|
 Investigations over three months in the major mica producing states
of Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh found child labor
rife, with small hands ideal to pick and sort the valued mineral
that puts the sparkle in cosmetics and car paint.
But interviews with workers and local communities discovered
children were not only risking their health in abandoned "ghost"
mines off official radars, but they were dying in the unregulated,
crumbling mines, with seven killed since June.
In the mud-and-brick village of Chandwara in Bihar in eastern India,
a father's grief laid bare the ugly reality of the illegal mining
that accounts for an estimated 70 percent of India's mica output.
Vasdev Rai Pratap's 16-year-old son Madan was killed in a mica mine
along with two other adult workers in the neighboring state of
Jharkhand on June 23.
"I didn't know how dangerous the work in the mines is. Had I known,
I would never have let him go," said Pratap, sitting on a charpoy -
a traditional woven bed - outside his home, surrounded by friends
and family who had come to mourn the teen's death.
"They said it took almost a day to dig out his body after the mine
collapsed. They cremated him without telling me. I didn't even see
my boy before they set him alight."
Pratap, like other victims' families and mine operators, has not
reported the death, choosing to accept a payment for his loss rather
than risk ending the illegal mining on protected forest land that
brings income to some of India's poorest areas.
The farmer said he was promised a 100,000 rupee ($1,500) payment
from the operator of the mine but has yet to receive it.
The mine where Madan was working is illegal, and no one was
available to comment on the teenager's death.
Indian law forbids children below the age of 18 working in mines and
other hazardous industries but many families living in extreme
poverty rely on children to boost household income.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation findings were backed up by Nobel
laureate Kailash Satyarthi's child protection group Bachpan Bachao
Andolan (BBA) - or Save the Childhood Movement - which documented
over 20 mica-related deaths in June - including that of Madan and
two other children - double the monthly average.
BBA discovered four children were killed in July.
India is one of the world's largest producers of the silver-colored,
crystalline mineral that has gained prominence in recent years as an
environmentally-friendly material, used by major global brands in
the car and building sectors, electronics and make-up.
"BLOOD MONEY"
A spokesman for India's Ministry of Mines said safety in mica mines
was a matter for state governments who are facing mounting pressure
from the mining industry to grant licenses to illegal mines.
Social activists also support these calls, claiming it will help
crackdown on the flourishing black market in mica, worker
exploitation and abuse, and child deaths.
"The central government has no machinery to inspect or control the
mines," the spokesman Y.S. Kataria told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation.
BBA workers, who have been trying to stop child labor in Jharkhand's
mica mines for almost a decade, said Madan's death and the six
others in the past two months were just the tip of the iceberg,
estimating fewer than 10 percent of mica mine deaths are reported to
the police.
"Although there are no official figures on child deaths in the mines
as it is all illegal, we hear about them through our networks in the
villages where we work," said Raj Bhushan, BBA's Jharkhand Project
Coordinator.
"Normally, we hear about 10 fatalities on average in a month. But in
June, we documented over 20 deaths, including two of boys aged
around 15 years old."
Officials from India's Directorate of Mines Safety were not
available to comment on the number of child fatalities.
The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR),
a government organization, conducted a fact-finding mission in
Jharkhand's Koderma and Giridih districts in June and found children
as young as eight mining mica.
"We didn't get any reports of children being injured or dying due to
mine accidents such as collapses as it is all illegal and not
reported openly. But it may be happening," said the head of the fact
finding mission of NCPCR, Priyank Kanoongo.
A senior official from Jharkhand's labor department, which is
responsible for ensuring child labor laws are followed, said there
were no reports of children dying due to mica mining.
"Firstly it is a violation of the law of the land if people are
mining without any approval and if they are engaging child labor,
they committing a double crime," said Principal Secretary of
Jharkhand's labor department S.K.G. Rahate.
OFFICIALS KNOW OF CHILD LABOR
District officials admit child labor is a problem in some mines but
say it is restricted to remote pockets where government services and
welfare schemes have failed to reach the poor with training in new
industries and schooling.
"There are some portions where mica mining is going on and where
children are involved, and we're trying to roll out schemes to
support families to generate other income such as training in goat
breeding, masonry and making pickles," said Uma Shankar Singh,
District Collector for Giridih.
