Provision of facilities for colliers demanded

Death grant should be increased from Rs200,000 to Rs500,000: seminar participants

QUETTA: Pakistan Workers Confederation Balochistan and Pakistan Mines Workers Federation have demanded of the government to provide essential gear to the colliers in order to protect them in case of any untoward incident.
Their demands included establishment of warehouses and provision of equipment for detecting poisonous gases, gas testers, protection masks, flameproof electric motors, electric pumps and flameproof switches for controlling explosions occurring from buildup of methane gas in coal mines.



They made these demands during a seminar on ‘Important Government Initiatives for Protection of Colliers’ at the Quetta Press Club on Thursday.
Mine Owners Association Hyderabad Chairman Abdul Samad Raisani, mine owner Abbas Mir, Behroz Baloch, Sardar Qurban Ali, Senior Inspector of Mines Abdul Ghani Baloch, Quetta Division Inspector of Mines Muhammad Atif Hazara, Pakistan Workers Confederation General Secretary Abdul Maroof Azad, Joint Secretary Abdul Haye, Pakistan Workers Federation Balochistan President Haji Azizullah, Central Mines Labour Union President Malik Bakht Nazar, Pakistan Mines Workers Federation President Haji Noor Muhammad and General Secretary Sarzameen Afghani also addressed the seminar.
They demanded urgent job training programmes at mines in order to create awareness among the coalmine workers.



They urged the government to set up a mining board under Section 10 of the Mines Act 1923.
For making the board active and effective with regards to health and safety of colliers, they demanded establishment of sub-committees at provincial, district and mining field levels so that proper attention could be given to address the plight of colliers.
They said that the death grant in the three provinces was Rs500,000, while in Balochistan it was Rs200,000.
They demanded of the government to allocate Rs500,000 as death grant for the colliers in Balochistan like elsewhere in the country.