The death ratio of miners in Pakistan and particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), is on a regular hike as the KP government, mine owners, and contractors are paying no heed towards providing them with necessary facilities and infrastructure in mining areas.
It is a harsh fact that miners are the people who are working hard as they have to go hundreds of feet under the earth in poor and dangerous conditions. However, they are still yet to get their fundamental rights of safety and liberty to life due to the government’s negligence.
According to Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation, almost 100 to 200 laborers die every year in coal mine accidents. There are on-the-job risks of mining that include accidents like cave-ins, floods, gas explosions, chemical leakage, to name a few. Health risks also increase manifold because of the dust, vaporized molten metal, and mercury they inhale. State intervention is direly needed to protect the miners.
According to unofficial data, almost over 100,000 mine workers work in different parts of the country with a minimum monthly wage of nearly Rs 13000. That is significantly less than their physically challenging work, and many miners are hailing from the poorest district of KP called Shangla in upper Swat.
In April 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed all the provinces to get the data of all the miners and provide Rs 500,000 cash to the families of those who have lost their lives while mining.
The apex court had also ordered the provinces to have free education for the children of mine workers and proper training to the miners to make them able to cope with any looming incident.
However, the KP government is yet to work for the miners’ rights or bring any strict law for minors’ protection, which is why the mine owners and contractors are extensively exploiting them without any check on them from the government side.
While commenting on the matter Habib Shah a local journalist from South Waziristan working on the labor rights, has said that the lack of facilities for the miners is grave negligence of the provincial government even though due to mining KP is generating a tremendous amount of revenue as tons of mines are extracting daily.
He revealed that besides the low wage and no protection facilities, the miners in KP and particularly in tribal districts, are yet to get any separate hospital or a dispensary.
He further stated that the explosion within mines was a routine issue. Still, the hurdles in rescue operations for taking out the stranded must be removed by the government because many have been losing their lives due to delay in rescue operations.
It is essential to mention here that Pakistan has four national-level laws related to health, safety, and welfare of workers engaged in mining and quarrying, specifically: the Mines Act 1923, Mines Maternity Benefits Act 1941, Coal Mines (Fixation of Rates and Wages) Ordinance 1960, and the Excise Duty on Mineral (Labour) Welfare Act 1967. But still, the government is failed to protect the most critical segment of society by providing them with possible facilities.
The provincial government needs to change the existing laws and thoroughly implement them. The government also needs to register all the mines in the province while registering all social security departments. It is the government’s responsibility to protect the workers from exploitation, bonded labour, and protect their rights.
Mansoor Ali
The writer writes for different websites.
