Lok Sabha Question No. 1091 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-08
Subject: Contractual Workers
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: SRINIVAS KESINENI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1091

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2018

## CONTRACTUAL WORKERS

## 1091.  SHRI KESINENI NANI:

Will the Minister of Mines be pleased to State :

- (a) whether  the  number  of  contractual  workers  is  higher  than  the  permanent  workers  in mining sector and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) the  differences  between  the  safety,  retirement  benefits  and  compensation  regulations between permanent and contractual labourers; and
- (c) the  current  status  of  the  study  being  conducted  to  gauge  the  prevalence  of  silicosis throughout the country especially in Andhra Pradesh?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINES (SHRI HARIBHAI PARTHIBHAI CHAUDHARY)

(a)  No, Madam. As informed by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Ministry of  Labour  &  Employment,  the  number  of  contractual  workers  is  not  higher  than  the permanent workers in mining sector.

(b) The safety health and welfare of workers employed in mines is regulated by the Mines Act,  1952  and  the  Rules  and  Regulations  framed  there  under.  The  Mines  Act,  1952  is administered by DGMS, a Regulatory Agency under the Ministry of Labour & Employment. As informed by DGMS the Mines Act, 1952 does not differentiate between the permanent and contractual labourers.

The workmen's compensation Act, 1923, provides for the payment by certain classes of employers  to  their  workmen  of  compensation  for  injury  by  accident.  In  this  Act  the 'workman'  means  any  person  (other  than  a  person  whose  employment  is  of  a  casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business)

(c)  As informed by the DGMS, a project costing Rs. 4.68 crore on 'Multicentric study of dust related diseases  in stone  mines  and  development  of  sustainable  preventive programme' has been undertaken  jointly  by  Union  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment and Ministry of Mines in collaboration with National Institute of Miners' Health, Nagpur (an autonomous body under Ministry of Mines), to address the Silicosis related health issues of stone mines and quarries workers of unorganized sector situated in different  parts of the country, which would include the dust profiling, disease profiling, profiling of the nature of mining operations prevalently contributing to occurrence of silicosis, etc. The findings of the  project  would  help  in  identifying  the  genesis  of  the  occurrence  of  silicosis  and appropriate mitigation measures for future control and prevention.

National  Institute  of  Miners'  Health  (NIMH),  Nagpur  has  carried  out  the  occupational health and safety survey of mine workers up to October, 2017 in six(6)  states namely Telangana,  Rajasthan,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Haryana,  Madhya  Pradesh  and  West  Bengal  in which 105 cases of Silicosis have been detected out of 2539 persons examined.

An occupational health and safety survey of silicosis affected workers under section 9A of the Mines Act, 1952 has been undertaken by DGMS.

All  over  India,  a  total  number of 9557  persons were medically examined, out of which 157 cases of silicosis were detected by them. The details of the silicosis cases detected in the state of Andhra Pradesh is as follows:

|   S.No | State          | District   |   No. of persons medically examined | Silicosis Cases detected   |
|--------|----------------|------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|      1 | Andhra Pradesh | Kurnool    |                                 430 | 0                          |
|      1 | Andhra Pradesh | Anantapur  |                                 210 | X-Rays to be evaluated     |
|      1 | Andhra Pradesh | Sub-Total  |                                 640 | 0                          |

Note: As on 31.01.2018 (source: DGMS, Ministry of Labour & Employment)

On the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's Order No.1028/2006/SC/PILW dated 30.08.2016, Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), under the Ministry of Labour & Employment, has carried out an occupational health and safety survey of Silicosis affected workers under Section 91A of the Factories Act, 1948. As per the current Status the Survey has been completed in the following States:

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura, UT of Daman & Diu, UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, UT of Puducherry, UT of Lakshadweep, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,  UT  of  Chandigarh,  Assam,  Nagaland,  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Meghalaya, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

Survey  is  under  progress  in  UT  of  Andaman  and  Nicobar  Islands,  Uttar  Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh.  Survey is still pending in Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. (source: DGFASLI, Ministry of Labour & Employment)

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