Reuters
Published: 06 Jan 2021 10:52 AM BdST
Updated: 06 Jan 2021 10:52 AM BdST A girl shows mica which she has collected from an illegal open cast mine in Giridih district in the eastern state of Jharkhand, India, June 27, 2016. REUTERS
When India went into lockdown last March and Tota Rai lost his cleaning job in the textile hub of Surat, he knew working in the illegal mica mining industry back home was his only option. );
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Rai, 45, and his three sons - two adults and one teenager - now spend their days scavenging for scraps of the valued mineral used to put the sparkle into make-up and car paint and in electronics to sell to local traders in eastern Jharkhand state.