The Singareni Coal Mines Karmika Sangh affiliated to BMS has demanded paid holidays for coal miners by the Singareni management to check the spread of COVID-19 in the coal belt region.
Talking to The Hindu on Tuesday, BMS state president Kengerla Mallaiah flayed the Singareni management for its ‘dual standards’ on controlling the deadly virus in the region.
On the one hand, the government has declared a lockdown to check the spread of the virus, and on the other hand, the management has forced the workers to come to the mines to achieve the target coal production by risking their lives.
“Unlike other sectors, coal miners are forced to work in groups and some jobs are linked with chain among miners. There is every possibility of miners touching each other,” he said, and added that the outsourcing staff were mostly migrants thus exposing others to the risk of virus spread.
Also, miners on their way to duty were being stopped by the police and their vehicles seized in spite of showing ID cards on the pretext of lockdown, he stated.
In the interest of coal miners’ health, he urged the State government to declare paid holidays to all the 48,000 coal miners working in various underground and open cast projects.
