State Overview
The state of Jharkhand was formed in 2000, when it was carved out of southern Bihar. According to the 2001 Census, the state has a population of 26,909,428. Jharkhand has experienced very fast economic growth rates in the past few years; in 2004-05, the economy grew by a staggering 33.83 per cent.197 The state is extremely rich in mineral resources, with the largest supplies of iron ore, 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 most industrialised cities, such as Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Bokaro Steel City. A number of large companies, such as the Tata Iron and Steel Company, are based in Jharkhand. Despite this rapid industrialisation, almost 75 per cent of the population remains dependent on the agricultural sector, with the main crops including rice, wheat, potatoes and pulses.
Regardless of its economic growth, the state still faces huge challenges in terms of human development. Over 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, which is significantly higher than the national average of 27.5 per cent. There are also vast gaps between the urban and rural parts of the state. Whilst only 20.2 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line in towns and cities, in the rural areas this figure is 46.3 per cent. Overall, more than two out of every five people cannot meet their basic needs in Jharkhand. High poverty is reflected in all other measures of socio-economic development. 198
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 Bihar. For the SC and ST populations, the literacy rates are even worse. Only 37.56 per cent of people from SCs are literate in the state, and for SC women living in the rural areas, the figure is a shocking 17.73 per cent. In the case of the STs, the situation is not much better—40.67 per cent of STs in Jharkhand are literate, whilst the figure is 24.38 per cent for ST females in rural parts of the state.199
The Jharkhand Development Report 2009 reported that the percentage of main workers in the total population in Jharkhand is considerably lower than the India average. In fact, Jharkhand has the minimum percentage of people having full employment as compared to all the other states considered. This may indicate a lack of regular and stable employment opportunities for the population in the state.
Status of Children
The burning coal from CCL mines, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
As can be expected in a state where general human development indicators are poor, the status of children in Jharkhand is also very worrying. The total child population is 10,708,694 (14 years and under), and 13,208,344 (19 years and under).200 According to the 2001 Census , there were 407,200 child labourers in the state (aged 14 years and under). Although there are no figures for the number of children working in hazardous occupations as a whole, the figure is likely to be high. The NCLP is currently operating in nine districts in the 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 suggest that around 416,587 children in that age group are in fact out of school in the state. The ASER figures also show that nearly a third (30.1 per cent) of children aged 3–4 years are not enrolled in an anganwadi or pre-school. According to the 2001 Census, 71 per cent of girls living in rural areas in the state are married by the age of 18 years.
Unsurprisingly, child health data in the state also indicates a need for urgent action. The sex ratio in the state is 941 girls to every 1,000 boys, suggesting a high level of male child preference and female foeticide. The NFHS-3, conducted in 2005-06, showed that IMR in the state are 69 per 1,000 live births. Very worryingly, this was actually an increase from 54 per 1,000 live births when the NFHS-2 survey was conducted in 1998.204 The figure for rural areas is even worse, where 73 out of every 1,000 children do not survive past their first year.
Mining in Jharkhand
In 2007-08, Jharkhand was the leading producer of coal and kyanite, and the second leading producer of gold in the country. The state accounts for about 35 per cent of rock phosphate, 29 per cent of coal, 28 per cent of iron ore, 16 per cent of copper ore and 10 per cent of silver ore resources of the country. In 2007-08, the value of mineral production in Jharkhand was Rs. 95.28 billion, an increase of 11.5 per cent from the previous year. In terms of value, over 90 per cent of the state’s mineral production comes from coal. The state accounted for 8.6 per cent of the total value of mineral production in the country in 2007- 08.
Uranium is being mined and processed by Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for use in the country’s nuclear power reactors through four underground mines, an open-cast mine, two processing plants and a by-product recovery plant, all in Purbi Singhbhum district.205 The district is also famous for Jamshedpur, the first steel city of India, where Tata Steel has its operations.
Mining continues to be the source of many controversies in Jharkhand. Despite the fact that the state is extremely rich in mineral resources, the population, particularly its large 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 improved living conditions for the population. Almost half the population is below the poverty line, and the percentage of households with a toilet in the district is a measly 26.6 per cent. Similarly, only 13.9 per cent of children aged between 12 and 35 months are fully immunised in the district, and the literacy rate remains very low, at 46.45 per cent.
