Coal India trade unions held a peaceful protest on Wednesday while adhering to the Coronavirus-related safety guidelines to oppose the government’s “wrong policies,” said the Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation, affiliated with the Hind Mazdoor Sabha.. “The central trade unions namely Hind Mazdoor Sabha, AITUC, INTUC (held) dharna, procession today,” Nathulal Pandey, president of the Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation, said.
The trade unions, he said, peacefully protested by the coal workers against the wrong policies of the central government, such as commercial mining, the amendment of labor laws, the weakening of workers ‘ rights and the separation of the consultancy arm of the Central Mines Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL) from Coal India. Pandey, however, expressed the hope that the government would withdraw all the wrong decisions taken against Coal India and the workers.
According to various reports coming from different parts of the country, workers in the coal sector began dharna or agitation peacefully by following the COVID-19 State / Center guidelines, such as adherence to social distancing norms and wearing masks. Pandey said that ‘Thursday’ will be celebrated as ‘Black Day’ by coal workers.
The main demands of the unions are to stop auctioning coal blocks for commercial mining to private agencies, to stop proposing the separation of CMPDIL from Coal India and the proposed merger of CMPDIL with Mining Exploration Corporation Ltd, among others.
