Children - Terre des Hommes

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poverty, (ii) education, (iii) health, (iv) women and children,
(v) infrastructure, and (vi) environment.
There is certainly a mismatch in these development targets
vis-à-vis the economic priorities. The case study presented
from Maharastra is a standing example of this paradox.
The Living Conditions of Mine
Workers’ Children: A Sheet of Plastic
Called a House and Six Feet of Living
Space
The study was done in Pune and Nashik districts. In Pune two
major stone quarries were visited—Wagholi and Shirur. The
endless stretches of stone quarries and crushers across Pune
and Nashik districts of Maharastra hide the truth behind the
supply chain that feed the construction of the highways and the
fast growing urban infrastructure, the proud icons of modern
economy but no ivory towers for migrant child labour.
Almost all the quarries visited are very big quarries and have
been in operation for more than ten years. Normally each
quarry has multiple sites scattered around within the lease
area with small groups of workers digging and shifting from
site to site within this lease area. Sometimes they extend their
digging outside the lease area illegally, depending on the mine
owner’s local muscle power and influence. Pune and Nashik
are strategically urban nodes especially with their proximity to
Mumbai and the expanding suburban cities. According to Mr.
Bastu Rege of Santulan, an organisation that works for the
rights of stone quarry workers, there are 500–1,000 quarries
in every district. According to the District Mining Officer
of Pune, there are 412 stone quarries, but the ground reality
reports show that there are double this number operating
illegally. It was unofficially accepted that between 25 and 40
per cent of all mines are illegal.
For example, in 1999-2001, the state had 1,777 stone quarries
and the revenue collected was to the tune of Rs.1954.09 lakhs
(16 districts). In 2008-09, the revenue increased to 2990.32
lakhs (covering only three districts). This increase is a reflection
of the increase in the number of stone quarries, which further
reflects the increase in unorganised sector workers.
In both the districts, the main caste groups working in the
stone quarries are the Vadar community, whose traditional
occupation is stone-breaking. Also, increasing poverty and
failure of agriculture has forced backward castes, mainly the
SCs to shift to the mining sector for daily wages. According to
Mr. Bastu Rege, the membership in unions that are supported
by Santulan constitute 54 per cent from the Vadar community
and the rest belong to SC, ST and other backward castes
(OBCs). Of these, 80 per cent are illiterate. Most of the workers
are migrants from within Maharashtra and the neighbouring
states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Mr. Rege observed
that in each quarry, on an average, there are 75 workers.
Migrant stone quarry workers’ ‘houses’ surrounded by dust from the quarries
(Photo September 2009)
The nine stone quarries visited showed India’s dis-respect
both to the Constitutional provisions under Article 21 of
Right to Life and to the international agreements. It showed
how poor and unstable the living conditions of the workers
were. If we found any amenities for workers, it was due to the
efforts made by Santulan, in getting the workers into assertive
collectives. Most of the mine workers’ colonies were located
away from the main villages, and they were not part of the
village community, but settled wherever mine owners allowed
them to temporarily set up shacks, close to the mines. In some
places, vacant lands were temporarily given to the workers by
the local panchayat, based on the negotiations between the
mine owners and the panchayat leaders. Hence, the workers
were at the mercy of the village leaders.
Houses are ad hoc shelters made of plastic sheets and quarry
stones packed as walls. In a house of 8x10 ft space, or even
sometimes 4x6 ft space, 7–10 members of a family are seen
to share the space. Most of the cooking and living happens
outside these sheds, so the women narrate how mine dust
gets mixed with the food that is cooked and how the drinking
water they consume, always has a layer of dust.
Water for both drinking and domestic use, is a serious
problem for all workers. The workers showed how they collect
the water from the mine pits and utilise this for their basic
needs. As the workers are at the mercy of the villages, they
find it difficult to get a decent share of water even for drinking
especially as the villages themselves face water shortages. In