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BLOOD MICA
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BLOOD MICA

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to provide an insight into the various strata of illegal mica
mining along with the demography and formal as well as informal employment aspects of this
field. India, although equipped with the world’s second largest military force along with being
the third largest economy in terms of Purchasing power parity, is still considered as a third world
nation. One of the major reasons behind this degradable fact is the work culture and work ethics
that are practiced, not only in rural areas but also in highly populated urban conglomerates. One
of such practices can be observed in the sector of Mica Mining. Mica is a silver coloured
crystalline mineral that has become majorly popular in the recent years as an environment
friendly material, highly used by major global brands in the automobile, electronics and
cosmetics sectors. This rising popularity of mica in the past few years has exponentially
increased the demand for mica. The year-over-year growth rate for 2018 is estimated at 2.06%.
India, being one of the largest producers of mica has become the centre of catering to an ever
growing demand. This ever-growing demand has now been converted into a fully fledged
industry of malpractices engulfing innocent people and trapping their lives in a horrific
environment with no escape route. The most affected in the practice are children who die
regularly at the cost of mining illegally, without proper training and safety measures and hence
turning these mines into a cemetery for these kids.

Introduction

According to surveys, India was equipped with 700 mica mines which involved a humongous
workforce of around 20,000 workers. But the industry was severely hit by 1980 legislation which
demanded limiting deforestation and encouraged discovery of substitutes for natural mica. This
legislation led to cancellation of hundreds of mining licenses, thus leading to their shut down. A
recent report by the Bureau of Mines shows the presence of 38 officially acknowledged mica
mines in India. However, due to recent escalation in the demand for mica from economic giants
like North America and China has paved the way for illegal operators constantly digging deeper
segments into the excavation of closed mines. This illegal operation has given rise to an equally
illegal labour force, majorly consisting of children aged between five and thirteen. This
involvement of children in hazardous mica mines has led to a disastrous result of several child
deaths and uncountable injuries.

An investigation by the Thomson Reuters Foundation claims that there had been at-least seven
cases of child deaths over the past two months directly associated to illegal mica mining. This
investigation undertaken in the major mica producing states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and
Andhra Pradesh also surfaced some gruesome facts about these practices. Locals believe that
there has been several such cases which have not been brought to the limelight due to several
reasons, one being the immense power possessed by the illegal mine owners, whom even the
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government is not able to convict. Central government denies any involvement in the case as this
particular agenda falls under the premises of state jurisdiction and hence mixed notions are
received from officials.

Demography

One of the major reasons why these mine owners are not being convicted is because of the
helplessness and vulnerability of the workforce. This workforce generally constitutes of
underprivileged poverty stricken people who can neither speak nor defend themselves against the
growing torture they are reeling under. For these people the mining sector, no matter how
perilous and hazardous it may be, has become the mode of survival. Therefore, complete
involvement of family is what they are forced to accept, thus leading to involvement of children
below the permissible age of work in India. This vulnerability of such people is what gives
power to the mine owners to operate in whichever way they want.

One of the highlighted cases of child deaths in mica mining was that of Madan, a 16-year-old
boy who carried big dreams to someday uplift his as well as his family’s status, lost to the
precarious mines. Madan belonged to the village of Chandwara in Bihar, one of the areas
attracted towards involvement in mining work. His father, Vasdev Rai Pratap, still suffering from
an agonizing loss of his beloved son, has spoken about the ugly reality of the mining sector.
According to his statement, his son’s body was discovered after a day of digging after the mine
collapsed. He didn’t even get a chance to see his son’s dead body as they cremated him without
even informing his family. But with a family to support and very little to survive, Vasdev didn’t
have the courage or the resources necessary to lead him to justice. Hence, surrendering to the
mighty owners, didn’t report his son’s death instead agreed to accept a payment of one lakh
rupees, which in fact he is yet to receive.

Prevalent Issues

With such facts surfaced, there were extensive investigation and surveys undertaken by several
organizations and NGOs to bring out the extent of such incidents. Mining companies are
increasingly putting pressure on state government to license excavations under the pretext of
satisfying foreign demand which would rip humongous benefits not only for them, but also for
the states. Social activists also support these calls because according to them such a shift would
help in the crumbling down of the black market associated with mica. Nonetheless the state
government has not been able to come up with a mechanism to check the practices undertaken
and hence unable to stop the day to day tragedies.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation investigations were backed by Nobel Laureate Kailash
Satyarthi’s child protection group Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) which has successfully
brought to light over 20 mica related deaths, one of which was that of Madan. According to
BBA, the number of known cases is a very insignificant percentage of the actual number of
cases. One of the major reasons is the violence to which mine owners resort to in order to subdue
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voices. Another survey undertaken by the National Commission for the Protection of Child
Rights (NCPCR) in Jharkhand’s Koderma and Giridih districts showed that children as young as
eight years were mining mica. Although they didn’t report any child deaths but they did believe
that such incidents occurred. Dutch campaign group SOMO estimates the number of child
workers to be somewhere around 20,000.

In Rajasthan, investigations showed that children as young as five were seen climbing down
narrow and crumbling shafts to cut mica with a hammer and chisel and their sisters separated the
mica from the heap on the surface. This mica is then carried to a collection point where they are
stacked and sold. However, authorities in Rajasthan are far from accepting child labour in their
jurisdiction.

Employment Scenario and Education

The continuous disruption of ethics in the mining sector has led to immense torture, threats of
violence and tragedies to workers, which does not seem to end. Such a scenario can only be
handled through government intervention which would ensure legal operation of mines as well
as provide help to the impoverished communities to find new sources of income. It is not only
the responsibility of the government but also the community as a whole to undertake expeditions
and research about how to tackle such an issue so as to prevent child deaths and also stabilize the
system. Skill development of such a group should be undertaken so as to make them self
sufficient. Government projects should be undertaken in order to create more and more ethical
employment scenarios for these people.

Education should be made compulsory and should be granted free of cost to children belonging
to such families so that they can learn and grow in a safe and prosperous environment. They
should learn about mica, not collect and segregate mica from piles of dust. Children should be
provided with all amenities to understand the ongoing scenario and it should be ensured that no
child below the age of 18 works.

Conclusion

Illegal mica mining has turned out to be one of the most frightful and appalling issues of our
time. But steps can be taken to eliminate this practice. Many high end cosmetic companies like
Lush, L’oreal etc have undertaken steps to introduce Synthetic mica into the market which
replicates the effect and appearance of natural mica whilst alleviating the toxic minerals and also
the human rights conditions and concerns associated. By utilizing synthetic mica, we can ensure
they are free from PET plastic glitter. For a country like India with such high risks of mining,
incusive and holistic empowerment programs, access to health programs and benefits, setting up
of co-operatives etc can greatly change what would rather become a chaos.
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References

Thomson Reuters Foundation News (http://news.trust.org/shorthand/mica/)

India: Investigations highlight illegal mining (https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/india-

investigation-highlights-child-labour-debt-bondage )

Blood Mica Mining – Truth that glitters (https://youtu.be/BAFb55gCqBE)