Forests in Jharkhand cover around 29 per cent of the state’s total geographic area. 206 Much of the state’s mineral resources are located under these forests. For the mostly adivasi population who live in these forests and depend upon them for their livelihoods and survival, the state government’s rapid drive for industrialisation through mining has meant they have been displaced from their land and forests.207 Estimates suggest that 55 per cent of the people who have been displaced for coal mining are STs, and just 25 per cent of these have been resettled. A report by PANOS looked at the impact of coal mining on adivasis in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. Based on oral testimonies from people displaced by coal mining activities, it reveals how damaging the breakage of links between the adivasi communities and water, forest and land resources has been. The population depended on these forests for their livelihoods, as well as for many products used in their everyday life.208
According to the Census, a population of 317,197 were working in mining and quarrying in the state in 2001.209 Of these, 2,862 were children aged 14 years and under, and 13,146 were children aged 19 years and under. In 2005, 130,800 people were employed in the formal mining sector in the state, a drop from 149,100 in 2002.210
Lack of livelihood opportunities has forced many people to engage in illegal coal mining in the state. A report released by the Mines and Geology department in Jharkhand estimates that 45,000 people in the state are involved in illegal mining, and that this is leading to a loss of over Rs. 1 billion a year for the state and coal mining companies.211 This form of mining is dangerous and unhealthy for the illegal miners; their life spans are allegedly cut short by 7 years because of this difficult work.212
Some of the country’s highly industrialised cities such as Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro and Dhanbad are located in Jharkhand owing to its large mineral resources. The following is a glance of the state’s achievements in the industrial sector: Jharkhand is the largest fertilizer manufacturer in India of its time with production at Sindri, has the first iron and steel factory at Jamshedpur, has the largest steel plant in Asia—the Bokaro steel plant, has the biggest explosives factory at Gomia and the first methane gas well in the country. Minerals ranging from (state’s rank in the country given in brackets) iron ore (1), coal (3), copper ore (1), mica (1), bauxite (3), manganese, limestone, china clay, fire clay, graphite (8), kyanite (1), chromite (2), asbestos (1), thorium (3), sillimanite, uranium ( Jaduguda mines, Narwa Pahar) (1), gold (Rakha mines) (6), silver and several other minerals are found in the state. Large deposits of coal and iron ore support concentration of industry in centres like Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi.213
The Jharia coalfields, in Dhanbad district, are infamous for their coal fires—underground fires that have been raging here for decades. The state company Bharat Cooking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, estimates that it has a total of 67 fires in its concession.214 The fires have raged here for nearly 100 years since coal mining first started in the district. This underground inferno is threatening the homes and health of millions in the area. The intense heat coming up from the earth has caused subsidence in homes, and the ground below one village has already collapsed, engulfing houses and killing a whole family. This land now used for coal mining was previously forests and farmlands, and the local population were farmers. Now, they have been forced to become coal miners, with many children as well as adults toiling away in the mines in dangerous conditions. The villages surrounding Jharia have complained of serious health problems, particularly lung diseases and respiratory problems caused by air pollution. Although BCCL provides free healthcare for its employees and their families, the rest of the population is forced to fend for itself, living in increasingly dangerous conditions. BCCL is advising the local population to relocate, but the Rs. 2,000 per household compensation they are offering is not enough for them to find a new home. 215
Jaduguda, located in Purbi Singhbhum district, is an underground uranium mine, which began operations in 1967. The mine workforce (largely adivasi contractors) works 1,600– 2,000 ft below the surface without any protective clothing.216 The ore is brought from the mines to the Jaduguda mill in open trucks. Every day, around 200 trucks, mostly uncovered, pass through the town loaded with uranium ore.217 Although the government insists that there is no threat of radiation to the local people or health hazards from the uranium mining, local residents tell a different story. A number of studies have documented high levels of health problems in the local community ranging from miscarriages, to children born with physical and mental deformities. A survey conducted by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development showed a significant increase in congenital deformities among babies of mothers who lived around the uranium mining area.218
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 in both child and adult workers.220
Boys walk with cycle loads of coal for 3–4 days at a stretch, to sell coal in 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
“My name is Helena (name changed) and I am 17 years old. I am from the local village of Potanga. I have been working in the coal dumping site for the last 5–6 years. There is no fixed wage for us.
