken up.
• The workers should be free to unionise and voice their
Post-Mining Plan: concerns.

• Mine closure plan should include clear financial • Standards such as ‘Ethical Stones’310 which are not
allocations and programmes for protection and recommendatory but based on legal requirements from
development of children. For example, how the schools diverse laws should be clearly established and minerals/
in the rehabilitation colony will be run post-closure and products especially with respect to precious stones
whether the company obtained sanction from Education like diamonds, and masonry stones, granite and the
Department for taking over of the schools and what like, should be compulsorily subject to certification by
financial commitments have been made by the company independent agencies that are legally bound for public
for this transition period and post closure. scrutiny and judicial action.

• The post closure livelihood plan for workers and local • There is a huge potential for rationalisation of mining
communities should be specified so that children do not leases and also to cull poorly productive deposits and illegal
drop out of school to support their families (as is seen mines without the need to acquire more and more areas.
in Kolar after closure). The mining companies abruptly Details of land to be acquired, rationale for requiring the
close down their hospitals and medical facilities leaving specified area, what non-displacing alternatives have been

310 See appendix 1

188

explored, clear design and working plans for the specified 5. New mine leases should not be granted unless significant
area proposed need to be provided. clean up and institutional mechanisms are in place. No
private mining leases should be granted in the Scheduled
Areas and the Samatha Judgement should be respected
Mining Children: Pragmatic Steps in its true spirit.
Ahead 6. The National Commission for the Unorganised
Sector which is proposing the new Social Security
1. The establishment of a state level and district level Bill should take into cognizance, the above legal and
monitoring committee consisting of all the concerned policy recommendations, particularly with respect to
departments that have responsibilities to protect the the migrant mine workers and include adequate social
child, as well as independent civil society organisations to security benefits that directly support development and
be involved in monitoring as well as grievance redressal. protection of children.
This should be formally recognised to represent these
issues to the state and national child/human rights
commissions and respective departments. Conclusions
2. The Ministry of Mines has to evolve regional plans
In order to earnestly implement the above recommendations
with appropriate local governance institutions (district,
and existing safeguards to stand in support of the mining
block) and the community with clarity in terms of
child, the government should translate the policy and
quantity and quality of ore that will be extracted, the
legal provisions into financial and man power allocations.
extent of area involved, demographic profile of this
Adequate resources have to consciously allocated within
region, economic planning for extraction that includes
the central and state budgets for the institutional support
number of workers required, nature of workers (local,
programmes for children as well as for regulation and
migrant), type of technology, social cost including wages,
monitoring, these laws so that true implementation takes
estimate of workers and assured work period, providing
place.
(in the case of migrant workers) residential facilities like
The above legal and policy initiatives cannot be translated
housing, basic amenities like drinking water, electricity,
into action without strong advocacy and campaigning from
early childhood (anganwadis) and primary education
civil society groups, trade unions, affected communities and
with quality of education delivered, or in the absence of
workers and other human rights organisations. The need for
these, an NCLP school, toilet, PDS facility and other
convergence is also a huge responsibility for the civil society
requirements for a basic quality of life. The resources for
and human rights organisations in order to prioritise the
these must not be drawn upon from public exchequer
rights of the child in mining affected areas. Unless a stronger
but recovered from the promoter.
pressure and lobby on the state players to implement the laws
3. The public sector companies should set an example to and to design policies that prioritise children’s development
first clean up the situation and redress the destruction and protection and not justify the current economic models
caused to children and their environment in the existing that are working to the contrary effect, comes from public
mines with a clear time frame which will be scrutinised vigilance and lobby, children’s voices from the mine pits will
by the independent committee at regular intervals as be difficult to be heard. We hope that this study will be used
agreed upon. The clean up should also state the budget as a tool for campaigning by affected communities, NGO’s
allocated by each company for this purpose and provide and human rights organisations in uphold the rights of the
details of expenditure incurred, to the committee. mining child in India.
4. A benefit sharing mechanism must be immediately
established so that it is not restricted to immediate
short term monetary relief, but should show long
term sustainability of the communities and workers,
including post-mining land reclamation and livelihood
programmes that have measurable outputs. A share from
the taxes or profits shared by the companies should be
ploughed into these and CWCs for better functioning.
 189

