Rajasthan: Suffering from Silicosis in Silence, Mining Workers Await Welfare Board

Jodhpur: Dying a slow but sure death due to silicosis, the mine workers of Rajasthan have been fighting a battle of recognition since 2018, but in vain.

For all these years, the workers have been pushing the demand for the formation of the Mine Workers’ Welfare Board, but despite continuous deaths of their colleagues due to silicosis amid absence of safety measures in the work field, callousness of the government persists.

Silicosis is a lung disease caused by breathing in tiny particles of silica, a common mineral found in sand, quartz and rocks among others. It mainly affects construction and mining workers.

In order to remind the government of its poll promise, 30 of these workers from Jodhpur, Nagaur and Bhilwara have been staging a 'sit-in' in Jaipur since February 22 under the banner ‘Khan Majdoor Ekta Sangthan’.

Abhay Singh of the Khan Majdoor Ekta Sangthan said though the Congress party accepted the outfit’s demand for a welfare board and made it part of its election manifesto, “nothing had happened yet”.

Adding to Ramgopal from Barad Mine Labourers' Union, part of Khan Majdoor Ekta Sangthan, several representations have also been given to the mining minister over the years but there has been no satisfactory action.

“On the occasion of the government’s third anniversary, it claimed that 70% of the poll promises were fulfilled. However, leaving this promise (constituting a board) out, which has a direct bearing on 25 lakh persons, was shocking and too insensitive”, he said, adding that they feel cheated.

According to the managing trustee of Mine Labour Protection Campaign, Rana Sengupta, the board if constituted, will not only provide recognition to the oppressed mine workers but will also open the gates for their welfare.

“It is just a matter of the government’s will. There is already a Building and Construction Workers’ Welfare Board in place. Constituting a board on a similar line for mine workers is not a mammoth task,” he said.

The board, if constituted, will mandate the registration of both mine owners as well as the workers.

The owners will then be pushed to pool in safety measures for the workers, thus ensuring the gradual reduction and complete abolition of the deadly silicosis, Sengupta said.

The state government, for its part, had come up with a policy in October 2019 to bail out silicosis-affected workers and prevention of the disease. However, this policy is still awaiting its implementation.

“As per this policy, there is a provision of immediate financial aid of Rs 3 lakh to a silicosis patient and Rs 2 lakh to the dependents in case of his death, apart from Rs 1,500 monthly pension to the widow of the victim. But figures show that hardly 10 per cent of the victims have received this aid,” Sengupta said.

There are 33,122 quarries in the state across 33 districts where over 25 lakh workers have been working directly or indirectly amid the threat of silicosis with no safety measures in place to protect them from this fatal occupational hazard.

As per an estimate, 27,463 workers have been recognised as silicosis patients, in addition to 21,000 cases pending medical diagnosis.