After the 2G spectrum scam, the focus is now on the coal scam which has cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
The CAG has stated that the government's decision to not auction 194 coal blocks between 2004 and 2011 has resulted in such a huge loss.
But amidst the storm that has rocked the nation, thousands of workers continue to work in coal mines quite oblivious of the scams and dangers that surround them...
Coal mining has been a very dangerous activity. In the US alone, more than 100,000 coal miners were killed in accidents over the past century.
Even as companies make a windfall from coal, workers struggle in harsh conditions to make a living...
A woman labourer protects herself from sun as she holds her child at a coal yard on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
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A labourer smokes after loading coal onto trucks at a coal yard near Chiwaki railway station in Allahabad.
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A labourer drinks water as he takes a break from loading coal onto trucks at a coal yard near Chiwaki railway station in Allahabad.
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A labourer works at the Mahanadi coal fields at Dera, near Talcher town in Orissa.
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A worker opens the entry gate of an underground coal mine in the Mahanadi coal fields at Dera, near Talcher town in Orissa.
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A labourer loads coal onto a truck at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jammu.
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Labourers load coal onto trucks at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jammu.
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A labourer smokes a bidi, a local cigarette hand-rolled with tobacco leaf, during a break at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jammu.
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A female labourer looks on as she takes a break at a coal yard on the outskirts of Jammu.
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Labourers load coal onto trucks at Bari Brahamina, on the outskirts of Jammu.
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Labourers load coal on trucks at Bari Brahamina on the outskirts of Jammu.
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A worker carries coal in baskets at a wholesale coal shop on the outskirts of Agartala, capital of Tripura.
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A worker uses a loader to assemble the coal at a yard in Ahmedabad.
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A labourer smokes a bidi, a local cigarette hand-rolled with leaf tobacco, as he takes rest between unloading coal from a supply truck in Noida.
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A worker walks with a shovel during a lunch break at a coal yard in Jammu.
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A labourer lays coal balls out to dry at a factory in Kolkata.
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A labourer works at a wholesale coal shop in Kolkata.
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Labourers work in a railway coal yard on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
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Labourers work at a coal yard on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
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