The Karauli-Dholpur-Bharatpur mining belt in eastern Rajasthan, which produces the country’s best quality red sandstone, also has the largest number of young widows, most of them below 40 years.
The older ones were widowed some decades ago, and worse, young girls almost see their future unfold before them. The common link: they were married to miners who died of silicosis caused by inhaling of silica dust during mining or polishing.
Unofficial estimates suggest there could be around 25,000 women in Karauli district alone who have been widowed as a result of silicosis. ARAVALI – Association for Rural Advancement through Voluntary Action and Local Involvement – a Rajasthan government-initiated NGO along with its partner groups, which is creating a database of women widowed because of silicosis, have already registered 3,200 in just two blocks of Karauli.
There are thousands of mines in 19 districts of Rajasthan, which employ two million workers. Roughly 10-12 lakh of them are suffering from various stages of silicosis and associated tuberculosis and other respiratory tract infections.
The red sandstone used for the construction of the magnificent Red Fort and the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the surrounding buildings in Lutyen’s Delhi came from the Karauli-Dholpur mining belt but no thought ever went into the welfare of the miners here.
The social cost of ineffective healthcare and rehabilitation for miners is rather heavy and it is the the women who bear the brunt of it. “Almost every second month a young miner dies of silicosis and the burden of the family falls on his widow who has no savings because the money has been used on treating silicosis which has no cure,” explains Varun Sharma of ARAVALI, which primarily works to provide livelihood to the families in these areas.
Dominated by the Bairwa and other Schedule Caste communities, mining is the main source of livelihood in this region. The poorest of the poor live here and the death of an earning member pushes the family into further poverty. Young boys are pulled out of school and sent to work in the same mines where the father worked to either repay the loans or run the family, and the girls are often married to older men.
In Budgar village alone, there were 263 widows, some had BPL pension but none of them had heard of the Bhamashah Card which ensures a bank account in which the State government credits entitlements. In the nearby Arampura Mahu village with 150 households, 53 widows head their families, with each one having a story to tell. “My youngest brother scored 95 per cent in Class IX and wants to study further but the three elder brothers — all employed in mines — cannot afford to educate him. My brother has threatened to commit suicide if he is forced to work,” said a young woman.
Only six women have BPL cards which can bring them some entitlement, most of the other women work under the MGNREGA. Forty-four men have been confirmed with silicosis and 15 are suspected of having it. “We have been dependent on mines for over 130 years now, but we know very few men live for more than 50 years,” Prabhu Dayal, president of the Khan Mazdoor Suraksha Sangh and a silicosis patient himself, told The Hindu .
(This is the first of a two-part series)
