Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Pralhad Joshi launched a web portal developed by the Ministry of Coal, here today to ensure real time reporting of accidents occuring in Coal Mines. The portal has been developed by Coal India Limited (CIL) to facilitate accident investigation using root cause analysis techniques to ensure elimination of cause of accidents. The portal will facilitate monitoring of actions to be taken by coal companies on the recommendations of various enquiries with a view to minimise such incidences.
Addressing at the 47th meeting of the Standing Committee on Safety in Coal Mines, Minister Shri Joshi reiterated that Safety is top priority in coal sector and advised all coal companies to ensure that there is no dearth of fund for ensuring safety measures. He complimented coal companies on the best ever performance in coal production this year despite challenges arising out of COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged monsoon season in coalfields areas. Shri Joshi mentioned that during the financial year 2021-22, India’s coal sector had achieved a record production of 777.23 Million Ton ( MT) compared to 716 MT in 2020-21 with 8.55 per cent growth. At the same time, coal despatch has increased by 18.43 per cent to 818.04 MT during the fiscal 2021-22 against 690.71 MT in 2020-21.
Standing Committee is the highest Tripartite Committee at the national level to review the status of safety in coal mines and adequacy of existing measures in a spirit of mutual cooperation and sharing of ideas and suggestions. The meeting was attended by representatives of central trade unions, officers from Directorate General of Mines Safety and CMDs and CEOs of various coal companies in public as well as private sector.
Minister Shri Joshi also suggested the following steps:
- Adopting State-of-Art Technology for ensuring safety in coal mines.
- Strengthening of Occupational Health Services Infrastructure and Monitoring mechanism to keep our employees safe and healthy.
- Capacity Building for imparting Training and Skill development amongst employees and PAFs.
- Improvement in Safety, Health and Basic Facilities of Contractor Workers deployed in PSU mines, Pvt Coal Mines as well as Hiring of Equipment (HOE) patches & Mine Developer & Operator (MDO) patches.
- Enhance awareness and sensitivity amongst all stakeholders of mine safety.
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AKN/RKP