It is depends on the availability of coal to load one truck of coal. But on an average we get 10–12 days work in a month. I earn about Rs. 800–1,000 per month but this is not enough to support my family.”
Source: Interview carried out in Potanga village, Hazaribagh, September 2009[/quote]
Jharkhand is a state predominantly having an adivasi population living in the midst of the curse of mineral abundance. Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is a public sector coal mining company in Jharkhand. The case study presented here is about the children living in the coal mining region. It is not only about their life as child labour or as communities who have been displaced from their lands and forest-agriculture based economy into an economy revolving around coal, but to also provide a glimpse into the lives of children, which could be similar to those living in coal mining regions in other parts of the country as well. The case study is drawn from visits to specific mine sites in Hazaribagh which is one of the largest coal mining belts in the country. Mining is often projected as leading to economic growth and progress of the local population. The case study was undertaken to analyse the extent to which these assumptions are accurate from the perspective of the status of children living and working in the coal mining region.
The case study was undertaken in some of the mine sites of CCL in Jarimari region of Badkagaon block, Urimari project area in Hazaribagh district. Field visits include meetings with community leaders, women’s groups, mine labour, youth, school teachers, and other community service providers like ANM, anganwadi teachers, sarpanchs’, and also officials from the company, the district authorities, forest, revenue and labour departments in order to understand the impacts vis-à-vis children’s access to food, safe drinking water, social security, education and health.
History of the Coal Mining Project
CCL is included in the mini-ratna group of companies. The coal projects of CCL in Hazaribagh area are divided into south Urimari project and north Urimari project. CCL was 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, (26 underground and 39 open-cast), seven washeries (four medium coking coal and three non-coking coal), spread over 2,600 sq km of Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Bokaro, Chatra and Palamu districts of Jharkhand state, having coal reserves of 33.562 billion tonnes (medium coking coal 14.023 billion tonnes and non-coking coal 19.539 billion tonnes). During 2006-07, CCL produced 41.35 million tonnes, its highest ever production.
The Urimari project of CCL is one of its open-cast mega projects. It was established in 1973 with a maximum productive capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year. From 1973 onwards it is situated in Jerjera gram panchayat, which is the south Urimari project. This project spreads across 14 adivasi villages. The major areas under this project are Potanga, Jerjara and Urimari, which account for 60–70 wards as a whole. There are at least 84 revenue villages in the Badkagoan block of Hazaribag district.
The Mining Activities and Its Impact on Children
The local people, the officials of CCL and the local NGO, Swaraj Foundation all agreed that coal mining is expanding and more areas of land are coming under coal extraction. The once rich agricultural belt has today been converted into large coal pits where no other livelihood is possible other than mining. As these are open-cast coal mines, the continuous digging for coal on vast stretches of erstwhile agricultural lands in the thick forests of the Eastern Ghats, is said to have caused serious environmental and health problems for local communities, especially children.
Coal extraction is considered as one of the most polluting mining activities and has serious implications on climate change concerns. Yet India’s agenda of coal expansion in the coming decade to meet its energy demands with 70 per cent of this being met from coal-based power, implies that a large 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, will suffer from serious long term impacts. Moreover, most of the coal is found in some of the most backward states and regions like Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, the santhal region of West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Child Labour in the Hazaribagh Coal Mines
Very few employees of the Urimari project are from the local adivasi villages. On the other hand, the local people work as casual labour and many of the mine workers are children and youth from the surrounding villages who were displaced from their land. They are involved in loading and unloading the trucks. Each day 70–80 trucks ply on this road making 300– 350 trips in total. Each truck requires 15–18 labourers to load the coal where groups of families from the surrounding villages or migrant families work together. It was observed that in almost every group four to five workers were below the age of 18 and the majority were barely 20. Many of these adolescent workers were adivasi girls and also young mothers who bring their infants to the mine site. Interviews with the workers revealed that majority of the workers are drop outs from school and rarely does one find a youth who has gone up to the level of class XII.
The ‘coal boys’ – young boys enrolled in school, but out all the time Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
The workers reported that the company provides 10 trucks per day for the local people as a source of livelihood for which they get Rs.1,200–1,300 per truck for loading 12 tonnes of coal. This is shared among all the members of the group. On an average, the workers load 18–20 tonnes per truck and get an additional 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 labour and there is no relationship between mining and the issue of child labour”.
