Children - Terre des Hommes

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Child Labour
Child labour is a clear indication of the social and economic
status of a community, coupled with the inaccessibility to
basic education, the reduced livelihood opportunities and
landlessness due to the mining project. All these factors
have resulted in more children dropping out of school to
supplement their family incomes. Also, the township’s
demand for domestic labour has increased the female girl
child’s absorption into menial labour as house-maids and
domestic help. The youth who were interviewed stated that
as they do not qualify for the matriculation examination due
to their poor school education, and very few are able to reach
college level education, they end up as cleaners and drivers of
trucks, ply autos and buses for private contractors or are hired
in petty shops and businesses.
As 131 families of the Amlabadi DP camp are headed by
widows who have no source of income, most of the children
of these families are working as manual labour in mining and
associated activities. In Marichimala it was reported that 200
male and 100 female children, approximately, were working as
child labourers. In Putsil, a handful of children are working in
mining and related daily wage activities. In Goudaguda more
than 50 children are engaged in wage labour. At Janiguda the
villagers reported that the 150 children who had dropped out
of school were involved in daily wage labour and agricultural
activities.
Many of them were seen to be working in hotels, dhabas and
petty shops and therefore, it can be estimated that around
500–1,000 children of the project affected areas are working as
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
Child labour outside NALCO township
(Photo Samata)
There is a high incidence of child labour around the NALCO
area although there is no child labour within the company
premises. In Mathalput region, close to Damnajodi NALCO
township, there is a higher incidence of child labour as it is a
settlement of migrant workers. According to the local villagers,
there are 500-600 children working in various forms of child
labour in Damanjodi. Of these, the majority of the children
working are found in Mathalput slum, which is an extension
of Damanjodi town. Both boys and girls of the DP camp of
Amalabadi and Champapadar, work under contractors. In
Champapadar around 30–40 male children below the age of
18 are working under contractors as daily wage labour and
20–30 female children are working as domestic labour or
under contractors. In Amalabadi it was reported that around
150 are engaged in various daily wage activities in the mining
township and its surrounding area.
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
water. People from these villages stated that due to mining
activities, traditional water sources (natural springs) of the
Panchpatmali hills have dried up and some of the perennial
streams have reduced flow. Hence water for both domestic
uses and agriculture has become inaccessible, particularly in
summer. Contamination of the water bodies due to drainoff
from mine tailings and unsafe sewage disposal due to
expansion of the local and migrant population as a result of
the mining project is another major problem identified by
the people. Therefore water related diseases like diarrhoea
and skin problems. Terminal illnesses like cancer were also
reported by the community leaders and union members,
although this has to be medically verified. Of the 18 employed
in the NALCO mines from Putsil village, 10 persons have
died and the villagers said that they had been suffering from
cancer as understood by them from the reports of NALCO
hospital. 268 In Janiguda village 30–40 cases of TB were
detected among daily wage labourers, during the study. The
267. Statement made by members of NALCO Displaced and Land Loser Employee Association
268. Ibid