Jammu: National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana Monday shared concern of mining workers across the Jammu region, saying the avoidable restrictions by the administration have rendered thousands of families to penury.
“The hapless workers, who have already braved the brunt of joblessness for a pretty long time due to lockdown in the wake of coronavirus, can’t be abandoned by snatching from them the only source of sustenance”, Rana said after interacting with the workers engaged in mining sector.
He said the government is not appreciating hardships of the workers, which also include trolley and tractor pliers, who have procured their vehicles on bank finances at a whopping interest rate. Due to failure in timely payment of EMIs, they are virtually at the verge of financial breakdown. This is a peculiar situation that calls for coordinated efforts between the line departments to find a way out for the workers and wriggle them out of the perpetual hardships, the Provincial President added.
Rana said the blanket ban on extraction of material especially sand has hugely impacted on the construction sector that had shown signs of recovery after easing of Standard Operating Procedure. The mining sector holds the key to construction business which includes some key schemes and projects undertaken by the administration under various programmes for development in rural and urban areas. Once the important component of sand etc is scarcely available, the desired objectives of development would remain a far cry, he added.
The Provincial President called for a futuristic strategy for the construction sector, keeping in view the judicial wrangles and endeavour to sort out the issues by interventions and perusal of cases in various forums. This alone is the way out in sorting out the issues faced to labourers, trolly and tipper operators besides other modes of transportation of mining material.
The delegation apprised the Provincial President about various problems faced to them on account of restrictions on the extraction of mining produce, saying they are unable to cope up with the situation. This, they said has resulted in unemployment to over a lakh of persons engaged with this sector. They also sought his intervention in seeking waiver on EMIs and interim relief to the labour force, as their sustenance has come to severe threat. They said their families are at the verge of starvation and the administration must demonstrate humane approach to steer them out of the prevailing morass. Rana assured the delegation that their cause will be taken up at appropriate fora for early redressal.
