Natural stone mining and mine workers:
Explorations in India have found over 20,000 known mineral deposits and recoverable reserves of more than 60 minerals. The country ranks third in terms of global production of natural stones and accounts for an 11% share of the global market. Domestic consumption of natural stones has increased in recent years, driven by the expanding Indian middle class and exports mainly to China, USA and the European Union – which have increased from USD 44 million to nearly USD 63 million between 2013 and 2016. About 90% of the total number of operational mines are located in 11 states.
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The previous decade witnessed the mining sector hold an aggregate production of 537 million tonnes and a value of INR 200,609 crores, accounting for 2.26% of the nation’s GDP. This was despite the fact that only 9400mining licenses were issued as of 2009. Almost 95% of the mining leases are held by private companies and 80% of the mining extraction is conducted through open cast mining. The mining sector employs over 50% of the rural labour force in the mining districts of the country.
Quarries spread across the mining belts employ informal or casual daily wage labourers and migrant labourers. About 90% of mine workers belong to the unorganised sector. Impoverished rural citizens turn towards the mining industry for a variety of reasons: flexible working conditions, quick money, employment in non-farming seasons etc. The increasingly erratic nature of the monsoon, frequent droughts and large-scale irrecoverable failure in agriculture and animal husbandry both prolong and worsen poverty among the people. Mining is thus viewed as a practical and easily accessible livelihood among rural citizens in the absence of credit availability and insurance, lack of knowledge or access to alternate livelihoods and insufficient connectivity. These circumstances mean that the mineworkers are highly vulnerable to poverty and changes in the economy and environment which may even temporarily cause suspension in mining activities. Poor working conditions in the mines result in occupational diseases and low immunity.
Issues and areas of concern:
Mineworkers have no identity of being mine workers:
Mine workers in India have no documentary evidence of employment which deprives them from compensation from their employer and public welfare services in circumstances of occupational injury, disease, death, gender specific abuse or any other human rights violations. This lack of employment records leaves them in a precarious condition, exposing them to vulnerabilities and exploitation. The absence of documentation negates their identity as mine workers. For instance, in 2019, about 21,000 mine workers who were diagnosed and certified as suffering from silicosis could not claim their entitlements under the Workman’s Compensation Act, 1923 due to lack of documents of being mine workers.
Our years of advocacy on this issue have borne fruit with the government of Rajasthan passing an order making the registration of mine workers mandatory for the reopening of mines after the COVID – 19 induced lockdown. Click here to read more. <hyperlink to article/impact page>
Lack of accountability and effective regulation in the complex mining industry:
Natural stone production process:
Extraction from mines -> Sort and grade material -> Obtain finished products -> Distribute
Middlemen and stockists procure stones in large slabs, which then undergo multiple stages of processing: crushing, separation, smelting, polishing, carving, packing and transportation before they are converted into the finished product. At every stage of the mining process, informal manual labourers are employed. The complex nature of the global and local supply chain creates enormous difficulty in pursuing accountability for human rights violations that happen at the mine or quarry level – with the stakeholders higher up in the supply chain such as mine operators, corporates and governments.
Moreover, while the state has enforced rules and regulations in the mining industry on par with international standards, the implementation of the same have fallen short in aspects such as lack of validation in collecting data and efficient and ethical monitoring of procedures. Various departments at the centre and state level including the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Department of Mines and Geology, Directorate General of Mine Safety, Environment Department of Rajasthan etc. However, regulations by these departments have been limited, especially with respect to informal workers. Overlapping authority and jurisdiction, loopholes in procedures and lack of resources at the district level have contributed to this. This lack of clarity has resulted in the neglect of the plight of mine workers.
Absence of formalised trade unions:
Up to 99% of mine workers belong to the unorganised sector struggling with daily wages, no employment benefits and the absence of job security. Occupational health and safety is a constant concern for them. However, mine workers have not been able to collectivise under common interests. With the mines and the residence of workers being far apart and their varied social identities in terms of religion, caste and gender – there are no statewide trade unions for unincorporated mine workers.
Child labour:
Children of mine workers, as young as five or six years often accompany them to the mines. The older children also come to babysit their infant siblings. With their frequent presence in the mines, they begin carrying out menial jobs to support their mothers. This deprives children from their childhood and their fundamental right to education. Exposure to mining pollution in the early years of their lives can have a detrimental effect on them. Lack of educational institutions in mining areas and extreme poverty underpin their parents’ desires to have their children educated. Child labour in the mining industry is a persistent issue with an estimated 3,75,000 children working in mines and quarries across Rajasthan, with the number of girls being twice as more as boys, making them more vulnerable to gender-based violations which often go unreported.
Occupational diseases and unsafe work conditions:
Silicosis and silica-tuberculosis are among the most common respiratory diseases which are contracted through the inhalation of silica particles, commonly found in sandstone quarries. They have detrimental effects on persons and drastically reduce the lifespan of the workers to 40-50 years. Their lack of documentation as mine workers prevents them from obtaining compensation for contracting silicosis – an occupational disease. Further, access to healthcare and additional treatment for silicosis is a challenge for the workers who live in rural areas. Moreover, while mine safety has improved over the years, poor lights, extreme noise pollution and cave-ins continue to threat the lives o of the workers
- Need for the campaign:
Rajasthan has over 2.5 million unorganised mine workers spread across different parts of the state. They work as labourers at all levels of the supply chain in the mining industry – extractors, masons, crushers, processors, carvers, sculptors, cobblestone makers and transporters. Estimates show that 98% of the people living in mining areas belong to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, their identities making them more vulnerable. About 37% of the mining workforce consist of women, about half of whom are widows. Mining work large pays on a day to day basis, putting the workers in precarious positions with no job security and benefits. Exposure to dust in the mines and hazardous working conditions make workers prone to occupational illnesses and shorter life span.
Mine Labour Protection Campaign Trust (MLPC) was formed as a response to the problems and needs of the mine workers of Rajasthan, with the vision to <>
We are committed to empower mine workers, ensure their voices are heard and their demands met.
To learn about our programmes, click here
