Children - Terre des Hommes

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121 Status of Anganwadi Centres and Children’s Health As part of our study, we enquired about the status of child protection institutions like anganwadis and primary schools. Not all villages are covered by the anganwadi centres. In some places we were told that there were only mini-anganwadis which is almost equal to not having an anganwadi. For example, Burkhundwah village does not have an anganwadi but is covered by the anganwadi in Potanga village. The anganwadi worker stated that she has 125 children in her register although the capacity of the anganwadi is only 40 children. Obviously only children from Potanga village access it as infants and little children cannot come to the main centre. Although the record shows only five children as being malnourished, the worker admitted that majority of the children she visits are malnourished. As the anganwadi has no infrastructure, the anganwadi worker is running it from her house. Only 20–25 children attend the anganwadi regularly as most of the children are taken to the mine site by their parents. expressed concern over the fact that most of the women are malnourished and the likelihood of complications in deliveries, infant mortality and children being born with low birth weight, complications after delivery and ill-health during the first year of birth are high due to this. Besides, the condition of the roads is so bad with pot-holes made by the constant movement of trucks that it is dangerous for pregnant women to travel by these roads. In Potanga village, the discussion with the anganwadi worker revealed the terrible health condition of the children. Of the 40 children who are enrolled in the centre (which still does not have any infrastructure and activities are conducted under a tree), five are absolutely (grade IV) malnourished, and 15 come under the Grade II and III categories of malnourishment. Of the seven births recorded in the current year, only two have been institutional deliveries. The anganwadi worker stated that the main health problems of the children were skin diseases, malaria and TB but there is no medical facility, hence a lot of dependence is on local healers whose traditional knowledge is also getting diluted by external influences, and people said they were not totally confident in these healing practices. The ANM of Jarjara when interviewed shared her health records with the team. She serves a population of 18,350 which has 23 anganwadis in all. According to her records, atleast 20 per cent of the reported cases of TB come directly from people working in mining activities and this has impacts on children. Not only adults, children are also very malnourished, with absolute malnutrition cases among children reported by her being 500–700, and among children between the ages of 3 and 6 years, she has reported more than 1,000 cases. There is no PHC in the vicinity and the anganwadi worker stated that the ANMs and health personnel do not regularly visit the anganwadi to conduct health check-up for the children. The poor conditions of the roads due to mining trucks and lack of public transport to this area serves as an excuse for the health personnel not to visit the villages. The local communities do not have access to any of the CCL hospitals but have to mainly depend on private practitioners in the town. Due to the difficult geographical terrain and lack of access to transport, very few women are able to go to the PHC for institutional deliveries. The worker also Displaced women, with children at their side, scavenging for coal, the only source of livelihood today, Hazaribagh (Photo September 2009) Three to five cases of TB have been identified recently in Burkhundwah village and the people attributed this to the mining activity of CCL. The women in this village complained that alcoholism has become a serious problem after mining started and said that 80 per cent of the income is spent on alcohol by the men. Because of this the women said that they have to work harder to make a living and therefore, are unable to find the time and stamina to take care of their children. They also stated that because the men do not share their majority earnings at home, they are unable to cope with the rise in prices of food commodities and are not able to maintain even a basic diet for their children. The CCL officials denied that there are any cases of TB or silicosis among mine workers, whether permanent or casual, and said that the company was taking precautions to prevent these diseases. They attributed the health problems to consumption of alcohol by the workers.
