Children - Terre des Hommes

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Cuddapah district: Key facts
Total population: 1,283,704 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 285,324 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate:
Children in Stone Quarries
Total 63 per cent
Male 75.83 per cent
Female 49.54 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 2.1 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 86.6 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 312,391 (Census of India 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking):
Chittoor district: Key facts
92 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)
Total population: 3,745,875 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 791, 554 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate:
Total 67 per cent
Male 77.62 per cent
Female 55.76 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 1.9 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 84.9 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 46, 841 (Census of India 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking):
79 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)
Nirmala, from Vaddi community in Chittoor
district, is 9 years old and had to drop out of school
while studying class IV. Both her parents were
quarry workers. Her mother died due to TB and
her father is too ill to earn a living. The family is
now dependent on the son who is 16 years old and
a daughter who is 15. The family also has to take
care of the grandparents who are above 80 years
of age. While the two older children work in the
stone factory and quarry, Nirmala and her younger
brother, had to drop out of school to take care of their
father and grandparents and to take responsibility
for cooking and other domestic work.
Source: Interview with family in T. Vadduru village, Palamaneru, June 2009
Minor minerals have a major role in the mining activities in
Andhra Pradesh. The state has both major minerals like coal,
bauxite, limestone and manganese. Particularly coal and bauxite
Teenager working in the quarry for the last few years
are primarily in the adivasi belt in the northern and northeastern
regions of the state while most of the minor minerals and
quarries are found in the southern region of Rayalaseema in
Andhra Pradesh. Due to the location of these quarries, the
Rayalaseema region also has a number of cement factories.
This study was undertaken as three micro level studies in
Cuddapah, Chittoor and Visakhapatnam districts in very