The informal nature of the mica picking activity encourages the economic and social exploitation of the mica pickers (including their children). The absence of a clear and conducive operational skeleton and its robust implementation, alongside widespread opportunism by different stakeholders from public to private (both formal and informal).
India is one of the top producers of mica in the world and the districts of Koderma and Giridih of Jharkhand have traditionally accounted for most of the mica that was produced in the country. The plants in these areas were eventually decommissioned, but manual mica picking is still a major source of income in the region. About 70% of mica delivered in India comes from illegal mines, which are unregulated by the public authority.
Better World Foundation in a collaborative effort with the Responsible Mica Initiative (a global network of organizations) and the Government of Jharkhand has been instrumental in developing a pro-community mica policy for state. The larger goal is to ensure the formalization of mica supply chain and change the lives of the mica dependent communities of the districts of Koderma and Giridih.
The joint venture aims to bring about remarkable changes through policy advocacy by actively involving various stakeholders of the mica reliant community, business community and the government. Through this holistic model the intent is to alleviate any kinds of traceability issues, ensure better transparency and also in the longer run also reduce the role of ‘Intermediaries’ who are illegally extorting the mica picking community and are depriving them of reaping the actual benefits by bringing in transparency and will ensure the beneficiaries will benefit directly. In parallel, our model also aims to make available a robust mechanism to eliminate the unbridled issue of child labour involved among the mica picking community and its removal from the supply chain and meet the good business practices that comply with local laws.
hr@bwf.org.in
+91-6202119191