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37 Table 1.4: Total number of children working in mining and quarrying in India (main and marginal workers) Total main and marginal worker State 5-14 5-19 year year Andaman and Nicobar Islands 11 107 Andhra Pradesh 11,660 37,586 Arunachal Pradesh 3 30 Assam 591 3,101 Bihar 689 2,906 Chandigarh 2 17 Chhattishgarh 426 2,897 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 13 97 Daman and Diu 2 18 Delhi 939 3,208 Goa 196 1,198 Gujarat 2,120 12,323 Haryana 886 4,473 Himachal Pradesh 20 453 Jammu and Kashmir 58 268 Jharkhand 2,862 13,346 Karnataka 4,669 18,276 Kerala 239 3,487 Lakshadweep 0 0 Madhya Pradesh 2,747 12,655 Maharashtra 2,095 11,758 Manipur 5 36 Meghalaya 154 881 Mizoram 64 216 Nagaland 3 54 Orissa 2,257 11,203 Puducherry 11 57 Punjab 61 537 Rajasthan 4,296 29,498 Sikkim 26 148 Tamil Nadu 2,708 14,879 Tripura 76 198 Uttarakhand 2,045 4,870 Uttar Pradesh 1,094 6,309 West Bengal 2,107 9,630 India 45,135 206,720 Source: Census, 2001 due to reduced demand for iron and manganese since the peak period of 2000-2005. Child labour is not being reduced because of positive efforts to address the problem by the state or the mining companies; instead it is because of the overall status of mining due to recession. Many of these children have been forced to turn to other forms of work to generate an income, as opposed to being able to access education, and child labour is bound to increase again once the market improves and demand for the minerals increases. It is difficult to measure the number of children involved in mining, because of the remoteness, informal character of the sector and mobility factors. However, the ILO estimates that more than one million children are involved in mining across the world. The actual figure, though, may be much higher than this, particularly given that the ILO states that 250,000 children work in mines in Niger alone. Child labour in the mining sector is prevalent in numerous countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, where children can be found working mostly in small-scale underground and opencast mines and quarries. They work in the extraction and processing of various types of ore and minerals, including goal, silver, iron, tin, emeralds, coal, chrome, marble and stone. The ILO describes how “Today’s child miners do not work directly for big mining companies. They may work for a small local mining or quarrying concern or with their own families on small concessions near bigger mines.” 138 It is impossible to give an accurate figure for the number of children working in mining and quarrying in India. which means that the mining sector employs nearly 7 per cent of working children in India. Child labour the Census — so there are likely to be very large numbers of children 15–18 years working in the mines. Field visits to mining areas confirmed this to be the case — this age group of children is very visible in the mines and quarries across the country as they are better able than younger to children to carry out physically demanding work. However, the figures provided by the Census grossly underestimate the scale of the problem. Organisations working on mining in Rajasthan estimate that around 137. ILO, Digging for Survival: The Child Miners, 2005. 138. Ibid.
38 “My name is Sudeep. I am working with my father here in the stone quarries since 3-4 years. Now I am 18 years old. I come from Panna village. There is no fixed rate of payment for the work I do. For digging out one plate of stone we get Rs. 70-120 per day. In a day we can take out 5-6 plates of the stone, as a group. I can say that I earn Rs.100-120 in one day. But I can only work for 12- 15 days in a month as the work is very strenuous. I have never been to school”. Source:: Interview carried out in Purna panna stone and diamond quarries, 18 state alone. In Karnataka, estimates suggest that there are at least a few lakh children engaged in mining there. So the number of children working in mining in India is ,in fact, likely to be much closer to the one million that the ILO gives as the worldwide figure. The blurring of children and women’s labour has been cited as one impediment to accurate data on children working in mining in India, as often in reports and statistics women and children are lumped together. In Kallali, in Bellary district, Karnataka, large numbers of children from the Madiga community (a Scheduled Caste) are engaged in stone crushing work, prescribed to be their traditional occupation. Over 20 percent of the children aged be working at the mining sites. According to the children interviewed, there are over 100 crushing machines in the surrounding area, and at each crushing site at least 20-25 children are working, most of them girls, earning around Rs.100-110 per day for their labour. In Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, locals explained how most of the boys and girls start working by the age of 10. In Bador village, the community elders said that there were about 200 children in the village, of which around 100 attend the primary school. However, they drop out by fifth grade and join the mine labour. Parent explained that as future breadwinners of families, they have to learn the work early in life. At a diamond mine in Panna district, the research of the children were below 12 years of age and were helping their parents throw the soil away. The parents stated that the children are enrolled in school, but they work half the day in the mines and then attend school in the afternoon. In Mannor