The harsh reality of Mica's slaves in India Tags related news more read outstanding services

When the car takes the last curve to the infested jungle of rebels, a disturbing atmosphere is invading its interior.The traffic of a few minutes ago has given way to a threatening and lonely road that winds around the hills of this abandoned corner of India.Suddenly, dozens of batteries of a glowing and squamous mineral that shines under the scorching sun appear in the gutter.More inside, interviews under tropical trees, small groups of women work on what seem giant mousetracks;They hit the walls of some caves with small knives and classify what they extract.Its wicker baskets are already full of reddish and translucent sheets of that mineral that they have been looking for throughout the morning.At the end of the day, the few dollars that win will only be enough to carry out their families, but the extracted material will end in essential products for us.

In the districts of Koderma and Giridih, in the impoverished state of Jharkhand, there are the best mica deposits in the world in the world.It is one of the most reliable insulators in countless electronic and electrical products, as well as a component of car paint, cosmetics, cement, plastic and rubber products.It is also used in avant -garde technology articles such as assisted breathing equipment, X -ray machines, navigation compasses, atomic microscopes, missiles, laser and radar systems.Without mica, our world would not be the same.

Depending on quality, its market price ranges between a thousand and 2.000 euros per kilo.India produces 60% of the world mica, mostly from Jharkhand, but, since in 1980 a law destined to protect forests forced most of the mines to gradually abandon their activities, the industry has passed to thesecrecy.Today occupies 20.000 small -scale miners, without land and illiterate, at the mercy of a troop of agents, intermediaries and unscrupulous exporters, which feeds an intricate network of abuse, child labor, destruction of the environment and indebtedness.

After kilometers of thick forest, the car finally arrives in Dhab, an adobe village with approximately 2.000 inhabitants.Here, the mica is so abundant that it can be found at the home door.In a hot premononic morning, Gita Devi, 22, is working on a small hole that has opened with her home.As if they were small insects, their fingers move quickly between the earth, locating and collecting with skill what the most shines.

This shy girl, whose yellow and green sari is covered by a layer of dust, smiles in view of the sheets she has just collected, a sign that the vein she has found contains high quality mica."I started in this 10 years ago, along with the rest of my family," he explains, with my eyes fixed on the mineral.Gita can gather up to 20 kilos of mica a day, at a rate of 10 rupees (0.15 euros) per kilo.The miserable three euros that wins on a day digging under a sun of justice will only reach to buy some food.

Once extracted, independent agents buy the mica and take it to Domchanch, a small nearby town, where the mineral is sold to intermediaries, is cut and refined.Here, the main road is flanked by workshops that host dozens of skilled elderly who carefully divide the sheets with knives and scissors, classify them and separate them according to their quality.Then they will be sent to Kolkata exporters, from where they will be introduced into the world market, through China and Europe.

Although very rich in natural resources, Koderma is one of the poorest regions of India and center of a Maoist rebellion that began five decades ago.Being the only economic activity in the area, Mica mining has become a way of life that has been feeding generations of people for more than a hundred years.

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Sarita Devi, a 25 -year -old girl, was only 12 when she started mining with her mother.Today, his right leg remains in place thanks to a metal piece because of an accident that almost kills it four months ago."When I started digging, the walls of the mine were so little consistent that they collapsed on me.I fainted, "he recalls, while looking at the earthy floor of his house," it happens frequently, but we usually escape on time.That day I couldn't ".

Her parents took 30 minutes to get her out of the rubble and take her to the hospital, where she underwent an emergency intervention.This mother of four children is still traumatized by the accident.Although he has walked again, he cannot bow or bend down, and now he is forced to stay at home, taking care of his children and older relatives.Once you recover completely, you know that your only option will be the mica."The truth is that I don't want to go there, but what else can I do?" He asks.Being the oldest of two sisters and without male brothers, it is she who must take care of her elderly parents and find a way to pay the loan of almost 1.600 euros he asked for the hospital bill.With his family entering less than one euro a day, the task will be overwhelming.

The average of 10 rupees per kilo they get is not enough to survive during the rainy season, when the mines are filled with water and become inaccessible, so the villagers have to ask for advances from the agents who sell the mica, totimes exorbitant interest rates, of the order of 15% monthly.Loans are subsequently reimbursed by subtracting them from the already miserable remuneration, in a vicious circle of poverty that is even worse for those miners who need to liquidate medical invoices or organize traditional ceremonies such as weddings or funerals."They are de facto workers in a regime of servitude, because they cannot settle their debts," explains Vhinod Kumar Yadav, 39, a local youth leader.

Although not as serious as it was in the past, child labor is also linked to this activity.Children do not go to school, they usually stay at home to take care of their younger brothers while the rest of the family is in the mines, or even go to them with their parents to help them.

Indistinguishable in the middle of a circle of women dressed in colored saris, Fulmati Kumari, 10, is busy in cleaning a pile of raw material in the open -air mine of Doda Cola, a spectacular landscape lost in the middle of the middle of theForest near Domchanch.With her blue dress and a red scarf, her face betrays a mixture of shyness and curiosity.It comes here every day from the town of Jampur to work, with a schedule of 9.30 h at 16.00 h."I don't like it, it's very hard, but I win some money and I help my family," he explains.Fifth -course alumn, he left his studies to collaborate in the family economy, a decision that now laments but cannot change."I would like to go to school instead of being in the mine, but it's impossible," he laments.

Although it allows thousands of families to move forward, the Mica does not guarantee the future of the next generations.Now that superficial deposits are exhausted, and as villagers lack technology to dig greater, young people face the dilemma of leading a hard or emigrating life.

Teacher Sunita Kumari tries to cancel this logic to give another chance to children."I cannot change the lifestyle of the parents, but that of the little ones who come to school," he explains.Thanks to a conscientious campaign, most attend class and go to the mines only on weekends.In the villages, however, child labor remains current currency."Only education can change the future of this place," says Sunita as she contemplates the dozens of happy children who shout and play in the courtyard.