Dutch campaign group SOMO estimates up to 20,000 children are
involved in mica mining in Jharkhand and Bihar.
Investigations by the Thomson Reuters Foundation over three months
found children working in and around mica mines in northern
Jharkhand, southern Bihar and in Rajasthan in India's northwest.
In vast open-pits in Jharkhand, children as young as six squatted
among glittering rocks scouring with their bare hands for shiny,
brittle mica flakes, while older ones descended rickety ladders into
shafts seeking better quality silicate.
In Giridih's Tisri area, Basanti sifted through the reddish earth
searching for pieces of mica while her 10-year-old son Sandeep
climbed into a rat-hole dug in the side of the hill and descended 3
meters (10 ft) to pound on the wall with a pick-axe.
His mother said the skinny boy in checked shorts and a white T-shirt
has been working in the mines since he was seven and, with his
contribution, the family earns 300 rupees ($4) daily.
"I know it's dangerous but that's the only work there is," she said,
squatting on the ground, a metal dish partially filled with mica
beside her.
"I know Sandeep doesn't want to do it but it is what it is. If he
was able to go to school and learn and become something then that's
good, but first we need to eat."
"EVEN ADULT MINE WORKERS AREN'T SAFE"
In Bhilwara district in Rajasthan, boys as young as five were seen
climbing down narrow, crumbling shafts to cut mica with a hammer and
chisel, working for up to eight hours a day.
Their sisters sifted and separated the mica on the surface,
squatting on their haunches and using their bare fingers. Older
girls also separated the mica and took it to a collection point.
"Mine owners say the children aren't working inside the mines,
they're outside. That they're just earning a little extra for the
family," said Rana Sengupta, chief executive of the non-profit Mine
Labour Protection Campaign in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
"But the children have no business being anywhere near the mines,
inside or outside. Even adult mine workers aren't safe."
At a mine in Bhilwara's Tiloli village, two young girls sat on a
mound of dirt, sorting mica pieces by the side of a mine partly
filled with rain water.
"I don't go into the mine. It's too deep, I get scared," said Pooja,
who looked about seven years old. "I sort bigger pieces from smaller
pieces. It's not so hard."
A few feet from her sat nine-year-old Payal, also sorting mica
pieces with her bare hands.
Dhanraj Sharma, a commissioner in Rajasthan's Labour Ministry, said
he was not aware of child workers in the mines in Bhilwara or
"anywhere else in the state".
"Their parents are working in the mines, and the children stay with
them. They may be playing there, they may be doing some small things
for the parents. That doesn't mean they are working," he told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The recent surge in demand for mica has revived a flagging industry
in India that dates back to the late 19th century when the British
discovered mica in a belt spanning Jharkhand's Koderma, Giridih and
Hazaribag and Bihar's Nawada, Jamui, Gaya and Bhagalpur districts.
Once boasting over 700 mines with over 20,000 workers, the industry
was hit by 1980 legislation to limit deforestation and the discovery
of substitutes for natural mica, forcing most mines to close due to
cost and stringent environmental rules.
In 2013/14 India only had 38 reporting mica mines, according to
India's Bureau of Mines.
THREATS AND INTIMIDATION
But renewed interest in mica from China's economic boom and a global
craze for "natural" cosmetics has sent illegal operators scurrying
to access the hundreds of closed mines in India and created a
lucrative black market.
Figures from India's Bureau of Mines show the country produced
19,000 tonnes of mica in 2013/14.
But the same data shows exports were 128,000 tonnes, with more than
half, or 62 percent, going to China followed by Japan, the United
States, the Netherlands and France.
Despite numerous emails and phone calls, no one could be reached at
the Bureau of Mines to comment on the discrepancy in the numbers.
Leading Indian color and pigment maker Sudarshan said experts
estimate about 70 percent of mica production in India is from
illegal mining in forests and abandoned mines.
This mica is sold to various traders, processors and exporters with
deals conducted on mobile phones leaving no paper trail as it leaves
India for manufacturers overseas.
