AFTER 20 YEARS, ALL CHILDREN IN JHARKHAND’S MICA REGIONS HEAD TO SCHOOL, NOT THE MINES

July 5, 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Child Labour Free Mica program, and more than 7,000 young people, parents, and government officials participated in an emotionally charged event to celebrate the program’s landmark achievements, including the end of child labor in the mica mining areas of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Working in partnership with Panchayats (village councils), government agencies and ministries, and children themselves through Bal Panchayats (child councils), every child that was identified as working in a mica mine has now been enrolled in school.

When work began in 2004, public services such as schools, roads, and basic infrastructure were almost non-existent, partly due to the conflict and violence that made this a no-go area for government agencies. Undeterred by the challenges, the Child Labour Free Mica listened to communities, and took a holistic view of their needs. A priority was to provide and advocate for government schools when it became safer for the government to work in the area, as well as access to clean water, other infrastructure, and welfare programs. Educating children and communities on their rights was also essential to ending human rights challenges from child labor, trafficking, and child marriage.

The program has made generational change, with children who were stopped from working in mica near the start of the program being parents of children today who will never see the inside of these dangerous mines - and who are, instead, in school and learning.

In 2024/2025, the Child Labour Free Mica teams, children, youth and women groups, teachers and local community officials, and government bodies will provide continuous monitoring to ensure sustained success against all forms of child exploitation.

“While working in the mica mines, our fingers often bled and we were in constant pain. It felt like nothing will ever change for us. But things changed. When the Bal Mitra Gram (Child Friendly Villages) program was initiated in our village, I along with my friends could once again go to school.

I am in Class 10 now and I aspire to be a government officer who can stop child exploitation.”

Bindiya Kumari (image right) from Nauwadih village in Jharkhand shared her journey from child laborer in the mica mines to secretary of her village Bal Panchayat. She and other members of the Bal Panchayat have so far been able to enrol 45 other children from her village in schools.

The Child Labour Free Mica program has been working across 684 mica-dependent villages, predominantly in Jharkhand and in mica belt villages in Bihar. The Child Friendly Village model means that every child stays in school. Today, these villages have access to education, clean water, healthcare, and improved infrastructure. 20,584 children have been withdrawn from mica mining, and 30,364 children have enrolled in schools so far.