Children - Terre des Hommes

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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
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