Children - Terre des Hommes

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addressed to include all mining operations in Schedule
of Prohibited Occupations under Schedule A of Act.
labour is the single largest programme in this Ministry’s
activities” 309 , and yet so far its efforts at addressing
the situation of child labour in the mines have been
inadequate. The National Child Labour Programme
(NCLP) must be extended to all children working in
mines, which means it must be upgraded substantially
in terms of numbers, financial allocations and quality of
delivery as well as monitoring.
into regular schools is mandatory and this must be
ensured from children rescued from labour in mines.
submission of their reports, is a must to monitor and
address the child labour situation.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
impacts on children living and working in mining areas.
and occupational diseases as a result of mining the
Ministry needs to have delivery services that will address
critical child health and mortality issues.
that provide early warning, preventive and mitigative
measures should be a continuous intervention.
chronic and long term health problems arising out of
mining activities, related pollution, contamination,
toxicity, disappearance of resources like water bodies
that have affected the nutrition and food security of the
communities, etc
pre-conditions to mining need to be dove-tailed into the
Ministry’s policies and laws.
Legal and policy recommendations to the Ministry of
Mines and other Ministries
The following recommendations are directed to the Ministry
of Mines are also recommended for incorporation into
respective laws and policies of all the concerned ministries and
state institutions that exist for the protection of children.
Pre-conditions (specific to protection of children’s rights) for
getting a mining lease:
and use of minerals in a ‘scientific’ manner. The rules laid
under this Act mainly relate to mine planning, processes
of mining, the nature of technology, procedures and
eligibility criteria for obtaining mining leases and all
aspects related to mines. It does not give significant
reference to the manner in which mining is to take
place, from the social context, except for some broad
guidelines in terms of environment, rehabilitation and
social impacts. Given the huge negative impacts of
mining on children, specific pre-conditions should be
clearly laid out prior to granting of mining leases, where
mining companies have to indicate concrete actions for
the development and protection of children. In order
to undertake responsible mining, unless some of the
following social impacts and accountability particularly
with regard to children, are incorporated within the Act
and the Mine Plan, violation of children’s rights will
continue in mining areas.
technical specifications on how to mine and procedures
to obtain licences and leases, eligibility criteria and preconditions
in terms of standards, responsibilities, socioecological
rehabilitation mechanisms, clearly laid out
rules on penalties for offences, which are legally binding.
These should include all the three stages of mining—
prior to beginning the mining activities, during the
period of mining and post-closure of the mines.
conventions and national laws protecting children should
be set clearly before the initiation of any project related
activity on ground or clearances and should be subject to
monitoring by civil society groups, workers themselves
and local governance institutions to provide checks and
balances. These should clearly state in the rules of the
MMDR Act that mining leases will be given only after
clearances are obtained from the respective departments
like Women and Child Welfare, Education, Tribal
Welfare, Labour, Health, Police, to name a few, with
regard to partnering with the company or in directly
providing institutional support for children of displaced/
affected/migrant mining communities. This is to ensure
sustainable development framework in mining, which is
308 At present mining and collieries are the only forms of mining included in Schedule A.
309 Website of the Minsitry of Labour. URL: http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (accessed 11 March 2010)