Children - Terre des Hommes

5
Mining Children —
Introduction and Overview
India is endowed with significant mineral resources. The
constant endeavour of humans to mine more and more
resources from the earth has been going on for centuries.
Metals, stones, oil, gas and even sand are all mined. Indeed,
steel, aluminium and other plants have come to be a symbol
of progress and industrial growth, while fossil fuels and coal
are mined for our ever-increasing need for energy. Every time
a mining operation begins, it is with promises of growth and
development, yet these promises are rarely delivered.
Mining has, throughout history, been a symbol of the
struggle between human need and human greed; the
human need to dig into the earth and take control over its
resources. Industry, infrastructure and investments have been
decisively stated as basic vehicles to drive India into this race,
which automatically translates into mineral extraction and
processing being of utmost importance to implement this
dream. Further, development visions are based on certain
premises built into public thought processes. The first of these
premises is that mining brings economic prosperity at all
levels of the country — national and local. It has been based
on the principle that the high revenues generated by mining
activities will convert poverty stricken and marginalised
communities and workforce into economically grounded
communities with positive developments in employment
generation, health, education, local infrastructure and the
creation of a diversified opportunity base.
Overview on Mining
fuel minerals, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor
minerals (such as building stones). Mining for fuel, metallic
and non-metallic industrial minerals is currently undertaken
in almost half of India’s districts. 1 Coal and metallic reserves
are spread across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Iron ore deposits
are located in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in the
north, and Goa and Karnataka in the south. Limestone is
found in Himachal Pradesh in the north, to Andhra Pradesh
in the south and from Gujarat in the west to Meghalaya in
the east. In terms of mineral deposits, Jharkhand, Orissa and
Chhattisgarh are the top three mineral bearing states. 2
The contribution of the mining and quarrying sector to
3 However, the demand
for metals and minerals in India and in other developing
countries has led to a steady growth in the country’s mineral
industry.
preceding period and with the global recession hitting India,
the mining and quarrying industry was the only segment of
the economy not to experience steep deceleration of growth
rates. 5 However, what needs to be remembered is that in
terms of the galloping Indian economy, mining makes
only a marginal contribution.
In the 2008 National Mineral Policy, the government
recognises that:
“As a major resource for development, the extraction and
management of minerals has to be integrated into the overall
strategy of the country’s economic development. The exploitation
of minerals has to be guided by long-term national goals and
perspectives.”
1. Centre for Science and Environment, “Rich Lands, Poor People,” State of India’s Environment: 6, 2008, pp. 3,
2.
3.
Ibid.
Ministry of Mines, Annual Report, 2008-2009, pp. 10.
4. U.S. Geological Survey, 2007 Minerals Yearbook: India, pp. 11.1.
5. Rediff.com, India’s GDP falls to 6.7 per cent in FY09, http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/may/29/bcrisis-indias-gdp-falls.htm, 29 May, 2009.