–As stated by the General Manager and Superintendent of Planning and Implementation (SOP) of CCL
On further questioning the officials admitted that children accompany their parents to the mine site and they may be involved in assisting the adults in some of the activities due to poverty. However, visits to the mine sites in the area revealed that children were clearly a large section of the mine workers and the officials preferred to turn the other side, almost as a favour to the mine workers’ families for allowing the children to work and eke out a living.
Women and children from almost every household collect raw low-grade coal from the surroundings of the mine sites for getting a subsidiary income. They burn the coal at home, 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 displaced by CCL and apart from monetary compensation the villagers reported that they did not receive any other benefits from the company. The young girls working in the mine sites complained that although they were opposed to the expansion of the coal mines, their villages are like islands around mine pits and the mining companies are eating into their village lands till they have no choice but to allow land acquisition.
Children play with coal in mining affected community in Urimari Project area, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
There is not even public transport facility provided either by the company or by the government. There is a school that was set up by the company but it is dysfunctional. The only other facility provided is electricity, which is very erratic. Medical facilities are mainly provided to employees of the company and not to the local community or to the contract workers.
Discussions with the village headman of Burkhundwah village are testimony of the manner in which the village leaders are bought over by the company to agree to the mining projects and to ensure that the people do not protest. The village is to be displaced and the village headman has already entered into an agreement with the company for it to be relocated to another place, with little or no consultation with the affected families, or with the women. The village leader was reluctant to express any negative impacts of the coal mining.
Status of Anganwadi Centres and Children’s Health
As part of our study, we enquired about the status of child protection institutions like anganwadis and primary schools. Not all villages are covered by the anganwadi centres. In some places we were told that there were only mini-anganwadis which is almost equal to not having an anganwadi. For example, Burkhundwah village does not have an anganwadi but is covered by the anganwadi in Potanga village. The anganwadi worker stated that she has 125 children in her register although the capacity of the anganwadi is only 40 children. Obviously only children from Potanga village access it as infants and little children cannot come to the main centre. Although the record shows only five children as being malnourished, the worker admitted that majority of the children she visits are 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 records with the team. She serves a population of 18,350 which has 23 anganwadis in all. According to her records, atleast 20 per cent of the reported cases of TB come directly from people working in mining activities and this has impacts on children. Not only adults, children are also very malnourished, with absolute malnutrition cases among children reported by her being 500–700, and among children between the ages of 3 and 6 years, she has reported more than 1,000 cases. There is no PHC in the vicinity and the anganwadi worker stated that the ANMs and health personnel do not regularly visit the anganwadi to conduct health check-up for the children. The poor conditions of the roads due to mining trucks and lack of public transport to this area serves as an excuse for the health personnel not to visit the villages.
The local communities do not have access to any of the CCL hospitals but have to mainly depend on private practitioners in the town. Due to the difficult geographical terrain and lack of access to transport, very few women are able to go to the PHC for institutional deliveries. The worker also expressed concern over the fact that most of the women are malnourished and the likelihood of complications in deliveries, infant mortality and children being born with low birth weight, complications after delivery and ill-health during the first year of birth are high due to this. Besides, the condition of the roads is so bad with pot-holes made by the constant movement of trucks that it is dangerous for pregnant women to travel by these roads.
In Potanga village, the discussion with the anganwadi worker revealed the terrible health condition of the children. Of the 40 children who are enrolled in the centre (which still does not have any infrastructure and activities are conducted under a tree), five are absolutely (grade IV) malnourished, and 15 come under the Grade II and III categories of malnourishment. Of the seven births recorded in the current year, only two have been institutional deliveries.
Displaced women, with children at their side, scavenging for coal, the only source of livelihood today, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009)
Three to five cases of TB have been identified recently in Burkhundwah village and the people attributed this to the mining activity of CCL. The women in this village complained that alcoholism has become a serious problem after mining started and said that 80 per cent of the income is spent on alcohol by the men. Because of this the women said that they have to work harder to make a living and therefore, are unable to find the time and stamina to take care of their children. They also stated that because the men do not share their majority earnings at home, they are unable to cope with the rise in prices of food commodities and are not able to maintain even a basic diet for their children.
