Children - Terre des Hommes

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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
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.
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.
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,
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.