Children - Terre des Hommes

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169 small areas where there are quarries, stone crushers and traditional small-scale mining taking place in scattered numbers. This study was undertaken by three local organisations who are working with the unorganised sector workers and communities in these regions as part of their larger community development work. In Cuddapah and Chittoor districts the areas covered under the study have witnessed mining activities for a long time now and where the mining economy and power decides the political power in the region. The area chosen in Visakhapatnam gives information about the increase in new quarries being dug up in order to provide construction material for the expanding urbanisation and housing that is happening all over India, causing a threat to agriculture and traditional land use. In all these instances, mining has serious impacts on children and the disintegration of support institutions for children is visible in this changing shift towards migrant labour and the increasing problems among communities traditionally involved in stone-breaking and quarrying. These studies look at the conditions in which children are being forced into the mine labour activities and the status of the institutional structures for children. Case Study: Cuddapah District In Cuddapah district alone there are about 25 different types of minerals extracted. Barytes, asbestos, soapstone and uranium deposits are found abundantly in Pulivendula. Also found are yellow ochre, white ochre, shale, dolomite, laterite, calcite, iron ore, black stone and sulphur. The study identified 10 large quarry companies working here that included Krishanappa Barytes, Rangarajya Minerals, Gandhi Company, Caltex, PVS Mines, IBE Sivaganga, Pratap Redday Mines, YS Mines, Tiffin Mines, Blue Diamond and other several small mines which are spread across the district. While a few mines only follow safety and labour regulations, many are reported to flout laws and also have illegal mines. Apart from these companies three large cement factories are also operating in this area. The study was conducted covering 201 families involved in mining activities in Cuddapah district. Among these families, majority of the population belonged to the ST, SC or OBC communities. The quarries surveyed are 2 to 3 km from the mandal headquarters. Table 2.41 gives details of families surveyed in Cuddapah district. In order to avoid problems of labour, most of the companies have shifted to heavy machinery and crushers and therefore, mining has become almost mechanised now. The few workers who are employed are migrant labour brought from far off places by the contractors. Small groups of workers belonging to SC, ST and Vaddera (stone-breaking caste) communities are brought by the contractors by paying them an advance, and made to live in makeshift tents. This is similar to bonded labour as the workers are completely at the mercy of the companies, having taken the advance. They work at different shifts all through the day and night, depending on the load of work. Table 2.41: Details of quarry workers’ families and their children, Cuddapah Mandal name No. of No. of Caste Men Women Boys Girls Total quarries families population Chakrayapeta 2 18 BC 18 18 7 9 52 Gaaliveedu 4 26 BC, SC 26 29 27 35 117 Lakkireddypalle 2 17 BC 19 23 14 13 69 Rayachoti 2 14 BC 16 19 10 10 55 Chinnamandem 1 9 BC 14 13 7 6 40 Sambepalle 2 21 BC, SC 22 24 8 8 62 Ramapuram 3 28 BC, SC 31 35 11 13 90 Chundupalle 1 11 BC, SC 12 11 5 4 32 Porumamilla 3 14 SC 17 19 8 5 49 Chinthakommadhine 1 28 SC, BC, ST 28 18 23 30 99 Badhwelu 2 15 BC 15 22 9 7 53 Total 23 201 218 231 129 140 718 Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08
170 Problems of Mine Workers’ Children Since enitre families are brought to the mine site by the contractors, both adults and children work in the quarries. Both the husband and wife are working in the quarry the whole day and have no opportunity to take care of their children. Children grow up in the quarries and are therefore, exposed to the heavy dust pollution from the mines and crushers. They are vulnerable to mine accidents, blasting, and to noise pollution. In most of the quarries, the mothers complained how the children find it difficult to sleep at night due to the deafening noise from the crushers that are continuously operating. Child Labour and Education Children start working alongside their parents from the age of 7 years and get Rs.150 per day. Of the 269 children covered in this survey, it was found that only 53 were enrolled in school. However, the survey has limitations in data as the age group covered in this survey are less than 14 years of age. Majority of children who work in the mines are in the age group of 14–18 and these children were not included. Small girls as young as 6 and 7 years were also found working in stone quarries. The women stated that, by the age of 12 or13 years the girls are married off by their fathers who select the sons-in-law depending on the amount of liquor provided to him. Therefore, young girls are completely bonded to mine labour from a very young age in this region. As the workers are from migrant families and the quarries are located outside a village or town, the children have no access to schools or anganwadis. The temporary nature of the work also discourages the parents from finding a school for their children, apart from the financial need to have extra help at work from their children. Except for Galiveedu and Chintakommadine, the other quarry sites have an average of 20 children of different ages, and neither the institutional structures of anganwadis nor primary schools exist for them. None of these places were found to have NCLP schools as they are scattered in numbers. Some of the children are enrolled in their native villages, but as they are migrants, they do not attend the school for long durations. Social Problems that Aggravate the Situation of Children Mining being a hazardous activity, which requires heavy physical labour, most of the workers are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Discussions with the workers and particularly with the women provided the study with the following information. The mine owners escape from responsibility towards the workers and their families on the pretext that most of the wages are spent on liquor and drugs, and hence the poverty of the mine workers is because of their social habits. The migrant nature of work combined with the highly stressful conditions, also lures the workers into other addictions like gambling. In the quarry sites surveyed in Cuddapah, the most serious problem stated at every place, was the addiction to ‘mutka’-gambling, which is a highly organised racket with several political power structures reported to be illegally involved in promoting this. Therefore, because of mutka and alcohol, domestic violence and abuse on women is very high among the quarry workers, also because the men do not have the social checks and balances as in a village community. Children are continuously exposed to these social abuses and live in an environment that is insecure, both socially and physically. TB and/or silicosis are the main health problems that were expressed by most of the mine workers. They complained that they become incapable of performing any tasks after 10–12 years of working in the mines and most of their life is spent in ill-health and medical expenses. In the area surveyed, 6–8 cases of HIV positive cases were reported among the mine workers in Vaddepalli and Elagallu quarries and three cases were identified in Devipatla quarry. (Acknowledgements: The study in Cuddapah district was carried out by Mr. Vijaykumar of Vennella Rural Development Society (VRDS) as a part of the current study and his contribution to the same is acknowledged.) Case Study: Visakhapatnam District The quarries studied here are small-scale and between 6 and 20 years old. Anakapalli Mandal in Visakhapatnam district is a rich agricultural and industrial belt, close to the national highway. The quarries operated here are by local contractors and politicians who take hills on lease all around the agricultural lands and supply the stone to local stone crushers. The work in the quarries is mostly dependent on migrant labour who come from the surrounding north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, either seasonally or for a few years at a time. However, some families have settled down here for the last 10–20 years and continue to work in the quarries or maintain lorries and trucks. There are many