Part IV
Appendix- Our Experience with
Right to Information Act
 191

OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE the application is not addressed to the appropriate PIO;
outdated information is available in many websites.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, Due to these factors, there are several delays where
2005 applications were rejected on grounds of omissions or
errors and there were several delays in reapplying to the
appropriate persons in charge.
As part of the process of information collection for the current
study, we have tried to access information from various • Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) asked
departments concerned with the problems and development money to provide information.
of children in India. In this process, we made use of the Right • Information regarding payment of fees is not correct in
to Information (RTI) Act by filing applications on different many websites, or it is not mentioned in the websites or
aspects of child rights in the mining context. We briefly there are discrepancies between states in procedure for
present below our experience and challenges encountered in payment. In some states, some of the departments are
utilising this Act. accepting court fees stamps but in some others, demand
drafts and many of our applications were rejected on
Some of the areas that we chose to consult with government these grounds, again leading to delays in reapplying.
for information were: We found that in most of the post offices, there are
• Data on child labour no acknowledgement forms available and some ad hoc
acknowledgement slips are being used because of which
• Data on education
we could not receive some of the acknowledgements.
• Health
• Most of the responses were not immediately helpful as
• Protection issues: water, housing, rehabilitation, the applications are simply directed to another section
trafficking, HIV/AIDS, forests and agriculture as of the department or another level. Sometimes we were
resources of food security, and economic issues of the asked to apply to some other department for information
family like employment in the mines, wages, safety, as they felt it was not relevant to their department. This
other development programmes like NREGA. gives the impression that, instead of respecting the Act
• We also wrote to the public sector coal mining in its spirit, there are more attempts made by respective
companies for information regarding employment, departments in disqualifying the applications on
rehabilitation, child labour, forests, water and future trivial grounds rather than making it an enabling Act.
expansion plans. Sometimes state governments have asked us to apply to
the centre and vice-versa.
• In some of the responses, the rules and laws were
Challenges in the Process of forwarded instead of giving facts on the status. For
Application example, the rules for minimum wages, social welfare
benefits, etc., were forwarded to us instead of stating
The RTI Act is intended to be an enabling tool for public the actual wages paid or specific benefits provided at
scrutiny and active participation of the public in governance specific sites implying that these broad guidelines are
and vigilance. While the Act has facilitated in accessing followed by all companies in their jurisdiction, without
information from government, which was earlier a Herculean any definite verification from the department whether
task, using the Act involves several challenges and complex such rules were actually implemented.
procedures that frustrate the applicant. Some of these • A very common response received from the labour
challenges we encountered were: departments of different states was that there was no
• Discrepancies and lack of clarity between the central child labour reported, which was an outright denial
Act and the different Acts of state governments. that there were any children, sometimes even women,
working in the mines. This shows that there is no
• Contact details of Public Information Officer (PIO) are
seriousness in reporting cases of child labour.
not given properly in many of the websites. Either there
is no information available or wrong information is
given wherein applications get rejected on grounds that
192

Table 2.44 presents some of the applications and the responses received.

Table 2.44: Details of some applications and responses received to queries filed under RTI Act
Questions asked under RTI Act 2005 Responses received
Labour Departments
1. Total number of women and children working at Maharashtra
different mines (sex disaggregated and mineral sector-
• No women and children are working in the stone quarry
wise data).
areas in administrative jurisdiction of the office of
2. Minimum wages for mine workers, working hours, Assistant Labour Commissioner (Central)-III Mumbai,
health facilities and benefits for mine workers Thane district, Raigad district and Mumbai northeast
education and crèche, housing, water, sanitation area.
facilities, social security, accident benefits.
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act.
3. Number of complaints received regarding the status of
• Complaints accepted by the department can be treated
child labour and women workers working in the mines
as nil.
and action taken so far.
Goa
• No women and children are working in the mining and
stone quarry areas.
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act.
• Complaints accepted by the department can be treated
as nil.
Orissa
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act
• In Angul district, health facilities and benefits for
mine workers are provided as per labour laws, they
provide first-aid facilities including treatment in their
dispensaries to the women workers, education facilities,
crèches, rest rooms available at the mine sites for
workers, drinking water, sanitation and housing
facilities are provided to the mine workers and in
case of compensation it is provided according to the
Workmen Compensation Act
• In Barbil, no information regarding employment of
children in mines is available in the office. Number of
women employed in iron sector is 650 and manganese
sector is 600. No accident case has been reported and
no complaints have been received regarding hazardous
work, working hours
• In Sundergarh district, no child labour is in mines.
Approximately 5,000 women are engaged in mines and
stone quarries. All mines have their own crèche, rest
room for workers. Fifty per cent mine workers provided
accommodation at the site. Housing loan provided by
welfare department.
 193