122 Water: A Looming Crisis for Women and Children One major problem discussed by the women was the depletion of groundwater and the lack of access to water for drinking and domestic purposes. Their local streams are highly contaminated and they complained that they cannot use this water for drinking, for bathing or even for use by animals. Hence, they have to walk long distances to fetch water unlike in earlier times. The study team found that in some of the relocated villages, the drinking water supply is totally dependent on the company. The water trucks usually come at midnight and women were found walking to the collection point at 12 a.m in the night and waiting for hours before the truck arrived. This supply is also erratic and sometimes the women have to walk back with empty cans when the truck does not turn up. Hence, women are working 24/7 whether directly in the mining activities or overburdened with domestic chores created due to mining. In Potanga village where CCL works in Piparwar, between Tanwah and Chatra areas, the young girls have to walk for 1.5–2 km in the middle of the night for collecting drinking water and here again it is the same story. Only limited and erratic water is supplied to the people and as this is the only source, the rest of the water bodies being too contaminated for usage, the people have to fight amongst themselves. The panchayat leaders do not respond to the appeals of the women about the water problems as they are accomplices to the company agents. The water shortage as well as the contamination has been creating an unhygienic atmosphere for the children. They cannot afford to bathe regularly nor can they wear washed clothes. Because of this, children in this area were found No anganwadi for this child– the mine site is his playground (Photo September 2009) to have skin diseases and diarrhoea. One of the reasons for malnourishment could also be due to the worms in the stomach as a result of poor sanitation among the children. The dust from the coal mines was found to cover the entire area including the houses, the people, the water bodies, and the food and water consumed. Probably, it is because of this that the women complained that children suffered from cough, cold and fevers regularly and respiratory illnesses appear to be high among the minors while incidence of TB is high among adults. Education A visit to the primary school in Bhurkhundwah village revealed that there is only one para-teacher who works regularly and the regular teachers are either not posted here or are allotted other non-teaching work by the government like taking care of mid-day meals, undertaking voters’ surveys, and other government duties and hence, are rarely found doing their job. The total strength of the school, which has classes I to V, as per the school record, is 130 children, but the teacher admitted that not more than 30 or 40 students attend regularly. As the para-teacher is the only teaching staff available and there is barely any infrastructure to have separate classrooms, the children of all the classes are made to sit together and taught simultaneously. This is a reason for lack of interest among students to come to school especially as the poverty at home demands their presence in the mine-sites. Hence drop-out rate from school is high. The team managed to find the school headmaster in the main town of Jarjara, and discussed with him the status of education among the children. He was of the opinion that because of the mid-day meal, the teachers’ attention was diverted to nonteaching activities and therefore, this was the main reason for the drop-out rate. Although he was initially reluctant to show the school registers and denied any drop-out rate or poor attendance for fear of being held responsible, he later admitted that the mining activities have a serious affect on the children’s education as mining has created landlessness and poverty and hence more children are having to work in the mine sites as casual labour. The Jarjara High School serves the children of three villages— Urmari, Potanga and Jarjara—covering an area of 50–60 wards within a radius of 15–20 km. The total strength of the school, as per the register is 345 from classes I to X, although the DISE reports show only 306 enrolled. The headmaster expressed that due to lack of adequate teachers and distraction
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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
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39 Bearing in mind that many of the
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41 children are working in mines in
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43 significant problem. A study car
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45 Part II State Reports 1. Karnata
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48 basic healthcare to its populati
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50 Kolar district: Key facts Total
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52 and pursued higher education. Th
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54 has created a peculiar aesthetic
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56 number of children working in th
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58 almost every child is absent for
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60 Table 2.02: Survey on children n
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62 the village were cough, eye infe
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65 Maharashtra State Overview Mahar
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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 92 and 93: 92 Many of the Workers in the Mines
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 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
Page 142 and 143: 144 exposed to the toxicity from th
Page 144 and 145: 146 for labour elsewhere. The prese
Page 146 and 147: 148 State Excesses and Human Rights
Page 148 and 149: 150 Table 2.25: Information collect
Page 150 and 151: 152 The DP Camp is far away from th
Page 152 and 153: 154 Naik and Mr. Prahlad Naid who a
Page 154 and 155: 156 Social Cost of Displacement As
Page 156 and 157: 158 Table 2.32: Comparative village
Page 158 and 159: 160 Rajabandha also has a low cost
Page 160 and 161: 162 on land to be acquired in some
Page 162 and 163: 165 Andhra Pradesh State Overview T
Page 164 and 165: 167 Mining in Andhra Pradesh Almost
Page 166 and 167: 169 small areas where there are qua
Page 168 and 169: 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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Children - Terre des Hommes

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