"Before the government agencies came, this place was free-for-all. There used to be a regular 'mela' here. People came in their fancy cars, parked themselves about, because even the nearest hotel is about 100 km from here, dug furiously and hoped to strike it rich,'' says Punit Ram.
Ram himself was never driven by this spirit of enterprise. "I would much rather do my farming, however, difficult it is,' ' he points out. So while private diamond mining has been forbidden by an executive fiat in Madhya Pradesh, barely 25 km away in Orissa's Kalahandi district, the country's poorest district, mining goes on unhindered—and quite openly.
Says Daya Ram, a casual labourer, who has seen many visitors to this place: "If you want to see diamonds being mined illegally, drive down to Kalahandi, because everyone is going there."
So what do De Beers and CRA mean to them? "I haven't heard of them. But at least it means some employment here," says Barun Ram, working at the diamond drilling machine at the Behradih pipe. With eight hours of drilling everyday, he earns a daily wage of Rs 35 a day, the prescribed minimum wage. Now with transnationals coming in, the state government is eager to emphasise that local talent will be used aplenty. Only, the administration is not sure about the exact number of locals the firms will employ.
