These coal carriers carry coal, on their bicycles, up the hill to sell. This meager income doesn’t justify the effort required in this physically exhausting task. They operate in the areas near to the coal mines of Dhanbad, they are mostly stolen or collected coal. Poverty forces these men to take up this daunting task of carrying the coal sacks on their bicycles. A sack of coal would typically sell for Rs. 200 so this means a maximum income of 1000 per trip ( you expect more than 5 sacks, huh?), which is very lucrative considering the level of poverty in Jharkhand!
Sorry for the poor quality of the video. I didn’t stop and shoot because I think it would have been contemptuous and disparaging for the hard workers so I tried to shoot without making it obvious, after all its a profession and you need to respect someone’s profession.
The mention of “human Rights Violation” gets people in power and governments on the defensive and the excuse is always that the western world has no idea about how much poverty exists in the developing world and what that can make people do in order to keep themselves afloat.
Having said that, what you cite is exploitation of the worst kind and I hope somebody is looking into this.
Have you watched the movie “Turtles Can Fly? It has a very similar theme and is one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.