Mica Mining in India: A Horror Story

Artificial makeup can make one feel beautiful and confident. It can  make one look beautiful, but an integral component of the contemporary  beauty regime has a dark side  attached to it. Mica is a shining and glossy mineral which gives a shimmery effect to modern day cosmetics that we use in our daily lives. However, while using these products one naturally overlooks the supply chains. India is one of the largest exporters of mica (because of its rich and abundant reserves of the mineral) in the world, but mining of mica in India is deadly, dangerous and vulnerable. Almost all the mines are run illegally after the government in the 80s have forbidden these mines due to deforestation and other environmental constraints.

Two states in eastern India, Jharkhand and Bihar account for about 25% of the global production and are used by the cosmetics, automotive industries in various products. The supply chains of household and luxury products like L’oreal, Estee Lauder, Rimmel, Merck, BMW, Vauxhall, and Audi go back to India’s mica industry. In 2016, the Thomas Reuters Foundation exposed the horrific death of innocent children inside the mines of mica, and families compensated with “blood money” to keep them silent and never oppose the illegal activity. Labour in India is legalised at and above the age of 18. Children as young as 10 are forced to work here till they die suffocated inside the mine or alive under debris when mines collapse. Those who survive, die due to respiratory diseases and even tuberculosis. The households living in rural Jharkhand, especially in the districts of Koderma and Giridih, mining is the only source of income for them. The local Santhal tribal population depends completely on these mines for their living, spending around eight hours of the day finding scrap mica inside the deep-down mica mines. Children are forced inside the mines because the mines are not large enough for an adult to enter. The children work barefoot, under the scorching heat of the tropical area, without proper mining suits. Labour is divided in a way such that some children work to hammer inside the mines, while others carry it on a basket and travel to the top of the mine, where they separate mica from the rock and mud debris.

According to the International Labour Organisation and Walk Free Foundation, modern slavery has affected an estimated 40.3 million people, three times more than before the abolition of slavery in history. Children make up 25% and account for 10 million of all slaves worldwide. The Global Slavery Index indicates that modern slavery is most prevalent in Africa, then Asia and the Pacific, making a profit of about 150 billion dollars, which makes it a huge profitable industry. In spite of the huge profit, employers become richer and the labourers continue to remain in the vicious cycle of poverty. Thus, the bridge widens. The mining industry evolved under the British rule, from then the tribal or the marginalised were employed for mining of mica. In this century, children who are born to tribal families drop out from school or never attend school but start work to scrap mica. The children’s story tells that their father and grandfather also used to work in these mines and have died in these mines. Mining, from the olden days have become a family profession among these households. The labour they devote for these mines are not rewarded with adequate pay. However, due to the expose in news in 2016, some children are sent to school instead of mining, but child labour still persists.

According to the Savera foundation, a non-profit in Jharkhand, the districts of Jamui and Nawada in Bihar along with Koderma and Giridih in Jharkhand have rich reserves of mica. The dust in the soil in this region sparkles due to the presence of the shimmering mineral mica in it. In the 1980s, mica was exported to the then USSR for space and military weapons production, after the fall of USSR, its demand fell sharply. However, the increasing demand by the beauty industry and automotive industry has led to an increase its production and the demand for cheap labour, especially children. More than 22,000 children are involved in this business out of pangs of hunger which is ruining their childhood. The global economic system works to provide cheap and quality products while ignoring violation of human rights. The producers are unaware of the corruption behind their supply chains. About 70% of mica produced in India comes from illegal mines which are unregulated by the government. Families and children have no other alternative to work and earn, thus they work under excruciating conditions under a new and informal organisation often called “mica mafia”. It is the classic case of resource curse, where developing countries are exploited by developed countries in the name of rich reserves of resources.

Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI) which is a “do-tank which aims at eradication of child labour and unacceptable working conditions in the Indian mica supply chain by joining forces across industries.” Local Awareness programs were launched in 40 villages near the mines and the processors to provide quality education to the children, women and other workers, better healthcare and supplemental means of livelihood. This benefitted most of the poor but not the tribal. The social stigma surrounding the tribal people will keep them stuck in poverty. Inclusion of international cosmetic companies like Estee Lauder and L’Oréal in social initiatives like child-friendly villages which aims at sending children to school and preventing them from working in mines, along with Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), has left a positive impact on the lives of these children. However, certain companies are still unable to cut their supply chains to the mica mines of India. The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation along with BBA are working to give these children a voice. Kailash Satyarthi’s foundation has freed over 80,000 children from industries across India including 3000 from mica mines. However, child labour is still not eradicated, when one child dies another child labour is brought to work. The level of corruption among the politicians, local gangs and even at the district administrative level, hinder the positive impact such organisations could have on the conditions of child labourers working in these mines.

Debararti Ganguly (Intern, AGA)

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Asia in Global Affairs.)