Andhra Pradesh
• No children found working in mining and stone quarry
areas. Approximately 550 women in manganese mine,
three in phosphorus mine, 10 in sand mine and 1,200
women working in stone quarries.
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act
• No information available regarding health, housing
education, social security and other facilities.
• Not received any complaints regarding work safety
Jharkhand (Dhanbad)
• No women and children working in mines
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act,
• Not received any complaints so far regarding hazardous
work, status of child labours and women workers.
Ministry of Labour (Central)
• Seventy-nine women found working in mines during
inspection conducted in last 3 years. No child labour
found employed/working in mines.
• Not received any complaints regarding hazardous work
status of child labours and women workers.
Chattisgarh (Raipur)
• 184 women but no children working in mine and quarry
site.
• Wage rate: As per Minimum Wages Act, no other
available.
• Not received any complaints regarding hazardous work
status of child labours and women workers.
Karnataka (Bellary)
• As per Deputy Commissioner of Bellary, 103 child
labourers were found in Bellary and 62 in Sandur taluk
working in open mine areas.
Madhya Pradesh
• No acknowledgement received so far.

Health and Family Welfare Departments

1. Total number of reported silicosis and TB cases Tamil Nadu
2. IMR • Total number of reported TB cases: 3,701 in the year
3. Total reported HIV/AIDS cases 2008 and 1,904 in the year of 2009 in Cuddalore
district.
4. Information regarding total number of reported
trafficking cases of women and children • Number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in Tamil Nadu is
517 and 191 in Cuddlore district.
194

• No case reported under trafficking of women and

children in Cuddalore district, Virudhachalam sub-
division, Neyveli sub-division and Tittagudi sub-
division.
• IMR of Cuddalore block is 22.6.
Goa
• Total number of reported TB cases in North Goa: 4,848
• Number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in North Goa: 634
(2005-09).
Andhra Pradesh
• Total number of rescued trafficked victims who are
given financial relief at the rate of Rs. 10,000 each in
Chittoor district in year 2008-09 are six. In Kurnool,
Cuddappah and Visakhapatnam districts no report has
been received
• Total reported HIV/AIDS case in Chittoor district
18,228, Cuddapah district 8,904, Kurnool district
14,646 and in Visakhapatnam district 23,143 till
October 2009.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Department
• Replied asking us to forward the application to Indian
Council for Medical Research (ICMR)
ICMR
• Replied asking us to forward the application to National
Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOH)
NIOH
• Replied that questions are not concerned with their
department

Forest Department
1. Total extent of reserve forest, acquired for mining Goa
purpose. • No forest land acquired for any non-forestry activities
2. In case of any land acquired, details of lease periods, like mining.
nature of compensatory afforestation and status • No area of wildlife sanctuaries diverted for mining.
• Extent of area diverted for mining purpose of North Goa
division is 248.1598 ha
Chhattisgarh
• Jagdalpur Reserve Forest acquired for mining: 2696.220
ha.
• Bijapur Reserve Forest acquired for mining: 1.9545 ha.
Andhra Pradesh
• No acknowledgement received so far.
 195

Tamil Nadu
• No acknowledgement received so far.
Orissa
• Asked for proof of personal identity for providing
information, proof sent, but no information received so
far.

Agriculture and Irrigation Departments

1. Changes in water tables affecting agriculture and the Karnataka
reasons behind it. • Agriculture Department suggested that application be
2. Extent of area of land made uncultivable due to change sent to Municipal and Water Supply Department.
in water levels, mining activities. • Municipal and Water Supply Department directed
3. Information regarding decrease in crop yields or applicant to apply to Irrigation Department.
prescribed changes in cropping pattern and new crop • Irrigation Department replied saying questions in
disease. application not relevant to us.
4. Action taken. Tamil Nadu
• Agriculture Department suggested application should
be sent to Water Department
• Water Department replied saying:
Groundwater wing taken up two projects under artificial
recharge of ground water:
- Artificial recharge of groundwater through dug well
- Master plan artificial recharge scheme
Maximum, minimum, and average water level of Cuddalore
district (January–December 2007): Minimum- 0.26,
Maximum: 102 and Average: 14.72

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department

NREGA activities for the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 in Maharashtra (Pune)
specific districts: • No acknowledgement received.
1. Number of days of work provided to job card holders. Karnataka
2. Number of job cards. • No acknowledgement received
3. Nature of Work taken up. Tamil Nadu
• No acknowledgement received

Coal Mining Companies

1. Total land acquired by the company till date. SCCL
2. Total area proposed for land acquisition for new • As response to our initial letter, a fee of Rs. 1,364
projects. was asked for extra manpower to collect the requested
3. Rehabilitation provided to displaced or affected families. information.

