Behind the glitter of cosmetics counters, what consumers don’t see is the fraught and dangerous working conditions of many Indians to extract ingredients.
Mica seems like an innocuous ingredient printed on the back of the eyeshadow palette’s packaging. This is a type of mineral used in cosmetics such as eyeshadow, lip gloss… to increase the shine of the product. Cosmetic companies love this ingredient because of its refraction, ultra-fine texture, and natural color.
They can be found all over the world, including India. But in India, there is a heavy price that thousands of miners working illegally in mica mines in the country are paying. Poor and dangerous working conditions Widow Basanti Mosamat, 40, lives in Jharkhand who specializes in collecting and selling scrap mica for a living. This is her family’s only source of income. Once a week, Mosamat, her father-in-law and her five children hike 10 kilometers into the woods near the village to set up camp and spend a few days sifting for minerals. Picking up mica from dawn to dusk without any protective gear left her hands scratched and bruised. Her eldest daughter has picked up mica since she was 5. The more hands on the job, the more likely the family will have food on the table. “One mica picker is not enough. My father passed away, so I had to help my mother,” she said. 1 kg of shredded mica sells for 7 rupees ($0.10). On a lucky day, the Mosamat family hopes to earn 150 rupees ($2.06). Mica miners. Photo: CNA They are part of India’s 100 million indigenous people known as the Adivasis, who live on the fringes of society with limited government support for health, education, job security and food. “There’s nothing here, a life of hunger and fullness makes it impossible for us to look forward to the future,” Birhor said. Poverty has led some miners to turn to abandoned caves and mines, where there is more mica. However, they do not have lights or protective equipment, only exploiting based on experience. “People can slip and fall somewhere or get kicked in the head. Mining is very difficult. We always have to be vigilant, the mine is likely to collapse at any time. Sometimes one mistake can kill them all,” said Mukesh Bhulla, who started picking up mica as a scared child. In January, there were at least three reports of mine collapses in Koderma and Jharkhand. An estimated 10 to 20 people die each month due to the risks of mica mining. In fact, there are more accidents than are reported. However amateur miners have no choice but to take the risk. “If we didn’t work here, we would all die. There is no other option for the job. What are we going to do?”, shared Dimpi Devi, a mother of three. This makes people like Devi very vulnerable to exploitation, especially when they can’t afford living expenses. If they cannot borrow from mainstream banks, they have to look to usury lenders with interest rates up to 200%/year. “Some people told us they were only allowed to sell mica to their creditors at the price these merchants asked for,” said investigative journalist Peter Bengtsen. He has been monitoring the mica trade in Jharkhand for more than a decade. “Basically, the deal will last until they pay off their debts,” Bengtsen said. Forest management inspections are also common, and miners are sometimes required to pay bribes to keep working. Mosamat said: “The police don’t visit us often, but the rangers keep an eye on us. “There is a network of people manipulating mica mining and they are very powerful,” said Deepak Bara, a freelance journalist based in Jharkhand. Indian children participate in mica mining. Photo: CNA A systemic problem Controversy over mica mining began to surface in the mid-2000s, following investigations into the use of child labor in the industry. According to the International Labor Organization, India has more than 10 million children who are working even though they are not of working age. In particular, the plight of child miners in the mica industry has attracted international media attention. However, according to many journalists and politicians, children born into mica mining families have no choice but to continue the work of their parents. “They have to earn extra income for the family. The government does not have a policy to support children or if it does, it is not effective,” Bara said. In response to growing public concern, several global campaigns have been established. One of them is the Mica Initiative, which intends to eliminate child mining in Jharkhand next year. Members of the campaign include Chanel, L’Oréal and Sephora. Some other brands are also committed to more rigorous testing of the supply chain. However, they must also admit that managing mica sources is very difficult. In 2019, mica exports in India reached more than 37 million USD (according to World Bank data). With so many transactions, brands can’t track exactly where their mica comes from. Yue Jin Tay, business development manager of Circulor, a company that uses blockchain to verify the provenance of minerals in the supply chain, said technology could be part of the solution but more is needed to make it happen. Ethical trading became a common practice. And consumers need to accept that the company has to pay increasing costs to more rigorously examine the supply chain.
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