"We sell the mica to an agent in town, who sells to a big buyer from
Kolkata, who exports to China, the United States, Germany and
Brazil," said mine operator Dhara Singh, who said he and his brother
owned a half dozen mines in Bhilwara.
When asked about the two young girls sorting mica at the site in
Bhilwara's Tiloli village, he said they were volunteers.
But within minutes, four men arrived on two motorbikes, forcing all
visitors from the site.
The abuse of workers and threats of violence and intimidation
tainting the industry have added to the mounting demand within the
industry for the government to intervene to ensure all mines are
operated legally while also helping impoverished communities find
new sources of income.
[to top of second column] |
"The stock is there, the demand is there but the government is not
granting licenses," said one Giridih-based businessman, who exports
mica to China, Germany and Britain.
"Exporters continue to work, buying the mica from here and there.
But there is a general sense of insecurity that the government could
crack down any time. It is better they grant the licenses and take
the royalty."
SCHOOLS INSTEAD OF MINES
While the industry is economically unfeasible for some countries due
to the need for manual labor, it remains a key earner in India where
labor costs are low - particularly when child workers are used.
Child rights campaigners say authorities have overlooked these child
laborers for years but hope drawing attention to child deaths in the
mica mines may highlight the dangers and force governments to act.
Occupational hazards include head injuries, cuts and abrasions, skin
and respiratory infections like silicosis, tuberculosis and asthma -
but the risks from mining in poorly maintained, unregulated mines
were also proving lethal.
BBA's Bhushan said he and his workers met with most of the families
of those who died in mining accidents in June, and found their only
means of survival was this unlicensed mining.
"All were poor households who are dependent on mica mining for an
income," Bhushan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"They fully understand these places are death traps, but they also
realize they have little choice but to go back there the next day.
It is essential that authorities address this issue before more
children die."
In a huge open quarry inside the dense forests of Domchanch in
Koderma district in Jharkhand, Sushila Devi diligently pounds at
glinting gray rocks with a hammer, breaking away chunks of mica and
tossing them into a large plastic basin.
The 40-year-old mother of six has been collecting mica every day for
over a decade, yet she - like most other workers - has no idea what
it is or its price on the global market.
"We don't know what mica is, where it goes and what it is used for.
All I know is that if I work hard and collect it, I will get some
money," she said, adding that she gathers around 10 kg of the mica
daily which earns her 80 rupees ($1).
"We take it to a nearby mica dump and the dealer buys it for 8
rupees per kilo. I don't know how much he sells it on for. He would
never tell us. Why would he risk losing more profit?"
The mark-up is huge, say activists. Mica is bought from miners at a
maximum of 25 rupees (40 cents) a kilogram, yet top quality sheet or
"ruby" mica sells for up to $2,000 a kilogram, according to USGS
data, helping boost demand for synthetic mica.
UNIQUE MINERAL
British cosmetics company Lush, which prides itself on its handmade
products and ethical trading, switched from natural to synthetic
mica in 2014 due to concerns about child labor.
Lush's head of ethical trading Simon Constantine said he knew
something was amiss when armed guards were needed to accompany
auditors to one Indian mine supplying their mica.
But the retailer, which has stores in almost 50 countries, then
discovered this year that the synthetic mica it was using instead
also had traces of natural mica. The company said it is tackling
that.
"Mica took us a bit off guard as it was a new material that we had
not really used before," Constantine told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation in an interview in Lush's head office in the English
south coastal town of Poole.
"But buying is an imperfect system that doesn't end ... it's always
more of an improvement than a finished product."
Up to 10 percent of mica globally is used in cosmetics.
Estee Lauder Cos Inc is another cosmetics company using mica in its
products but said it only sourced 10 percent of its mica from India
and was working with BBA to tackle child labor, helping fund schools
in villages in mica areas.
"We strongly believe that education is a cornerstone in this effort,
helping young people stay in school and providing the skills that
will allow them to later on get work outside the mica industry,"
Estee Lauder said in an email statement.
"While this program has yet to end child labor in mica mines, it
shows that responsible business practices and sustained
collaboration can create better prospects for children living in the
mica-mining region."
L'Oreal said more than 60 percent of its natural mica came from the
United States while the rest came from other countries including
India.