4. Compensation given. • Later they provided the following information:

196

5. Schools established, number of children from displaced - Total number of displaced families 3,925 and
families attending these schools, facilities provided total amount of compensation provided for them:
by company in these schools like water supply and Rs. 2753.20 lakh , 10 high schools and 1 upper
sanitation, teacher- student ratio, mid-day meal, primary schools and in these schools purified water,
hospitals established, number of families displaced sanitation, mid-day meal facilities are available,
who have hospital cards/use the facilities, number of 3,581 displaced children are studying there
doctors, facilities available - Total no of families who lost land: 1,138, have
6. Occupational health related diseases identified and been given employment as badli filler
treated in company hospital Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited
7. CSR activities in last 5 years, expenditure • 20,130 ha land is proposed for new projects.
8. Total displaced/affected families provided employment/ • No data found regarding displacement.
jobs, details of jobs, levels, type of jobs
• No proposal for hospital, but the community people are
getting treatment at their health centres.
• 1,827 community people got permanent employment as
unskilled labour
CCL
• 2001 project affected families resettled/ shifted in
different projects
• Compensation provided by the company: Rs. 6859.43
lakh
BCCL
• Total number of families displaced: 4,870
• 4,684 displaced families given jobs according to merit
and educational qualification
• 5,148.42 ha land acquired by the company
• 15 hospitals established by the company
Western Coalfields Limited
• 16,700 families displaced and affected up to 30 June
2009 by the company
• 16,700 families given jobs according to eligibility and
consolidated stipend of Rs. 5,550 per month
• 20,815.17 ha land acquired by the company up to June
2009
• For 42 new projects 23,289.43 ha area proposed for
land acquisition
• 6,521 families have been resettled till date
• Rs. 107.24 crore have been spent by the company for
compensation
MCL
• 360 displaced families have got employment as general
workers
 197

• 3,067.41 acres of land acquired by the company

• The company has spent Rs. 14,07,75400 as
compensation for land and Rs. 12,37,0000 on
compensation and resettlement
Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL)
• ECL has acquired 13,749 ha of land since inception till
31 March 2009.
• ECL applied for acquisition of 209.33 ha of land for new
project and 2267.67 ha for expansion of old project.
• Royalty of coal and sand is payable to the state
government and not to any local panchayat

Water pollution
1. Details of water contaminated by company activities, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited
steps taken to clean up, any health problems, • For mining of lignite both groundwater and storm water
complaints received from local people, others. are pumped out. Groundwater contamination is not
2. Sources of water diverted/used for mining related possible due to mining.
works. • Water bodies not available close to mine site areas.
3. Number of villages supplied with drinking water by your Water samples are collected once in 6 months.
company, details. • No complaints recorded so far regarding health
problems due to water contamination.
• The company is helping meet water needs of villages as
per guidance of district revenue authority.
• Within the area selected for mining operations,
groundwater table not required to be monitored owing
to fluctuations in mine advancement taking place
continuously.
SCCL
• Not identified any water pollution nor received any
complaint regarding water pollution in the area.
• Water monitoring involves periodical assessment of
quality of mine discharge water, treated workshop
effluents, treated colony effluents, ground surface water
and surface water.
• Water quality of bore wells and dug wells in nearby
village and nearby water bodies also monitored once in
three months in all mining areas of the company.
• Groundwater table monitored regularly. Except for
seasonal and rainfall variations, no prominent changes
noticed.
198

Conclusions information on the RTI Act itself is required. Discrepancies

in rules and procedures between departments and states
have to be removed to reduce confusion over the Act. The
The RTI Act is intended to facilitate affected citizens or
information received so far, especially with regard to child
those individuals or institutions working in public interest
labour, shows that the information available in the government
to access information available in government offices.
and the process of reporting within the government have
However, to use this tool is a journey through frustration
to be reviewed considering the high variance in primary
in most instances as the desire to share public information
data and data provided by government departments, with
is largely absent in the government offices. The various
respect to child labour and school drop-out rates. Some
bottlenecks, procedures and rules that have been created in
of the information we have sought, with respect to water,
the state acts which are different from the central act and the
agriculture, cropping patterns, etc., are clearly not available
lack of correct information even in the websites of various
with the concerned departments or not available in a format
departments’ present confusion on application procedures.
where empirical conclusions and understanding can be drawn
The applications are rejected for the most trivial omissions
from such data. It is particularly important for government
and errors with regard to procedures and rules which imply
departments as stakeholders whose resources and services
that frustrating the applicant and thereby discouraging use
are impacted by mining activities, to have such authentic
of the Act is the general response from government bodies.
data and understand the trends in water, pollution, energy
Unless information put up on the websites and available at
and health problems, in the absence of which companies have
government offices is accurate, updated and easy to access,
denied any problems being associated with their activities.
the RTI Act will become redundant. Therefore, proper
Annexures
 199

Maharashtra
The table shows that in 1999-2001, the state had 1,777 stone quarries and the revenue collected was to the tune of
Rs.1954.09 lakhs ( from 16 districts). In 2008–09, the revenue increased to 2990.32 lakhs (covering only three districts).
This increase is a reflection of the increase in the number of stone quarries, which is further indicative of the increase in unor-
ganised sector workers.