The CCL officials denied that there are any cases of TB or silicosis among mine workers, whether permanent or casual, and said that the company was taking precautions to prevent these diseases. They attributed the health problems to consumption of alcohol by the workers.
Water: A Looming Crisis for Women and Children
One major problem discussed by the women was the depletion of groundwater and the lack of access to water for drinking and domestic purposes. Their local streams are highly contaminated and they complained that they cannot use this water for drinking, for bathing or even for use by animals. Hence, they have to walk long distances to fetch water 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 at midnight and women were found walking to the collection point at 12 a.m in the night and waiting for hours before the truck arrived. This supply is also erratic and sometimes the women have to walk back with empty cans when the truck does not turn up. Hence, women are working 24/7 whether directly in the mining activities or overburdened with domestic chores created due to mining.
In Potanga village where CCL works in Piparwar, between Tanwah and Chatra areas, the young girls have to walk for 1.5–2 km in the middle of the night for collecting drinking water and here again it is the same story. Only limited and erratic water is supplied to the people and as this is the only source, the rest of the water bodies being too contaminated for usage, the people have to fight amongst themselves. The panchayat leaders do not respond to the appeals of the women about the water problems as they are accomplices to the company agents.
No anganwadi for this child– the mine site is his playground (Photo September 2009)
The water shortage as well as the contamination has been creating an unhygienic atmosphere for the children. They cannot afford to bathe regularly nor can they wear washed clothes. Because of this, children in this area were found to have skin diseases and diarrhoea. One of the reasons for malnourishment could also be due to the worms in the stomach as a result of poor sanitation among the children. The dust from the coal mines was found to cover the entire area including the houses, the people, the water bodies, and the food and water consumed. Probably, it is because of this that the women complained that children suffered from cough, cold and fevers regularly and respiratory illnesses appear to be high among the minors while incidence of TB is high among adults.
Education
A visit to the primary school in Bhurkhundwah village revealed that there is only one para-teacher who works regularly and the regular teachers are either not posted here or are allotted other non-teaching work by the government like taking care of mid-day meals, undertaking voters’ surveys, and other government duties and hence, are rarely found doing their job. The total strength of the school, which has classes I to V, as per the school record, is 130 children, but the teacher admitted that not more than 30 or 40 students attend regularly. As the para-teacher is the only teaching staff available and there is barely any infrastructure to have separate classrooms, the children of all the classes are made to sit together and taught simultaneously. This is a reason for lack of interest among students to come to school especially as the poverty at home demands their presence in the mine-sites. Hence drop-out rate from school is high.
The team managed to find the school headmaster in the main town of Jarjara, and discussed with him the status of education among the children. He was of the opinion that because of the mid-day meal, the teachers’ attention was diverted to nonteaching 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 the DISE reports show only 306 enrolled. The headmaster expressed that due to lack of adequate teachers and distraction due to multiple government duties, the government school is unable to provide quality education.
He noted that the mining company gives grants to the private schools in order to build their public image but they do not give the government schools such grants. He further stated that the drop-out rate is very high from class VIII, as, young boys and girls are engaged in coal loading and transportation work in order to support their families. However, the headmaster shared that technically they do not consider that there is any drop-out as the students attend school a few days in a week and work in the mines on the other days. Many of them sit for the exams at the end of the year in order to ensure that their names are not cancelled from the registers. Nevertheless, very few manage to pass the exams due to poor quality time given to studies.
There is not a single NCLP school in the area although there are many child labourers. This is probably because there is no official acknowledgement of child labour in the area.
In Potanga village the women complained that children, especially teenagers, do not go to school regularly, and instead, are influenced by anti-social elements of the mining communities. The mothers complained that they are addicted to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, waste their money in gambling, video games and mobile phones, instead of giving their earnings at home for household needs. Therefore, women have to work harder and depend on the uncertain wages from the mines. The headmaster of the high school in Potanga village also complained that the mining activities are not good for children and the quick money they earn from mining, gives them the freedom to be deviant and not attend school. Table 2.13 gives the enrolment data for Badkagaon block.
Conclusions
By year 2025 it is estimated that another million people will be displaced by proposed coal mine expansion, according to a study conducted by Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CPMDI). The large-scale displacement of people will be caused by land requirement for coal mining which will reach 2,925 sq km in 2025 from the current 1,470 sq km, as stated by B. Dayal, General Manager, CMPDI. The study conducted by us only touched the tip of the iceberg in a few villages in Urimari project, but even this glimpse revealed the harsh realities of the lives of children living in the coal belt. Here again, the mining activities are under the public sector company which has also won a mini-ratna. Yet little regard has been paid to the quality of life of the children and to their development needs.
