CIL plans colleges, higher benefits for mine accidents

Coal miners will get additional compensation for mine accidents, and as an additional benefit, can send their children to engineering colleges that Coal India Ltd (CIL) proposes to set up at all its subsidiary companies.

Announcing this in Kolkata, the minister of state for coal, Dasari Narayana Rao, said this was part of the effort to lessen the mining industry's hazardous nature and minimise the impact of accidents and casualties.

Rao announced that engineering institutes would be built at the headquarters of all the subsidiary companies of CIL to facilitate higher education for the children of its employees.

CIL ran a large number of schools at the headquarters, townships and production sites of its subsidiary companies.

Accident victims and the family left behind would fully taken care of, he added.

Rao said the ministry felt it had a moral duty to take care of the families of miners who were affected by accidents or disasters and admitted that there was much greater scope to do more for rehabilitation of the affected families.

Traditionally, CIL declared special relief in case of disasters where large number of workers or miners were killed but such additional relief was not available at present for those who met with an accident leading to death, but in an event not categorised as a disaster.

Rao announced Rs 5 lakh as additional relief to be paid to the next of kin of workers killed or permanently incapacitated in such mining accident not categorised as disaster.

This payment would be in addition to the other relief that any worker was entitled to under Workmen Compensation Act, and like the employment to next of kin.

Welfare of employees was receiving renewed focus at CIL.