Stone quarries in Maharashtra and revenue earned by the government

1999-2001 2008-09
Region District No. of quarries Revenue Revenue
Amount in Rs. lakhs Amount in Rs. lakhs
Konkan Mumbai
Upnagar
Thane 34
Rayagad 13 2.25
Ratnagiri 8 126
Sindudurg 23 115.07
Pune Pune 182 27.88877
Satara 42 1,535.44
Solapur 2
Sangli 31 155 1,427
Kolhapur 15
Nasik Nasik 27 190.88
Dhule 15
Nandurbar 15
Jalgaon 2 511.94
Ahmadnagar 388.48
Aurangabad Aurangabad 116
Jalana 21
Parbhani 9 80.3
Hingoli 25.23
Beed 17 27
North Maharashtra Nanded 17
Usmanabad 5 0.59
Latur 34 250.38
Nagpur 350
Vardha 80 51.26
Bhandara 104 106.98
Gondhiya 69 63,40,738
Chandrapur 198 111.5
Gadchiroli 86
North Maharashtra Amravati 62
Buldhana 41
Akola 22
Vasim 28 48.85
Yevatmal 104
Total 1,772 1,945.09 2,990.329
200

Karnataka
The tables below give some district data for Bellary on total number of children, children attending school, drop outs and
children brought back to school under different programmes. The data was collected by Sakhi, a organisation in Bellary district
by filing RTI applicataions.

Drop-out rate of children in Bellary district from 2006–08

Taluk Total number Children attending Children dropped Children above Total Percentage
of children school 6– 14 years out midway 7 years not
6– 14 years admitted in school
East Bellary 54,794 50,816 1,012 399 1,411 2.58
West Bellary 51,299 47,553 865 279 1,144 2.23
Hadgali 29,518 26,322 467 25 492 1.67
H.B.Halli 28,987 25,209 1,242 57 1,299 4.48
Hospet 60,997 55,139 1,325 181 1,506 2.47
Kudligi 50,985 45,857 621 101 722 1.42
Sandur 38,675 33,906 1,742 129 1,871 4.48
Saruguppa 39,019 34,212 521 267 788 2.02
Total 354,247 319,014 7,795 1,438 9,233 2.61
Source: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan responses to RTI applications filed by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet

Data of children’s education in Bellary district for the year 2007

Age group 6–14 years Age group 7–14 years
Taluk No of children School- going Number of Children above Number of Total Percentage
children children 7 years who children not
admitted dropped out admitted in
in school midway School above
7 years of age
A B A+ B
East Bellary 55,079 50,057 3,703 1,083 236 1319 2.39
West Bellary 49,923 45,655 3,589 424 255 679 1.36
Hadgalli 29,512 26,387 2,815 290 20 310 1.05
H.B.Halli 28,899 25,258 2,561 1042 38 1080 3.74
Hospet 59,789 55,419 4,001 276 93 369 0.62
Kudligi 50,126 45,246 4,491 371 18 389 0.78
Sandur 36,094 32,275 3,337 392 90 482 1.34
Siriguppa 39,678 34,596 4512 377 193 570 1.44
Total 349,100 314,893 29,009 4,255 943 5,198 1.49

Source: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan responses to RTI applications filed by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet
 201
Data of children’s education in Bellary district for the year 2007
Taluk No of children School- going Children not Children out of school (age group 7–14 years)
( age group children (age admitted in Children who Children not Total Percentage
6–14 years) group 6–14 school below have dropped admitted in A+B
years) 7 years out midway school above 7
of age years of age
A B
East Bellary 57,020 52,651 3601 458 286 726 1.2732375
West Bellary 51,949 47,662 3,624 441 222 663 1.7262517
Hadgali 30,020 27,171 2,606 231 12 243 .8094604
H.B.Halli 29,670 26,509 2,413 679 56 735 2.4772497
Hospet 64,638 60,360 3,781 376 112 488 0.7549739
Kudligi 51,689 47,370 3,929 303 81 384 0.7429047
Sandur 39,935 36,633 2,829 376 96 472 1.1819206
Siruguppa 43,051 38,011 4,170 524 346 870 2.020859
Total 367,972 336,367 26,953 3,388 1,193 4,581 1.2449
Source: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan responses to RTI applications filed by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet

Drop-out children brought back to school under different programmes in Bellary

district for the year 2006
Children admitted through Chinara
angala to primary schools

In boarding schools for 6

Total number of children

studying in tent schools
Drop- out children (age

Existing children out of

In boarding schools for

Data on more children

admitted in schools
Alternative schools
Admitted in school
group 7–14 years)

through campaign
Studying at home
Drop-out children

(migrants)
12 months

months

school

Taluk
East Bellary 1,411 639 103 134 379 0 0 0 1255 156 0
West Bellary 1,144 557 128 132 367 0 68 0 1252 0 108
Hadagali 492 447 26 60 0 0 0 26 559 0 67
H.B.Halli 1,299 564 16 27 110 22 44 16 799 500 0
Hospet 1,506 242 355 51 295 0 0 0 943 563 0
Kudligi 722 571 0 47 121 40 0 0 779 0 57
Sandur 1,871 241 311 46 79 0 0 14 691 1,180 0
Siriguppa 788 660 13 15 40 0 0 0 728 60 0
Total 9,233 3,921 952 512 1,391 62 112 56 7,006 2,459 232
Note: In West Bellary, Kudligi and in Hadligi, numbers of extra children out of Bellary district were found. These children may be not from Bellary district but
from out of Bellary districts and working somewhere in mining and other worksite.

Source: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan responses to RTI applications filed by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet
202

Data of drop-out children in Bellary district (February 2008)

Enrolment of drop out children in different programmes

Total number of drop- out children

after implementation of different

2007–08 (age group 7–14 years)

also drop outs , who have been

Drop-out children from Bellary

Children not counted and were

Number of drop-out children
Drop-outs between February

brought back to schools

Admission through
Chinnara Angala

Total children

programmes
Tent school
campaign
NRBC
RBC
Taluk
East Bellary 1,319 14 1,333 645 90 115 526 97 1473 0 140
West Bellary 679 18 697 278 60 30 361 109 838 0 141
Hadagali 310 155 465 245 0 26 0 0 271 194
H.B.Halli 1,080 0 1,080 594 0 0 40 0 634 446
Hospet 369 245 614 201 46 0 138 143 528 86
Kudligi 389 117 506 320 103 0 0 0 423 83
Sandur 482 0 482 157 0 0 79 346 582 0 100
Siriguppa 570 0 570 238 100 0 47 0 385 185
Total 5,198 549 5,747 2,678 399 171 1191 695 5134 994 381

Source: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan responses to RTI applications filed by local organisation Sakhi, Hospet
 203

