Children - Terre des Hommes

74Table 2.05: Bal Shikshan Kendras with children (1997–2007)Year Pune Ahmad Nagar Kolhapur Satara Sangali TotalCnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn Cnts Childn1997-98 1 35 - - - - - - - - 1 351998-99 2 51 - - - - - - - - 2 511999-2000 5 123 - - - - - - - - 5 1232000-01 9 320 - - - - - - - - 9 3202001-02 12 362 - - - - - - - - 12 3622002-03 15 375 1 30 - - - - - - 16 4052003-04 28 516 1 24 - - - - - - 29 5402004-05 17 464 1 18 1 26 - - - - 19 5082005-06 17 475 1 20 2 20 - - - - 20 5152006-07 18 469 - - 3 88 1 31 3 42 25 630Total 3,190 92 134 31 42 3,489Source: Dagad Phool, Santulan, 2007-08A Pashan Shala teacher also observed that many of thechildren have stunted growth and during summer, due toincrease in dust, children suffer from more allergies. InWagholi there are more than 60 private medical practitioners,which speaks for the high flow of patients from the miningarea. They take advantage of the workers’ ignorance aswell as their desperate plight. A major spending of mineworkers’ families is reported to be on private medicalservices and is also the main cause for indebtedness. Dr.Shitre also informed that more than 40 per cent of childrenare suffering from anaemia and women are suffering fromanaemia and prolapsis of uterus. The women constantlycomplain of back pain, joint pains and dizziness. He statedthat TB is mainly found in adults but due to this debilitatingcondition, children are forced to work in the mines. A lotof the cases of TB are suspected to be/likely to be silicosis,but as there are no facilities for diagnosis, and as there is alot of arm-twisting by the mining companies to manipulaterecords, it is difficult to prove this. He also commented thatthe workers and their children also look much older thantheir age because of the harsh conditions and poor health.The PHCs are too far from the mine sites and the workershave to forego their wages for the day and also spend moneyfor the travel and hospital charges. During the field visit, theresearchers found atleast three women, in advanced stagesof their pregnancy, working in the mines, and all of themreported that they did not get vaccinated as the PHC is toofar for them to walk. Dr. Shinde, Medical Officer of BosriHospital expressed that it was difficult to provide data forHIV/AIDs and other illnesses of mine workers as most ofthem are migrant workers.Migration: A Lack of IdentityMigrant labour is synonymous with quarrying. It creates anameless community with no certainty of life, with the mineworkers’ greatest stress being lack of identity, stability andsecurity. This lack of permanency deprives them of manyof the basic amenities that are the rights for all citizens.Foremost among these is the problem of ration cards andbelow poverty line (BPL) cards. Very few own ration cardsas they do not belong to the village community and do nothave a proper proof of residence. In some sites, the workersinformed that the mine owner keeps their rations cards(perhaps with the intention of keeping them bonded)and the mine workers have to purchase their ration inthe open market. A 60 year old woman informed us thatshe finally got her ration card 4 months ago, but the PDSdealer has asked her to come back after 6 months as hername was not yet entered in his records. So mine workersend up spending heavily on paying the revenue staff butwait interminably to get their share of ration. This is also