Who Bears The Loss? Poverty And Injustice In Illegal Coal Mining In Jharkhand
Aishwarya Shikha, National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
ABSTRACT
Illegal Coal Mining in Jharkhand is usually described as a law-and-order problem. This paper argues that it is better understood as a Justice problem because of a simple pattern that repeats throughout Jharkhand’s coal belt: three parties are involved in illegal coal mining, and only one of them benefits.
The poor labourer who does the actual mining does not grow rich from it- he remains poor, takes on criminal risk, and is usually the one arrested. The state loses royalty, cess, and tax revenue it is legally owed, even then, it provides compensation and employment schemes for lawful mining activities. The organized illegal syndicate that controls the extraction, finances it, and sells the illegally mined coal is the only party that profits & it is the party least likely to get caught or punished.
This paper asks a simple justice question: if two of the three parties lose and only one gains, why does the law’s response fall hardest on one of the losers rather than the winner?