Glossary
Adivasi: The term used to refer to the indigenous or tribal District Information System for Education (DISE):
population of India (Sanskrit language adi=beginning; Developed as a monitoring tool of the governments flagship
vasi=dweller). education programme, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, for all the
districts of the country.
Anganwadis: A government sponsored child care and mother
care centre in India. It caters to children in the 0–6 age group. District: Local administrative units that generally form the
The word means ‘courtyard shelter’ in the Hindi language. tier of local government immediately below that of India's
They These were started by the Indian government as a sub-national states and territories.
part of the ICDS programme to combat child hunger and
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): In India a major
malnutrition.
legislative measures for the purpose of environmental clearance
Artisanal mining: An artisanal or small-scale miner is was in 1994 when specific notification was issued under the
not officially employed by a mining company, but rather Environment Protection Act 1986 called the ‘Environment
works independently, mining or panning using his/her own Impact Assessment Notification 1994’. The legislation called
resources. Artisanal miners often undertake the activity of for the assessment of long term and short term impacts of
mining seasonally major projects undertaken and to evaluate beneficial and
adverse impacts on the environment.
Assessment Survey Evaluation Report (ASER): Facilitated
by Pratham, a NGO, ASER (meaning impact in Hindi) is Fifth Schedule: The Fifth Schedule [under Article 244 (1)
the largest household survey undertaken in India by people of the Constitution of India] essentially provides a historic
outside the government. It annually measures the enrolment guarantee to the adivasi people in the country on the right over
as well as the reading and arithmetic levels of children in the their lands. The Fifth Schedule deals with the administration
age group of 6–14 years. and control of specified areas (termed Scheduled Areas) and
the adivasis living in these areas.
Below Poverty Line (BPL): An economic benchmark and
poverty threshold used by the Government of India to Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC): Exercise of the
indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals right to FPIC derives from indigenous peoples’ (tribals/
and households in need of government assistance and aid. It adivasis) right to self-determination and is closely linked
is determined using various parameters which vary from state to peoples’ rights to their lands and territories based on the
to state and within states. customary and historical connections with them. As most
commonly interpreted, the right to FPIC is meant to allow
Block: Block is a district sub-division in India.
for indigenous peoples to reach consensus and make decisions
Cent: Unit of measure of land commonly used in southern according to their customary systems of decision-making.
India and equals 1⁄100 acre (40.468 sq m).
Gram panchayat: Local governments at the village or small
Central Empowered Committee (CEC): Constituted on 17 town level in India that can be set up in villages with minimum
September 2002 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, population of 300.
Government of India, the CEC’s broad task is to monitor and
Greenfield area: Term used to describe a piece of previously
ensure the compliance of the orders of the Supreme Court
undeveloped land, in a city or rural area, either currently used
(apex court of India) concerning the subject matter of forests
for agriculture or landscape design, or just left to nature.
and wildlife and other issues regarding environment.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): A basic measure of a
Crore: Unit in Indian numbering (1 crore=10 million).
country's overall economic output. It is the market value of all
Dal: Dhal (also spelled Dahl, Dal, or Daal) is a dish made of final goods and services made within the borders of a country
lentils commonly eaten in several parts of India. in a year.
Dalit: This is a self-designation for a group of people Gutka: Gutka (also spelled gutkha, guttkha, guthka) is a
traditionally regarded as low caste. Dalits are a mixed preparation of crushed betel nut, tobacco, catechu, lime and
population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia, sweet or savory flavorings. It is consumed much like chewing
and speak various languages. The word ‘Dalit’ comes from the tobacco, and like chewing tobacco it is considered responsible
Marathi language, and means ‘ground’, ‘suppressed’, ‘crushed’, or for oral cancer and other severe negative health effects.
‘broken to pieces’.
Hectare (ha): A unit of area commonly used for measuring
Dhaba: Small local restaurants usually found on roadsides land area (1 ha = 10,000 sq m).
and frequented my truck drivers.
204

Human Development Index (HDI): Composite statistic used socialisation among children belonging to all castes, addressing
as an index to rank countries by level of ‘human development’ malnutrition, and social empowerment through provision of
combining three dimensions of health, literacy and standard employment to women.
of living.
Millennium Development Goal (MDG): These are eight
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): Number of newborns dying international development goals that all 192 United Nations
under a year of age divided by the number of live births during member states and at least 23 international organisations have
the year times 1,000. agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing
extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS): The scheme
disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global
was launched with the primary objective of improving the
partnership for development.
nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0–6
years. Mini-ratna: The Government of India seeks to make public
sector more efficient and competitive by granting enhanced
Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh: Or the National Population
autonomy and delegation of power to make them a consistently
Stabilisation Fund, under the Ministry of Family Health and
profit-making units. By attaining the mini-ratna status, a
Welfare, Government of India, the fund aims to promote and
public sector unit will have certain amount of autonomy
undertake activities aimed at achieving population stabilisation
with regard to capital expenditure, establishing joint venture
at a level consistent with the needs of sustainable economic
companies, entering into Transfer of Technology agreements
growth, social development and environment protection, by
and implementation of schemes relating to human resources
2045.
management.
Jowar: Or sorghum, is the major staple food grain crop in
National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO): National
many parts of India and is cultivated mostly under rain-fed
organisation that comes under the Ministry of Health and
conditions.
Family Welfare, Government of India, and is concerned with
Kaccha: Refers to temporary or not so strong structures. the prevention, care and support on the issue of HIV/AIDS
in India.
Kharif: A crop that is the autumn harvest. It is also known
as summer or monsoon crop in India and is sown in the National Child Labour Project (NCLP): Scheme under the
beginning of first rains in July. Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
that envisages running of special schools for child labour
Lakh: Unit in Indian numbering [10 lakh (1,000,000)=1
withdrawn from work.
million].
National Family Health Survey (NFHS): A large-scale,
Lokayukta: Helps people bring corruption to the fore mainly
multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of
amongst the politicians and high ranking officers in the
households throughout India. The survey provides state and
government service.
national information on fertility, infant and child mortality,
Mahua: Or Madhuca longifoila is an Indian tropical tree of the practice of family planning, maternal and child health,
great importance in the life of adivasis. Different parts of the reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilisation and quality
tree have different uses — as food, for medicine and for the of health and family planning services.
preparation of an alcoholic drink.
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005
Main workers: Those workers who had worked for the major (NREGA): Renamed as the Mahatma Gandhi National
part of the reference period (i.e. 6 months or more). Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 it aims at enhancing
the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing
Mandal: Mandal, taluk or tehsil is an administrative level in
100 days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural
India below states and districts.
household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled
Maoists: Also known as Naxals are an extremist group manual work.
operating in different states in the country.
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO): Organisation
Marginal workers: Those workers who had not worked for the in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
major part of the reference period (i.e. less than 6 months). of the Government of India that conducts a nationwide, large-
scale, continuous survey operation in the form of successive
Mid-day meal: Popular name for school meal programme
rounds.
in India. It involves provision of lunch free of cost to school
children on all working days. The key objectives of the Other Backward Castes (OBC): In the Indian Constitution,
programme are: protecting children from classroom hunger, OBCs are described as ‘socially and educationally backward
increasing school enrolment and attendance, improved classes’, and the government is enjoined to ensure their social
 205

