Report on Child Labour in the Mines of Meghalaya
In Jaintia Hills in the state of Meghalaya, India, the mining industry has grown over the past thirty years sustained by labour from neighbouring countries Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as from other areas of India.
Following an invitation from Impulse NGO Network, Human Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based international human rights NGO, sent a fact-finding mission to investigate the labour situation at the mines in Jaintia Hills from 31 May to 2 June 2010.
Over the course of three days the fact-finding mission conducted interviews with labourers at three different coal mining sites in Jaintia Hills.
The fact-finding team conducted interviews with more than 50 people, mainly workers including child labourers. The team also went down a mine shaft to interview labourers inside the mine, and to assess the structure and condition of the mines.
In order to gain a balanced and thorough picture of the mine conditions, the team interviewed a mine owner, a manager, two supervisors, a coal deliverer and a labourer’s wife.
From over 50 interviews, a total of 39 interviews were included in this report.
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