Children - Terre des Hommes

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92 Many of the Workers in the Mines of India are Children News & Communications, DUKE UNIVERSITY Tuesday, November 8, 2005 DURHAM, N.C. -- When we arrived that morning in Bhat Basti, a crowd of excited children swarmed around our jeep before I could even open the door. One of them was a pretty 12 year-old girl named Raju. She spends her days toiling in the cavernous quarries of India. Bhat Basti is a cramped mining village that’s sprung up on the scorched earth where the desert meets the city of Jodhpur. That day, I visited with my colleagues from GRAVIS, the local non-governmental organization where I’ve been working as a researcher for the past four months. Persistent droughts forced Raju’s family to migrate to the city for work. But after laboring in the mines, her father died of silicosis, or occupational lung disease. When her mother fell sick earlier this year, the burden of supporting the family fell to Raju. She now earns 50 rupees (US $1.25) for each 12 hour day of clearing rubble from the bottom of the mine. Because her low caste status limits her opportunities and the dominating mine owners limit her freedom, it’s unlikely that Raju will ever escape this cycle of poverty. Yet Raju’s story is hardly unique: Of the two million mine workers in Rajasthan, an estimated 20 percent are children. http://news.duke.edu/2005/11/child%20labor.html Reckless In Raniganj From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 50, Dated Dec 20, 2008 Life here is a step away from catastrophe — but desperation forces many into activities that undermine their own future, says TUSHA MITTAL EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Muskaan is kneeling close to a patch of fresh, hot coal. She is sorting charcoal pieces that she will pile into a bamboo basket for her father to carry across the town of Raniganj. Everyday, groups of other men, women and children join her at this coalburning ghat, only a few kilometres from the city’s main market. The coal that comes to them is mined and sold illegally. The irony is that Raniganj sits in the heart of India’s coal belt, yet residents rely on illegal coal to cook their daily food. If caught, Muskaan can end up in prison for months without trial, but a lonely constable in khaki from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), watching passively at the sidelines provides the muchneeded assurance. But as Muskaan bends over, she doesn’t know that the ground below could be a hollow cavern, a void created by the same illegal mining she’s a part of. Today, after years of unscientific coal mining, Raniganj is suspended over a thin crust of land; over a labyrinth of vacant galleries. Locals live in fear that someday, the entire town with its 35,000 plus population could cave in. As they ply through the town’s dense alleys, no one knows where, or when, the feeble earth will crumble. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41. asp?filename=Bu201208reckless_in.asp
93 Madhya Pradesh State Overview The total population of Madhya Pradesh in 2001 was 60,348,023. 127 In 2006-07, the state had a GDP of Rs. 962.5 billion. Although almost half of the GDP came from the tertiary sector (including railways, trade, hotels and restaurants) the largest single sector was agriculture, accounting for Rs. 230 billion of the state’s GDP. 128 More than 80 per cent of the population in the state depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The state is heavily forested, with forest cover of around 1.7 million ha. In 2006-07, Rs. 13.9 billion of its revenue came from forest products. However, in the period between 1980 and 2008, a total of 11,970 ha of forest land in the state were diverted for mining. 129 Mining accounted for Rs. 35 billion or 3.66 per cent of the state’s GDP in 2006-07. The Human Development Report 2007 for Madhya Pradesh described the general state of human development as ‘progressive but backward in Madhya Pradesh’. 130 The rural areas and parts of the southwest, southeast, northwest and central belts are described as being more backward than the rest of the state. These are also the regions that are forested and have a large ST population. Overall, the state has a very high number of STs as a proportion of the total population—12.23 million or 20.4 per cent of the total state population. There is also a large SC population in the state—9.15 million or 15.2 per cent of the total population. 131 Around 38.3 per cent of the state’s population lives below the poverty line; this is far higher than the all-India average of 27.5 per cent. Amongst the SC population, these figures are even higher—67.3 per cent of SCs in urban areas live below the poverty line and 42.8 per cent in rural areas. 132 Literacy rates also reveal the continued practice of widespread discrimination and marginalisation in the state. Although 63.74 per cent of the state’s population is literate, only 55.39 per cent of SCs living in rural areas and 41.16 per cent of rural ST population are literate. The figures are even worse for women, with only 28.44 per cent of ST women being literate. 133 Life expectancy in Madhya Pradesh is also lower than the national average – 57.4 years, as compared to India’s average of 63 years. Status of Children In 2001, there were 23,252,416 children aged 14 years and under in Madhya Pradesh, and 28,943,033 aged 19 years and under 134 , meaning that children constitute over 40 per cent of the state’s population. According to official statistics, there were 181,424 children aged between 6 and 14 years out of school in the state. 135 However, the state government claimed 127. Census of India, 2001. 128. Uploaded from indiastat.com; data from Central Statistical Organisation, as on 9 February 2009. 129. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 234, dated 20.10.2008, Selected State-wise Forest Land Diverted for Mining by Ministry of Environment and Forests in India (25.10.1980 to 30.09.2008). 130. Government of Madhya Pradesh, Human Development Report, 2007, http://www.mp.gov.in/difmp/mphdr2007.htm. 131. Census of India, 2001. 132. Accessed at indiastat.com; Data taken from Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4530, dated on 24.04.2008. 133. Census of India, 2001. 134. Census of India, 2001. 135. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 576, dated 21.10.2008.
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India’s Childhood in the "Pits" A
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iii Acknowledgements This report, c
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Table of Contents About the Study 3
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4 List of states and districts visi
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6 However, closer observation of th
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8 In addition, almost all work perf
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10 Impacts Children are affected di
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12 is mandatory and this must be
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15 National Overview Mining has imp
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17 Table 1.2: Number of illegal min
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19 Table 1.3: Key indicators in min
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21 migrate to plain areas or are co
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23 had no land to start with and wo
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25 Although there is no data to sho
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27 2,055 children enrolled in Santu
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29 we will eat tomorrow,” said a
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31 GURIA is a dark-eyed little girl
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33 Serious health problems have alr
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35 In several districts of Rajastha
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37 Table 1.4: Total number of child
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 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
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144 exposed to the toxicity from th
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146 for labour elsewhere. The prese
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148 State Excesses and Human Rights
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150 Table 2.25: Information collect
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152 The DP Camp is far away from th
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154 Naik and Mr. Prahlad Naid who a
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156 Social Cost of Displacement As
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158 Table 2.32: Comparative village
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160 Rajabandha also has a low cost
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162 on land to be acquired in some
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165 Andhra Pradesh State Overview T
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167 Mining in Andhra Pradesh Almost
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169 small areas where there are qua
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171 other families also working in
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173 Nature of Quarry Work Tradition
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175 Conclusions The three micro-lev
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Part III Summary and Recommendation
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180 Whose Child is India’s Mining
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182 attention on child labour issue
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184 are not working in the mines.
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186 proposed to be the basis of th
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188 explored, clear design and work
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OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE RIGHT TO IN
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193 Andhra Pradesh areas. Appr
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195 Tamil Nadu Orissa informati
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197 compensation for land and R
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Annexures
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200 Karnataka The tables below give
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202 Drop-out children brought back
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205 Glossary Adivasi: The term used
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207 and educational development. Pa
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