!!"# i India’s Childhood in the "Pits" A Report on the Impacts of Mining on Children in India ii Published by: Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and Children-Samata, Visakhapatnam HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, New Delhi In partnership with: mines, minerals & PEOPLE Supported by: Terre des Hommes Germany, AEI & ASTM Luxembourg March 2010 ISBN Number: 978-81-906548-4-5 Any part of this report can be reproduced with permission from the following: Dhaatri - Samata, 14-37-9, Krishna Nagar, Maharanipet, Visakhapatnam-530002 Andhra Pradesh Email: [email protected] HAQ:Centre for Child Rights B1/2 Malviya Nagar New Delhi-110017 Email: [email protected] www.haqcrc.org Credits: Research Coordination: Bhanumathi Kalluri, Enakshi Ganguly Thukral Field Investigators: Vinayak Pawar, Kusha Garada Documentation Support: Riya Mitra, G.Ravi Sankar, Parul Thukral Report: Part 1- Enakshi Ganguly Thukral and Emily Part 2- Bhanu Kalluri, Seema Mundoli, Sushila Marar, Emily Design and Printing: Aspire Design iv List of Abbreviations AEI – Aide à l’Enfance de l’Inde MCL – Mahanadi Coalfields Limited ANM – Auxiliary Nurse cum Midwife MDGs – Millennium Development Goals ARI – Acute Respiratory Illness MLPC – Mine Labour Protection Campaign. ASER – Annual Status of Education Report mm&P – mines mineral and PEOPLE ASTM – Action Solidarite Tiers Monde MMDR Act – Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) AWC – Anganwadi Centre Act BCCL – Bharat Cooking Coal Limited MP – Madhya Pradesh BGML – Bharat Gold Mines Limited MW – Megawatt BHEL – Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited NACO – National AIDS Control Organisation BIFR – Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction NALCO – National Aluminum Company BPL – Below Poverty Line NCLP – National Child Labour Project BPO – Business Process Outsourcing NCRB – National Crime Records Bureau BRC – Block Resource Coordinator NFHS – National Family Health Survey BSL – Bisra Stone Lime Company Limited NGO – Non–Governmental Organisation CCL – Central Coalfields Limited NIOH – National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety CHC – Community Health Centre NMDC – National Mineral Development Corporation CICL – Child in Conflict with Law NREGA – National Rural Employment Guarantee Act CMPDI – Central Mine Planning and Design Institute NSSO – National Sample Survey Organisation CNCP – Child in Need of Care and Protection OBC – Other Backward Classes CSE – Centre for Science and Environment PAP – Project Affected Persons CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility PDS – Public Distribution System Cu m – cubic metres PHC – Primary Health Centre CWSN – Children With Special Needs PIO – Public Information Officer DISE – District Information System for Education PKMS – Pathar Khadan Mazdoor Sangh DP camp – Displaced Persons’ Camp POSCO – Pohang Iron and Steel Company ECL – Eastern Coalfield Limited PSSP – Prakrutiko Sampado Surakshya Parishad EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment READS – Rural Education Action Development Society FDI – Foreign Direct Investment R&R – Rehabilitation and Resettlement FIR – First Information Report Rs – Rupees FPIC – Free Prior and Informed Consent RTI – Right to Information GAFSCA – Gangpur Adivasi Forum for Social and Cultural SAIL – Steel Authority of India Limited Awakening SCCL– Singareni Collieries Company Limited GDP – Gross Domestic Product SC – Scheduled Caste GSDP – Gross State Domestic Product SDP – State Domestic Product Ha – hectare SEEDS – Social Economical Educational Development Society HAL – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SEZ – Special Economic Zone HDI – Human Development Index SGVS – Society of Gram Vikasa Saradhi HIV/AIDS – Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired SHG – Self Help Group Immuno Deficiency Syndrome SOP – Superintendent of Planning and Implementation ICDS – Integrated Child Development Scheme Sq km – square kilometres IIPS – International Institute for Population Sciences STD – Sexually Transmitted Disease ILO – International Labour Organization ST – Scheduled Tribe IMR – Infant Mortality Rate TB – Tuberculosis IPEC – International Programme on the Elimination of Child TDH – Terre des Hommes Labour UAIL – Utkal Alumina International Limited IT – Information Technology UCIL – Uranium Corporation of India Limited KGF – Kolar Gold Fields USA – United States of America KMMI – Karignur Mineral Mining Industry VRDS – Vennela Rural Development Society LWSI – Lutheran World Service India VRS – Voluntary Retirement Schemes MASS – Mitra Association for Social Service 1 Table of Contents About the Study 3 Mining Children — Intoroduction and Overview 5 Part I 13 National Overview Part II 45 State Reports 1. Karnataka 47 2. Maharashtra 65 3. Rajasthan 79 4. Madhya Pradesh 93 5. Chhattisgarh 103 6. Jharkhand 