While the state services of anganwadis, primary schools and health centres fail to meet the needs of the children, mining has aggravated the situation of children by creating ill-health, malnutrition, displacement, poverty and child labour. Every mining area in every state visited provided the harsh ground realities—India is reeling under child malnourishment in every mine site visited. Lack of food security is a major concern in these regions as mine labour is erratic, sometimes with high wages and sometimes none at all, but most of all, the working life of a mine worker is short-lived with their remaining life being spent in suffering from various occupational illnesses.
Especially in regions like Jharkhand where adivasi communities led subsistence economies traditionally, with a fair amount of food security thanks to the wide variety of crops and forest produce that was at their disposal, the shift to a mining economy seems to have benefited only GDP figures but not the actual economic lives of the adivasis and their children. Unless the Ministry of Mines imposes a strict cleanup by its public sector companies in the existing mines, with clean-up starting from responsibility to the basic needs of the children, mining can never translate into any real socially sustainable development framework.
Table 2.13: Village-wise data for Badkagaon block, Hazaribagh
Block / Village / Total enrolment / SC / ST / OBC / Others
Badkagoan / Bhurkhundwah / Data not available / -- / -- / -- / --
Badkagoan / Jarjara / 306 / 7 / 270 / 29 / 46
Badkagoan / Potanga / 362 / 35 / 302 / 25 / 0
Badkagoan / 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
It is common knowledge that mining is not sustainable for the communities or the environment, but when the state policies are geared towards exploiting these resources for meeting the nation’s energy requirements, the least that the state is duty-bound to take care of, is to reduce the negative impacts and destruction of the lives of the people living here. Children should be the first priority for this instead of disputing their suffering. Here again, the state has to demonstrate its respect for the laws of the Constitution laid down for the protection of the Scheduled Areas, whether it is the Fifth Schedule laws, the 73 Amendment/Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or the Environment Protection Act of 1986. All these Acts and agreements are universally being violated by the state. Every mining project in our adivasi areas is an example of this violation.
(Acknowledgements: "is case study was done in partnership with Swaraj Foundation, Hazaribagh which is working for the rights of adivasis and displaced communities in this region. We acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Arun Anand and his staff in coordinating the field visits for the data collection and field interviews.)
Uranium Corporation of India Limited: Wasting Away Tribal Lands
by Moushumi Basu, Special to CorpWatch
“I have had three miscarriages and lost five children within a week of their births,” says Hira Hansda, a miner’s wife. “Even after 20 years of marriage we have no children today.” Now in her late forties, she sits outside her mud hut in Jadugoda Township, site of one of the oldest uranium mines in India.
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) operates that mine, part of a cluster of four underground and one open cast mines and two processing plants, in East Singbhum district in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. The deepest plunges almost one kilometer into the earth.
Radiation and health experts across the world charge that toxic materials and radioactivity released by the mining and processing operations are causing widespread infertility, birth defects and cancers. A 2008 health survey by the Indian chapter of International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), found that “primary sterility was found to be more common in the 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 middleaged, Parvati and her husband, Dhuwa Manjhi, who used to work for UCIL, are childless.
http://www.global-sisterhood-network.org/content/ view/2360/59/
Child labour used in cosmetics industry
The Sunday Times, July 19, 2009
Nicci Smith
Deep in the jungle of Jharkhand state in eastern India, at the end of a rutted track passable only by motorbike, a six-year-old girl named Sonia sat in the scorching midday sun, sifting jagged stones in an open-cast mine in the hope of earning enough money for a meal.
Sonia was halfway through her working day and she was already exhausted and dishevelled. Her hair was matted and her pretty flower-patterned dress spoilt by dust.
She barely had enough energy to glance at her eightyear- old cousin Guri, toiling intently beside her as they searched the stones for pieces of mica, a shiny material whose many uses include putting the sparkle into makeup.
If the girls spotted enough mica, they might earn 63p each for a 12-hour day. If they found none, they would probably go hungry.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... _americas/ article6719151.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
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/indi ... 450938.cms