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India’s Childhood in the "Pits" A
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iii Acknowledgements This report, c
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Table of Contents About the Study 3
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4 List of states and districts visi
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6 However, closer observation of th
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8 In addition, almost all work perf
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10 Impacts Children are affected di
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12 is mandatory and this must be
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15 National Overview Mining has imp
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17 Table 1.2: Number of illegal min
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19 Table 1.3: Key indicators in min
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21 migrate to plain areas or are co
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23 had no land to start with and wo
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25 Although there is no data to sho
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27 2,055 children enrolled in Santu
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29 we will eat tomorrow,” said a
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31 GURIA is a dark-eyed little girl
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33 Serious health problems have alr
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35 In several districts of Rajastha
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37 Table 1.4: Total number of child
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39 Bearing in mind that many of the
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41 children are working in mines in
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43 significant problem. A study car
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45 Part II State Reports 1. Karnata
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48 basic healthcare to its populati
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50 Kolar district: Key facts Total
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52 and pursued higher education. Th
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54 has created a peculiar aesthetic
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56 number of children working in th
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58 almost every child is absent for
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60 Table 2.02: Survey on children n
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62 the village were cough, eye infe
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65 Maharashtra State Overview Mahar
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67 154 are in Maharashtra (making i
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69 poverty, (ii) education, (iii) h
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71 Quarry is a very big area spread
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73 family works as a unit and manag
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75 Table 2.06: Class-wise distribut
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77 Children in stone quarries hit b
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80 Literacy levels are also poor in
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82 and quarrying in the state. Of t
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84 Follow up interviews were carrie
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86 At Thumbli village, residents ex
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88 usually not strong enough to car
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90 Inadequate Health Facilities Sev
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92 Many of the Workers in the Mines
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94 that 296,979 children aged betwe
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96 This case study covered two mine
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98 Traditional Forest Dwellers (Rec
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100 in the mine sites ekeing out a
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102 Conclusions Panna, once a rich
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104 Commission, Government of India
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106 The top five most mined distric
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108 There are several other content
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110 Table 2.11: Enrolment of childr
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112 companies for their power plant
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115 Jharkhand State Overview The st
Page 116 and 117: 117 population who live in these fo
Page 118 and 119: 119 around coal, but to also provid
Page 120 and 121: 121 Status of Anganwadi Centres and
Page 122 and 123: 123 due to multiple government duti
Page 124 and 125: 125 Uranium Corporation of India Li
Page 126 and 127: 128 farming and forestry. It is the
Page 128 and 129: 130 attendance at birth, the high p
Page 130 and 131: 132 were displaced for mining proje
Page 132 and 133: 134 the impacts are visibly evident
Page 134 and 135: 136 for construction and other indu
Page 136 and 137: 138 Table 2.17: School enrolment da
Page 138 and 139: 140 village also complained of cont
Page 140 and 141: 142 about the status of children in
Page 142 and 143: 144 exposed to the toxicity from th
Page 144 and 145: 146 for labour elsewhere. The prese
Page 146 and 147: 148 State Excesses and Human Rights
Page 148 and 149: 150 Table 2.25: Information collect
Page 150 and 151: 152 The DP Camp is far away from th
Page 152 and 153: 154 Naik and Mr. Prahlad Naid who a
Page 154 and 155: 156 Social Cost of Displacement As
Page 156 and 157: 158 Table 2.32: Comparative village
Page 158 and 159: 160 Rajabandha also has a low cost
Page 160 and 161: 162 on land to be acquired in some
Page 162 and 163: 165 Andhra Pradesh State Overview T
Page 164 and 165: 167 Mining in Andhra Pradesh Almost
Page 168 and 169: 171 other families also working in
Page 170 and 171: 173 Nature of Quarry Work Tradition
Page 172 and 173: 175 Conclusions The three micro-lev
Page 174 and 175: Part III Summary and Recommendation
Page 176 and 177: 180 Whose Child is India’s Mining
Page 178 and 179: 182 attention on child labour issue
Page 180 and 181: 184 are not working in the mines.
Page 182 and 183: 186 proposed to be the basis of th
Page 184 and 185: 188 explored, clear design and work
Page 186 and 187: OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE RIGHT TO IN
Page 188 and 189: 193 Andhra Pradesh areas. Appr
Page 190 and 191: 195 Tamil Nadu Orissa informati
Page 192 and 193: 197 compensation for land and R
Page 194 and 195: Annexures
Page 196 and 197: 200 Karnataka The tables below give
Page 198 and 199: 202 Drop-out children brought back
Page 200 and 201: 205 Glossary Adivasi: The term used
Page 202 and 203: 207 and educational development. Pa
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Children - Terre des Hommes

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