village, which has a child population of around 300, only 20 are reported to be attending school. When children reach the age of 10 or 12, they join daily wage work in the diamond mines. It is claimed that only 2 children have studied up to class V in this village. Cases of state and industry irresponsibility are seen even where a precious stone like diamond is concerned, children are working in Madhya Pradesh to find diamonds for local contractors, where the stakes are extremely high but the trade routes are deliberately made elusive. The Obulapuram mines and the child labour in Bellary is another clear example of this. The local contractors who hire child labour do not even make a pretention of hiding the facts. In Bellary they stated that they are immune from laws and regulations, which they flout openly because “it is taken care of ” by the Obulapuram Mines. This reflects the arrogant defiance to law as law-keepers can be easily purchased to the highest levels of power. In most of the areas we found that mining, undoubtedly, was a dirty business with more illegal than legal modes of operation. Poverty is often presented as the only factor that explains child labour in the mining sector. However, the actual picture is far more complex than this. A multitude of socioeconomic factors have led to a situation where, in the 21st century, large numbers of children can still be seen toiling in our mines and quarries. The systemic and deliberate reason is that child labour is cheap, and this cheap labour is welcomed by contractors in the mining and quarrying sector. Children are also compliant, easier to control and have no bargaining power. Children are often forced into mining because of the low wages received by their parents. They are pushed into the labour force in order to enable the family to survive, particularly in difficult times, such as that of family injury or illness. 139. One lakh is equal to 100,000. 140. Fact-finding Team, Our Mining Children, April 2005. http://rimmrights.org/Documents/2005-India-Bellary%20fact%20finding%20report.pdf, uploaded: 10 February 2010. 141. K. Lahiri-Dutt, Digging to Survive: Women's Livelihoods in South Asia's Small Mines and Quarries, 2008. 142. Interviews with children, Kallali, Bellary district, Karnataka, June 2009. 143. Interviews with mining-affected community, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, September 2009. 144. Interviews at diamond mine, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, September 2009.
Page 2 and 3: India’s Childhood in the "Pits" A
Page 4 and 5: iii Acknowledgements This report, c
Page 6 and 7: Table of Contents About the Study 3
Page 8 and 9: 4 List of states and districts visi
Page 10 and 11: 6 However, closer observation of th
Page 12 and 13: 8 In addition, almost all work perf
Page 14 and 15: 10 Impacts Children are affected di
Page 16 and 17: 12 is mandatory and this must be
Page 18 and 19: 15 National Overview Mining has imp
Page 20 and 21: 17 Table 1.2: Number of illegal min
Page 22 and 23: 19 Table 1.3: Key indicators in min
Page 24 and 25: 21 migrate to plain areas or are co
Page 26 and 27: 23 had no land to start with and wo
Page 28 and 29: 25 Although there is no data to sho
Page 30 and 31: 27 2,055 children enrolled in Santu
Page 32 and 33: 29 we will eat tomorrow,” said a
Page 34 and 35: 31 GURIA is a dark-eyed little girl
Page 36 and 37: 33 Serious health problems have alr
Page 38 and 39: 35 In several districts of Rajastha
Page 42 and 43: 39 Bearing in mind that many of the
Page 44 and 45: 41 children are working in mines in
Page 46 and 47: 43 significant problem. A study car
Page 48 and 49: 45 Part II State Reports 1. Karnata
Page 50 and 51: 48 basic healthcare to its populati
Page 52 and 53: 50 Kolar district: Key facts Total
Page 54 and 55: 52 and pursued higher education. Th
Page 56 and 57: 54 has created a peculiar aesthetic
Page 58 and 59: 56 number of children working in th
Page 60 and 61: 58 almost every child is absent for
Page 62 and 63: 60 Table 2.02: Survey on children n
Page 64 and 65: 62 the village were cough, eye infe
Page 66 and 67: 65 Maharashtra State Overview Mahar
Page 68 and 69: 67 154 are in Maharashtra (making i
Page 70 and 71: 69 poverty, (ii) education, (iii) h
Page 72 and 73: 71 Quarry is a very big area spread
Page 74 and 75: 73 family works as a unit and manag
Page 76 and 77: 75 Table 2.06: Class-wise distribut
Page 78 and 79: 77 Children in stone quarries hit b
Page 80 and 81: 80 Literacy levels are also poor in
Page 82 and 83: 82 and quarrying in the state. Of t
Page 84 and 85: 84 Follow up interviews were carrie
Page 86 and 87: 86 At Thumbli village, residents ex
Page 88 and 89: 88 usually not strong enough to car
Page 90 and 91:
90 Inadequate Health Facilities Sev
Page 92 and 93:
92 Many of the Workers in the Mines
Page 94 and 95:
94 that 296,979 children aged betwe
Page 96 and 97:
96 This case study covered two mine
Page 98 and 99:
98 Traditional Forest Dwellers (Rec
Page 100 and 101:
100 in the mine sites ekeing out a
Page 102 and 103:
102 Conclusions Panna, once a rich
Page 104 and 105:
104 Commission, Government of India
Page 106 and 107:
106 The top five most mined distric
Page 108 and 109:
108 There are several other content
Page 110 and 111:
110 Table 2.11: Enrolment of childr
Page 112 and 113:
112 companies for their power plant
Page 114 and 115:
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 166 and 167:
169 small areas where there are qua
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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