By Anil Sharma, IANS
Jaipur : Less than Rs.15 – that is the amount some women mineworkers in Rajasthan earn for a day of backbreaking work in the most unsafe conditions. A study by NGOs titled “Tears of Dust” has brought to light the pitiable life of these women.
“Even after so many years of independence, male labourers are not getting the minimum wages as fixed by law. What makes things worse for the women is that they do not even get the men’s unfair wages,” says the study.
The Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (Gravis) and the Health, Environment and Development Consortium (Hedcom) conducted the study after carrying out a survey in Jodhpur and Makrana.
Five percent of the 200 women surveyed in these two areas were found to be receiving wages below Rs.15 per day, 36 percent get between Rs.16 and Rs.30, 55 percent between Rs.31 and Rs.45 and only four percent between Rs.46 and Rs.60.
Besides Jodhpur and Makrana, mining is also carried out in Rajsamand district near Udaipur. Most of Rajasthan’s two million mineworkers are found in these places and women comprise around 20 percent of this figure, numbering around 400,000.
The women also toil for 8 to 10 hours, mining marble or sandstone, in the absence of any safety provisions.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jeti cannot see clearly. It was not always like that, it happened after she had an accident while working in a mine in Makrana over five years ago.
“I was breaking stones and collecting debris from the mine when a small piece of stone fell in my eye. I complained to the contractor in the mine, but nobody paid attention. I just rubbed my eyes and covered it with a piece of cloth. After a few days when I tried to remove the cloth, it was extremely hurting and I met a doctor who told me that I had lost my eye,” Jeti said.
The law states that there should be some basic facilities in the mines like safe drinking water, toilets and shades. But it was observed that in practice there were no such arrangements in the mines, the study noted.
An issue that evokes serious concern regarding all the mine labourers is addiction. Most women labourers surveyed were found to be spending between Rs.5 and Rs.10 per day on addictive products like bidi and gutka. S uch habits affect not only their health, but also their children, and particularly those who are pregnant or lactating.
(Anil Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])