Children - Terre des Hommes

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Jaisalmer district: Key facts
Total population: 508,247 (Census 2001)
Population (0–14 years): 216,264 (Census 2001)
Literacy rate:
Total 50.97 per cent
Male 66.26 per cent
Female 32.05 per cent (Census 2001)
Percentage of out-of-school children (6–14 years): 15 per cent (ASER 2008)
Percentage of children enrolled in AWC or pre-school (3–4 years): 60.5 per cent (ASER 2008)
Number of child labour (5–14 years): 12,869 (Census 2001)
Under five mortality rate (ranking):
332 out of 593 districts surveyed
(Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh)
A complete lack of social security means that contractors pay
nothing towards medical costs for mining-related accidents
and illnesses, and workers are forced to take unpaid time off
frequently due to ill-health. Workers end up in debt to the
contractors as they need to borrow money for medical costs,
and this cycle of indebtedness is often passed down through
the family. The mines and quarries of Rajasthan are primitive
workplaces, with no drinking water or basic sanitation
provided and often located far from the nearest medical
facilities.
Situation of Children in the
Mining-affected Communities of
Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer
Districts
Rani (name changed) is 10 years old and working in the sandstone
mines in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. She earns Rs. 70 a day, cleaning
mine waste from 9.00 am till 5.00 pm. She works about 15 days
in a month, because she gets tired and needs to rest, and sometimes
is unable to find work in the local mines. She has been to school
(an MLPC-run crèche) for just 2 days in her life. She is already
addicted to gutka and fights with her mother to spend money on
soap and gutka for herself.
Shristhi (name changed) is 16 years old and works in a mine site.
Her father, who was a mine worker died of illness nearly 5 years
back. She has one older sister (married), a younger sister who is
at home, three brothers at school and one brother older than her is
also a mine worker. Her mother too works in the mines. Shristhi
earns about Rs. 100 a day working from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.
She said that she had been working for nearly 4 years now as they
needed the money to run the house. Around 2–3 days in a month
she does not go to work as she rests at home. She suffers from leg
and backache. Shristhi has never been to school.
Source: Interviews carried out in Bhat Basti and Gandero Ki Dhani, Jodhpur
district, October 2009.
Background to the Research
Given the backdrop of the status of children’s overall health
and literacy levels in the state, the case studies undertaken
in the mining areas in Rajasthan, are reflective of these poor
indicators and the denial of basic rights of the child in an
environment of hazardous work, living conditions, social
insecurity and lack of protection from violence and crime.
The research team visited three districts in Rajasthan in July
2009—Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer. Visits were made to
mine sites and quarries, villages engaged in mining, villages
located close to mine sites, anganwadi centres and PHCs.
Women and young girls walk long distances for mine work and for water
(Photo July 2009)