and educational development. Sahayak: assistant or helper

Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996: Salwa Judum: Meaning ‘peace march’ in the Gondi language
Progressive legislation passed through the 73 Amendment this is the controversial state supported anti-Maoist movement
of the Indian Constitution that paved the way for a separate in the state of Chhattisgarh, India.
and progressive legal and administrative regime for genuine
Samatha Judgement: The judgment given by the Supreme
adivasi self-rule in Scheduled Areas.
Court of India was the result of Samata’s, a grassroots
Panchayat: Literally means assembly (yat) of five (panch) organisation’s, decade long struggle against mining and
wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the village protection of adivasis land rights.
community. Traditionally, these assemblies settled disputes
Sarpanch: The Sarpanch or Chairperson is the head of the
between individuals and villages.
Gram panchayat.
Parateacher: Covers a wide range of recruitment for teaching
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan: Or the 'Education for All' movement,
in schools and alternative learning centres. In a broad sense,
is a flagship programme of the Government of India for
any appointment, that is a deviation from the past practice
achievement of universalisation of elementary education in a
in any particular state, is referred to as a parateacher. This
time bound manner.
broadly refers to large number of teachers recruited by the
community (though not always), at less than the regular Scheduled Area: Those regions with a predominantly adivasi
teacher pay scale, for the formal as well as alternative schools, population. Scheduled Areas are spread across nine states in
to meet the demand for basic education within the limited India
financial resource available, in the shortest possible time.
Scheduled Caste (SC): Any of the historically disadvantaged
Pattas: Title deeds for lands or houses in India Indian castes of low rank, now under government protection.
Some Scheduled Castes are also known as dalits.
Primary Health Centre (PHC): These are the cornerstone of
rural healthcare in India that supposed to meet the health care Scheduled Tribe (ST): Specific indigenous peoples whose
needs of rural populations. Each PHC covers a population status is acknowledged to some formal degree by national
of 100,000 and is spread over about 100 villages. A Medical legislation in India.
Officer, Block Extension Educator, one female Health
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
Assistant, a compounder, a driver and laboratory technician
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006: This Act is a key
are assigned to look after each PHC. It is equipped with a jeep
legislation passed in India and is concerned with the rights
and necessary facilities to carry out small surgeries. The PHCs
of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources,
are established and maintained by the state governments.
denied to them over decades.
Public Distribution System (PDS): Facilitates the supply of
Sex ratio: Defined as the number of females per 1,000 males
food grains to the poor at a subsidised price.
in the population. It is expressed as 'number of females per
Public Information Officer (PIO): Under the RTI Act all 1000 males'.
government departments must appoint a PIO to whom the
Special Economic Zone (SEZ): A geographical region that
applications requesting information are sent. It is the PIO's
has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's
obligation to provide information to citizens of India who
typical economic laws.
request information under the Act.
State Domestic Product (SDP): Aggregate of the economic
Pucca: Refers to permanent and strong structures
value of all goods and services produced within the geographical
Rat hole mining: Mining done in the form of a long narrow boundaries of the state, counted without duplication during a
tunnel. specified period of time, usually a year.
Ration cards: An important part of the PDS in India. On the Taluka: see mandal
basis of their economic condition, people can buy goods like
Under five mortality: This is the probability of a child born in
food grains, sugar, kerosene, etc. at varying prices, with the
a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of five, if
help of their ration cards.
subject to age specific mortality rates of that period.
Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI): Act that mandates
Vimukta Jati: Nomadic tribes in India who due to wandering
timely response to citizen requests for government
traditions of over hundreds of years without any good means
information.
of life under the influence of caste system, were forced to live
Rotis: Unleavened flat bread made from flour. under sub-human conditions.
Rupees (Rs.): Official unit of currency in India
mm&P