Lok Sabha Question No. 3486 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-08
Subject: Coal Mine Workers
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3486 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8.8.2018

## Coal Mine Workers

3486. DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: SHRI SATAV RAJEEV: SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA  SULE: DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN: SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the number of coal mine workers working in different State owned coal mines across the country, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the details of the number of facilities including safety facilities being provided to these workers across the  country;
- (c) whether the Government has received any complaints at present in some of the States in connection with violation of safety guidelines in their mines and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor;
- (d)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  these  coal  mines/all  coal  mines  as  zero accidental; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has    issued  guidelines  to  States  to  provide  training  to  workers  for  safety during the work time and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF  RAILWAYS, COAL, FINANCE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) : The number of coal mine workers working in the subsidiaries of CIL and SCCL located in different States as on 01.07.18 are given at Annexure I.

(b): The  following  safety  facilities  are  provided  to  employees  in  Coal  India  Ltd  (CIL)  and  its subsidiaries:

-  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)s to all employees as per requirement of their jobs.
-  Round-the-clock  Supervision  by  statutory  personnel  for  ensuring  safety  of  the  employees working in the mines.
-  System / devices / apparatuses for early detection of different gases present in mine ambience and/or  produced  in  the  UG  mine  environment  due  to  various  reasons  including  mine  fire  / spontaneous heating.
-  Adequate support for overlying roof strata.
-  Electrical  safety  features  such  as  overload  (OL)  protection,  earth  leakage  (EL)  protection, restricted earth neutral system, Lighting Arrester etc.
-  Adequate initial, refresher and job-specific training to all employees.
-  Adequate fire-fighting arrangement.
-  Appropriate fencing against dangerous places at mine.
-  Facility of Man Riding System for those UG mines having arduous and long travel.
-  Well-equipped Organization for Mine Rescue Services for dealing with Emergency situations.

(c) As  informed  by Directorate  General  of  Mines  Safety  (DGMS),  a  subordinate  office  under Ministry  of  Labour  &  Employment,  complaints  are  received  from  time  to  time  in  connection  with violation of safety guidelines in the mines. These are dealt by DGMS and the action is taken based on the findings during the inquiry related to the matter. The details of the complaints received, State/UT wise are attached in Annexure-II.

(d): The matters relating to safety, health and welfare of persons employed in the mines are dealt with under the Mines Act, 1952, Rules and Regulations made there under.  DGMS administers the Mines Act, 1952  for  ensuring  safety  in  the  mines  in  the  country.  The  owner,  agent,  manager  and  other  statutory persons appointed at the mines are required to comply with the provisions of the statute. Chief Inspector of  Mines  and  Inspectors  of  Mines  make  inspections  and  enquire  whenever  it  is  required  to  ascertain whether the provisions of the Mines Act 1952 and of the regulations, rules and bye-laws and of any order made there under are observed in the case of any mine.

In  order  to  prevent  re-occurrence  of  accidents  in  future,  Directorate  General  of  Mines  Safety issues  circular  for  the  mining  industry  for  preventive  measures  to  be  taken. To  ensure  that  the  mine workers  are  provided  with  adequate  safety  measures  while  working  in  the  mines,  Officers  of  DGMS undertake inspections of mines and take following measures:

-  Pointing out contraventions
-  Withdrawal of permission
-  Issue of improvement notices
-  Prohibition of employment
-  Informal stoppages
-  Prosecution in the court of law

To prevent accidents in the mines the following steps are also taken/being taken by the Government:

- (i) To  promote  and  propagate  safety  awareness  in  mines,  National  Safety  Awards  (Mines), National Conference on Safety in Mines are organized by DGMS. The recommendations of National Conference on Safety in Mines go a long way in enhancing safety of mine workers.
- (ii) Workers participation and sensitization in matters of safety are ensured through training in safety and by initiatives like celebration of safety week and safety campaigns, etc.
- (iii) Safety training programmes are organized among Managers and Supervisors for improving safety standards in mines.
- (iv) Introduction  of  Risk  Assessment  Techniques  and  preparation  of  safety  management  plan aimed at elimination of risks and to ensure safety of workmen.
- (v) Introduction of standard operating procedures to avoid unsafe practices in mines.
- (vi) Time to time, DGMS Circulars are issued as guidelines for safe operations in identified thrust areas.