"In India, mica mainly originates from socially and economically
challenged regions where there is a risk of child labor, unsafe
working conditions, and where the supply chain involves multiple
actors," the company said on its website.
L'Oréal said it was important all players worked together and a
summit in February in Delhi on responsible mica sourcing, organized
by French non-profit organization the Natural Resources Stewardship
Circle (NRSC), was a good first step.
NRSC's Executive Director Catherine Peyreaud said child abuse in
mica had been going on for years but it was only when revelations
about mica being used in cosmetics hit global headlines two years
ago that action really started.
She said NRSC was now completing a five-year plan with concrete
steps to tackle child labor and improve living conditions in mica
areas so children did not return to mining.
In Koderma's Dhab, one of about 45 villages where BBA is working,
Pooja, 13, proudly shows off the run-down school she has attended
for almost two years since she left mica mining.
Dressed in her school uniform - a pristine white short-sleeved shirt
and a navy skirt - the bare-footed girl excitedly points out her
classroom amongst the row of blue doors in the white-washed
building.
"I like going to school. I have friends here and I get to play and
also get to study and learn things. I am happy that BBA came and
helped our parents to understand that making children work is not
good," said Pooja, who dreams of becoming a teacher.
"The mining was dangerous. When we were down there, we were always
looking up thinking the earth and rocks might fall on us. It
happened to me once, but I managed to get out as my friend Munni
helped me. I got badly hurt that time."
COMPANY ACTION
Pooja is one of the lucky ones and many more companies sourcing mica
from India are now making efforts to stop children from working in
the mines and provide alternatives.
German drugmaker Merck KGaA discovered children were collecting mica
at mines used for its supplies in 2008 so cut some of its suppliers
and now only sources from Jharkhand and child-free legal mines.
The company said in a website statement that it had also set up mica
sources in the United States and Brazil and was producing some
effect pigments based on synthetic mica.
Another major buyer, Chinese pigment manufacturer Fujian Kuncai
Material Technology Co Ltd, said its audits had found no evidence of
child labor in its supply chain although acknowledged that it was a
complex challenge.
A Fujian Kuncai spokesman said the company was setting up its own
firm in India to buy directly from - and audit - mines.
It was also joining forces with child rights group Terre des Hommes
and helping to fund a program to save 10,000 children from child
labor in Koderma and Giridih districts of Jharkhand.
"Alone one cannot make the difference and we are looking forward to
work together reaching our shared ambition: no child labor in the
mica supply chain," the spokesman said.
With companies needing mica willing to fund community initiatives,
campaigners believe legalizing the industry could undermine the
black market in mica and help improve health and safety standards as
well as combating child labor.
However environmental campaigners would not welcome the reopening of
these mines. Many mines are now on protected forest land and would
not get approval to operate legally.
Sengupta from the Mine Labour Protection Campaign in Rajasthan said
a first step to combat child labor would be to mandate that all
mines have an operator to report to the state to ensure workers'
safety and earnings and no child workers.
"In many instances, children are being forced to work because their
parents aren't getting paid properly or because the father has
fallen ill and has no health care," he said.
"If operators are in place at every mine, we would go a long way in
checking child labor."
Some legal mines have managed to tackle child labor.
The Sri Venkata Kanakadurga and Uma Maheshwari mica mines in Talupur
in Andhra Pradesh are among the oldest and biggest licensed mines in
the area but mine supervisor Syed Ismail said children don't work in
the mines anymore.
"In these parts, mica has always been traditional work that entire
families have engaged in. My father worked in a mine and we would
visit," said Ismail who has been in and out of mines since the age
of five.
"Over the years access to schools has made sure children are no
longer in the mines. Now children here say M is for Mica."
While campaigners hope that a renewed push to clean up the mica
industry will help generations of children, it is too late for
Pratap who has lost his youngest son, Madan.
The last time he saw Madan was in April when the teen left the
village in search of a life beyond farming and cattle, filled with
dreams of returning home as a businessman.
"He told me he was going to do something with his life and I was
happy for him so I let him go," said Pratap. "How could I know the
work he was doing was going to kill him?"
(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash. Editing by Belinda Goldsmith
@BeeGoldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the
charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news,
women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change.
Visit http://news.trust.org)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
