Children - Terre des Hommes

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