115 7. Orissa 127 8. Andhra Pradesh 165 Part III 177 Summary and Recommendations Part IV 189 Appendix- Our Experience with Right to Information Act Annexures a) Tables 199 b) Glossary of Terms 205 3 About the Study !is study has been conducted jointly by HAQ: Centre minor and major minerals, were covered as well as a wide for Child Rights and Samata in close partnership with the geographic space. One of the most important factors was national alliance, mines, minerals and People (mm&P) the presence of a local organisation or an mm&P partner. network and Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and !is was a priority for two reasons, to secure local support Children, and supported by Terre des Hommes Germany with the research, and to ensure that local groups will (tdh), AEI & ASTM Luxembourg. !e work follows on take the campaign forward and use the study as a basis for from an earlier fact-finding mission that was carried out in mobilisation and advocacy in their states. the iron ore mines of Bellary district, Karnataka. As well as being the first study to cover these issues in a comprehensive Not all background data was available through Census way, the study aims to form the basis for mobilisation statistics or in other public domains. !erefore, the decision and advocacy on this issue. We hope that, along with the was made to use the Right to Information (RTI) Act to mm&P network, we will be able to take forward this work gather missing information. RTIs were sent to a number and to campaign to bring real improvements in the lives of of government departments, including state-owned mining children affected by mining in India. companies, to find out the number of children working in mines, the number of people displaced by projects, various !is report aims to cover the three phases of mining — pre- health statistics for people living in these districts and other mining areas (where projects are being proposed and land information that is not readily available. (See end of Part 2 needs to be attained), current mining areas (where mining is for responses to RTIs filed). already taking place) and post-mining areas (where mining operations were significant but have now ceased). !e main methodology used for field case studies was Field research was carried out in eight states to cover a to understand the overall development indicators of the range of different mining situations, as well as a range of children living around the mines while also identifying the minerals being mined in India today. !e states covered children working in the mines, the nature of their work and were: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya working conditions and how their social life is impacted Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In due to the external influences of the complex ad hoc Orissa we undertook case studies in a number of different communities of workers, truckers, contractors, traders and sites as Orissa is a state most impacted by mining and has other players who form an amorphous and unscrupulous been the focus of further mineral expansion. floating population around the mines. !is was done through visits to villages, schools, anganwadi centres, primary health centres, orphanages, company run schools and hospitals, Methodology meetings with panchayat leaders, village elders, women’s groups, workers’ unions, local officials and NGOs, as well as !is report is compiled from a combination of information visits to the mine sites. gathered in the field and from secondary data. !e sites for fieldwork were chosen to ensure a range of minerals, both 4 List of states and districts visited provide tangible data with respect to children as impacts and problems are not directly visible on children. Although t 1VOFBOE/BTIJLEJTUSJDUT .BIBSBTIUSB +VOF local groups are knowledgeable about the presence of child GPMMPXVQJO4FQUFNCFS labour and other issues, threats from mining and political powers make it dangerous for them to directly confront the t ,PSBQVUBOE3BZBHBEBEJTUSJDUT 0SJTTB +VOF state on issues concerning children. GPMMPXVQJO0DUPCFSBOEJO+BOVBSZ'FCSVBSZ Mining operations are politically sensitive and highly t ,PMBSBOE#FMMBSZEJTUSJDUT ,BSOBUBLB +VOF politicised making it difficult to collect information related GPMMPXVQJO#FMMBSZJO%FDFNCFS to children and mining because of the sensitive nature of this issue. People were nervous to talk, as they feared negative t ,FPOKIBSEJTUSJDU 0SJTTB +VMZ GPMMPXVQJO consequences. In terms of direct access, it is always difficult 'FCSVBSZ to get the opportunity to talk to children first-hand and t +PEIQVS +BJTBMNFSBOE#BSNFSEJTUSJDUT +VMZ this is certainly the case with regard to mining. Researchers GPMMPXVQJO+PEIQVSJO0DUPCFS were cautious to approach children at mine sites, in case of t 1BOOBEJTUSJDU .BEIZB1SBEFTI "VHVTU repercussions for these children. When communities