The Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has introduced ‘Sharam Suvidha Portal’ to bring transparency and accountability in enforcement of labour laws and ease of complexity in compliance.
A computer-based statutory examination system for transparency and speedy disposal, online permissions, exemptions and relaxations were among the series of reforms introduced in the Ministry in the last three years.
Simplification of registers, where 56 registers under nine Central Labour Laws and Rules were reduced to only five common registers to lessen the compliance burden by establishments, etc., were also part of revolutionary changes made, pointed out Swapan Kumar Dutta, Deputy Director General of Mines & Safety, Directors (South & South Central Zone) G. Vijay Kumar and M. Narasiah, respectively, at a press conference here on Tuesday.
DGMS is a regulatory authority under the Ministry dealing with matters of safety, health and welfare of the persons employed in mines. It also deals with permissions, exemptions and enquiry reports, among others.
Apart from introducing advanced mining technologies to the Singareni Collieries Coal Limited (SCCL), other initiatives taken by the ministry was to organise 28 awareness and orientation programmes for working persons, mine owners and Government officials to educate them about the safety laws, adoption of best practices while mining and on silicosis, they explained. Medical camps were also conducted in A.P., TS, Maharashtra and Goa to check on the silicosis, a fatal lung disease.
Training centres
Vocational training centres and mobile training centres were established in unorganised mine clusters for development of skills in different works, said Mr. Dutta. To support the Centre’s digital payments campaign and cashless economy, 9770 accounts were opened in both the organised and unorganised mines by holding 52 camps., especially in TS and AP States. The Labour Ministry had also initiated several initiatives like abolition of the Child Labour Act, raising maternity leave to 26 weeks, providing wage security and social security and so on.
