New mines act will tighten supervision of mines

Dhanbad: The new mines act will tighten supervision of mines and on coal companies outsourcing labourers in the restricted area, Union minister of state for Labour and Employment K Suresh said on Wednesday.

"The act will give lethal power in supervision of mines and help in fixing ultimate responsibility for accidents," Suresh said. The Mines (Amendment) Bill 2011 envisaged safety and supervision of mines, the minister told reporters here after reviewing the functioning of the Directorate General of Mines Safety. Hoping that the Bill will be passed in the coming Session of Parliament, he said there was a provision of seven years imprisonment for accidents against the current two years. The Bill also had a provision for a minimum fine of Rs 50,000 against Rs 500 at present, he said. "It was a grave violation that services of outsourced staff were being taken in the restricted area in Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and in subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL)," he said. The minister said that he would ask Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad to inquire the matter, and action would be taken on the basis of reports. Suresh said that an ESI medical college will be set up in Jharkhand soon. The state had provided land in Ramgarh district and the central government would set up infrastructure for the institution, but a land problem was pending for long, he said. "The ministry has also decided to upgrade the Ranchi based 50-bed ESI hospital to 100 beds for which the Centre released Rs 150 crore," he said. He said a proposal has been sent to the Jharkhand government for approval to cover all 24 districts of the state under the ESI scheme. So far the scheme was in practice in only eight districts -- Ranchi, Dhanbad, Giridih, East and West Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Gumla and Deoghar. "Once the state government approves the proposal, the Ministry of Labour will introduce the scheme," Suresh said. PTI