Rigorous penalty to check violation of Mines Act: Fernandes

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Feb 16 (UNI) The Centre has proposed to enhance penalty for violating various provisions of the Mines Act, 1952.

This was disclosed by Labour and Employment Minister Oscar Fernandes while addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry here yesterday.

''The proposal is under examination so that any contravention of the law is prohibitive,'' he said, while pointing out that efforts were also underway for designated courts to deal with cases exclusively under the Mines Act.

The Minister did not, however, specify what would be the size of penalty proposed by the government.

Mr Fernandes said overall improvement of safety in mines called for updating the legislative provisions and suitable strengthening of the enforcement machinery.

Welcoming the reduction in the average number of fatal accidents per year, the Labour Minister said such accidents have come down in coal mines from 223 to 89 and in non-coal mines from 64 to 51 since 1951-60 to 2000-06.

In this context, he pointed out that the number of fatalities per year has also been reduced from 295 to 112 in coal mines and from 81 to 64 in non-coal mines during the same period.

He said the rates of accidents in terms of fatalities per thousand persons employed basis are comparable with advanced countries like the US and Australia.

However, the scale of mechanisation in the Indian mines, particularly in the underground mines is abysmally low as compared to advanced countries ''which may be the cause of the high figures of fatality in absolute terms in Indian mines''.

Participating in the meeting, the Members of Parliament complained about lack of safety measures in the construction and building sector which has seen a spurt in recent years.

They were told that there is a dearth of qualified safety officers in the construction sector and efforts are on in consultation with state governments to create adequate trained manpower.

Some MPs expressed concern over the way blasting is done in quarries in hills endangering workers and neighbourhood habitations.

The Members of Parliament who participated in the meeting included Messrs. Gurudas Das Gupta, P. Rajendran, Balihari, Rajnarayan, Dawa Narbula and Narayan Singh Kesri.

UNI

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