Labour federation irked over lack of safety of miners in Balochistan

Calls for canceling the lease of mine owners who fail to take necessary steps to ensure colliers' safety

QUETTA: National Labour Federation Pakistan President Shamsur Rehman asked the Balochistan government to clarify its policy for the safety and development of labour, while urging it to cancel the lease allotment of mine owners who fail to take necessary steps to ensure colliers safety. “Dozens of coal miners are killed in accidents every year but the owners and the provincial government have failed to ensure their safety,” Rehman said while addressing a press conference along with other activists.

Govt, employers blamed for coal miners’ deaths'

They said the country’s capitalistic system has added to the woes of the poor masses, with coal miners forced to work in appalling conditions. The federation’s president urged the provincial government to include coal mine workers in the Social Security Welfare Fund in order to ease their woes particularly in such times when inflation was going through the roof. As many as 164 labourers working in coal mines have lost their lives and 300 more were facing serious injuries during the last one year in various mines of Balochistan, said a rights group.