(e): Training  the  persons  employed  in  the  mines  is  provided  as  per  the  provisions  of  The  Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966 (a subordinate legislation of The Mines Act, 1952). The salient points of The Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966 are:

- (i) Provision for training centre as per the provisions of the Rule 18 of The Mines     Vocational Training Rules, 1966.
- (ii) Provisions  for  Training  officer  as  per  Rule  20  of  The  Mines  Vocational  Training  Rules, 1966.
- (iii) Provision of trainer as per Rule 22 of The Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966.
- (iv) Provision  of  initial  and  refresher  training  as  per  Rule  6  and  8  of  The  Mines  Vocational Training Rules, 1966

*****

The number of coal mine workers working in the subsidiaries of CIL is as follows

| State               | Subsidiary   |   No.of workers (Non-Exe.) |
|---------------------|--------------|----------------------------|
| Jharkhand           | ECL          |                       8164 |
| Jharkhand           | BCCL         |                      44667 |
| Jharkhand           | CCL          |                      38020 |
| Jharkhand           | CMPDIL       |                        911 |
| Jharkhand           | NEC          |                          3 |
| Jharkhand           | TOTAL        |                      91765 |
| West Bengal         | ECL          |                      50729 |
| West Bengal         | BCCL         |                       1268 |
| West Bengal         | CMPDIL       |                        248 |
| West Bengal         | SECL         |                         35 |
| West Bengal         | DCC          |                        292 |
| West Bengal         | CIL(HQ)      |                        431 |
| West Bengal         | NEC          |                          5 |
| West Bengal         | TOTAL        |                      53008 |
| Odisha              | MCL          |                      20491 |
| Odisha              | CMPDIL       |                        293 |
| Odisha              | TOTAL        |                      20784 |
| Madhya Pradesh      | WCL          |                      11982 |
|                     | NCL          |                       7626 |
|                     | CMPDIL       |                        187 |
|                     | SECL         |                      16742 |
|                     | TOTAL        |                      36537 |
| Uttar Pradesh       | NCL          |                       5592 |
| Uttar Pradesh       | TOTAL        |                       5592 |
| Chattishgarh        | CMPDIL       |                        492 |
| Chattishgarh        | SECL         |                      37626 |
|                     | TOTAL        |                      38118 |
| Maharastra          | WCL          |                      30754 |
|                     | CMPDIL       |                        293 |
|                     | TOTAL        |                      31047 |
| Assam               | NEC          |                       1343 |
|                     | TOTAL        |                       1343 |
| Meghalaya           | NEC          |                         13 |
|                     | TOTAL        |                         13 |
| TOTAL MANPOWER(CIL) |              |                     278207 |
| Telangana           | SCCL         |                      52649 |

## Annexure I

## Annexure II

Details of the complaints received in connection with violation of safety guidelines in state owned coal mines:

|   S.No . | State          | No. of Complaints   | Reasons of Complaints                                                                                                                               |
|----------|----------------|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Chhattisgarh   | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        2 | Gujarat        | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        3 | Jharkhand      | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        4 | Jammu& Kashmir | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        5 | Madhya Pradesh | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        6 | Rajasthan      | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |
|        7 | Telangana      | 11                  | 1. Damages to the nearest hut-men/houses due to blasting in mines. 2. Related to accidents 3. Unsafe practices 4. Pollution. 5. Long working hours. |
|        8 | West Bengal    | NIL                 | NIL                                                                                                                                                 |