Jharkhand has about 26-28% of India’s population proven coal reservesThis makes it the largest coal-producing state in the country. According to the 2011 census, it also has a high Scheduled Tribe population at 26.3%. This population is concentrated in the same districts where coal is mined. The geography of extraction connects the Adivasi communities to the minerals. Essentially, it is the Adivasi communities from whom the minerals are extracted.
The North Karanpura coalfield covers 1,420 square kilometersmainly in Hazaribagh, Ramgarh and Chatra districts. It runs through the Damodar river basin and lies below 203 villages. In 2022 NTPC’s 1,980 MW North Karanpura plant The Chatra plant began operations. The captured Pakri Barwadih coal block has a mineable reserve of 642 million tons and a production capacity of 15 million tons per year. The electricity generated is fed into the grid while the ash remains.
Coal-fired power plants produce fly ash, according to the Center for Science and Environment the second largest waste stream in India. These plants produce hundreds of millions of tons annually. Ash ponds overflow and ash sludge pollutes rivers. Residents near thermal power plants in Jharkhand and surrounding states report ash, sick livestock and blackened food Water sources. These reports are supported by years of reports from groups working in these areas. The communities closest to the ash ponds are predominantly Adivasi.
The impact on women’s health has been documented, although not thoroughly. A Study 2022 The Journal of Development Studies found that coal-fired power plants increase the risk of anemia in women and children at the time of child birth. The states with the highest number of coal-fired power plants – Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal – also bear the brunt of these impacts. NFHS-5 data show that Scheduled Tribe women have a 39% higher risk of anemia compared to the general population. Both the association between anemia and coal-fired power plants and the disparity of anemia among caste and tribal groups are well documented. In the Jharkhand coal belt, both problems coexist.
Silicosis, a lung disease caused by long-term exposure to silica dust, is common in mining areas. In 2024, it was declared an occupational disease under Schedule III of the Workers’ Compensation Act, making employers liable for compensation without workers having to prove they caused the injury. However, enforcement remains problematic. Informal workers who collect coal tailings near ash ponds are not recognized as workers. They are considered self-employed and are therefore not subject to protection against occupational diseases.
The failure of forest rights
The Forest Rights Act of 2006 aimed to recognize the rights of tribal and forest communities to the lands they have occupied for generations. This was an attempt to redress historical injustices. The implementation record in Jharkhand reveals a different reality.
By 2025, Jharkhand had less than 2% recognized of eligible Community Forest Resource area, one of the lowest rates in the country, compared to 36% in Maharashtra. The total area potentially eligible for Community Forest Rights (CFR) in Jharkhand is estimated at 5.26 million acres, but only a small portion of this has been recognized. Accordingly MoTA data reported According to Down to Earth, of the 110,756 individual forest rights applications filed in Jharkhand till August 2025, 61,930 were approved, 28,000 were rejected and 21,000 remained pending. Community forest rights, which would allow villages to collectively manage forest resources, are largely unrecognized, even when individual titles have been granted.
The impact on women is significant. When community forest rights are granted, the management of the forest is given to the Gram Sabha. In Oraon and Munda customs, women’s participation in Gram Sabha decisions is crucial to village administration. If these rights are denied and the forest is instead earmarked for a mining project, the economy based on forest resources – such as mahua, kendu leaves and medicinal plants – collapses. Women who primarily collect and sell non-timber forest products in these communities lose their livelihoods when the land becomes a project.
The Adani Power Plant in Godda district is an example of this problem. From 2016 to 2018, the acquisition of land for the 1,600 MW evicting tribal families from villages in Santhal Paragana, with reports of forced takeovers and protests against the process. This pattern – where mines or power plants take priority and rights agreements come later, if at all – is widespread in Jharkhand’s coal districts. Since independence 1,710,787 people were displaced to Jharkhand for power plants, mines and other development projects.
The Ujjwala contradiction
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the LPG connection scheme, claims ₹10.33 crore for beneficiaries across the country. This is often cited as evidence that the government is improving the health of women in low-income households by reducing reliance on biomass fuels. Although the number of connections is authentic, it does not reflect actual usage.
From 2024–25, PMUY beneficiaries refill an average of 4.4 LPG per year. A household that cooks three meals a day will typically use a cylinder every 30-45 days, meaning 8-12 refills per year suggest total reliance on LPG. Given that PMUY beneficiaries only have an average of 4.4 refills, most still use biomass, firewood, coal dust and agricultural waste for cooking. A qualitative study in tribal Odishapublished in 2025, found that economic factors such as high refill costs and delays in subsidies continue to push households back to traditional fuels, a trend most evident among tribal women.
In the coal belt of Jharkhand, the available biomass often consists of coal dust and fragments of mine waste, the cheapest local fuel. Women who can’t afford to refill LPG gas burn what’s nearby – the byproducts of an industry that has long existed in their communities. The Ujjwala program makes connections but does not clarify why those connections go unused or what women burn instead. The system also ignores the effects of silicosis and occupational lung disease. It categorizes itself as a clean energy initiative, not a health program. The women most affected by proximity to coal production are the same ones who are likely to have a PMUY connection but cannot afford to refuel.
What accountability would look like
The Forest Rights Act has a grievance mechanism; Rejected claims can be appealed to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee and then to the State-Level Monitoring Committee. In practice, however, this appeals process is often underused, underfunded and difficult for applicants to manage without legal support. The 28,000 rejected applications in Jharkhand represent families whose rights remain unrecognized and for whom there is no clear way to reverse the decisions.
PESA, or the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, was implemented in Jharkhand in late 2025, 25 years after statehood. Tribal leaders and activists warn that the 2025 rules weaken rather than strengthen autonomy. Sections protecting customary law are weakened, the term “common property” has been deleted and the responsibility for recognizing gram sabhas has been shifted to district authorities instead of remaining with communities.
As a recognized occupational disease, silicosis is only significant if enforcement also reaches the informal workers affected. The creation of a welfare fund financed by cutting extractive industries in tribal districts could provide direct health support to affected villages. However, such a fund does not exist.
There are several frameworks available. The Forest Rights Act, PESA, the Maternity Benefit Act, the Occupational Safety Code, PMUY and the National Health Mission, as well as a separate body for silicosis on the lines of what exists in Rajasthan – all address different aspects of the challenges faced by Adivasi women in the coal belt of Jharkhand. The problem is not a lack of legislation. It is the stubborn political choice to prioritize extraction over the communities it affects, and to create welfare programs that may provide connections but fail to address underlying conditions.
Jharkhand generates electricity for the national grid. The ash from this production settles in the villages where it occurs. Women in these villages have fewer recognized land rights, lower LPG refill rates and a higher risk of occupational diseases than current policy recognizes. In the gap between politics and reality lies the true politics of extraction.