Coal India trade unions began a three-day strike on Thursday as they protested against the government’s decision to allow commercial coal mining in the country.
Coal India accounts for more than 80% of domestic coal production.
Coal India trade unions began a three-day strike on Thursday, 2 June as they protested against the government’s decision to allow commercial coal mining in the country. Approximately four million tons of production are likely to be affected by the three-day long cessation of operations, PTI reported. The strike has been effective since the first shift starting at 6 a.m., said Nathulal Pandey, President of the HMS-affiliated Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation. The coal mining company produces 1.3 million tons (MT) of coal every day and, as the strike continues for three days, it is estimated that the production loss will be at 4 million tonnes, said Nathulal Pandey.
Why are trade unions protesting against commercial mining?
In 1973, the government regulated the wages and services of coal miners in order to save them from exploitation through nationalization. However, commercial coal mining is once again putting them at risk. “If commercial mining is started by private companies, the workers will certainly be exploited by paying less wages and the workers will have to work in poor working conditions,” Nathulal Pandey said. The government, however, said that there were no plans in place either to dislodge the PSU or to dislodge the CMPDIL Coal India arm.
Coal India India accounts for 80 per cent of India’s domestic coal output, and the BJP government has recently set an ambitious target of one billion tons of coal output for Coal India (CIL). On Wednesday, trade union representatives and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi held a virtual meeting to discuss the issue of commercial coal mining. “During the meeting, the Minister informed the unions that commercial mining was a policy decision of the Central Government. Minister said that this is the only way to increase the production of coal, “said Nathulal Pandey, quoted by the news agency. The talks were not fruitful and the Minister refused to accept the union ‘s request to withdraw the commercial mining decision.
Meanwhile, five people who were on strike were arrested in the Jhanjra area of Eastern Coalfields.
