Muhammad Usman, 19, was among the seven workers who lost their lives while working under pathetically unsafe conditions at the gypsum quarries in the Salt Range during the past year.
“It was 11am on Thursday, 26 June, when I got the news that my elder son died in an accident at a nearby gypsum quarry,” recalls Muhammad Ramazan of Chak Shafi.
Comprising three sisters and two brothers, Usman had been the sole bread earner of the seven-member family since 2003 when his father lost his leg while working at such site at Jindalla.
“I remained at a hospital for two months and my brother had to borrowed money for my treatment. The contractor did not even bother to see me after the accident. It had been a norm here that the contractor pays Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 to the heirs of a worker who loses his life working at a quarry and that’s all.
“We have been working at the quarries with the tools given to our ancestors by the British and taking injuries and even death during work as a fait accompli owing to ignorance of our rights. The death of my son proved to be a turning point. With the help of fellow workers and Anjuman Rafah-i-Aama, I shifted the body to Choa Saidan Shah Mining Hospital, got its post-mortem examination and lodged a report with police after fulfilling other legal requirements.
“It was for the first time that a case was got registered after the death of a miner. It was also for the first time that a government official visited the site of the accident and the labour inspector directed the lessee to deposit Rs200,000 as security with the exchequer and complete the procedure regarding payment of death grant.
“I cannot get my son back but I want to set a precedent for others,” said Ramazan.
Chak Shafi is part of Salt Range which is spreading from Jalalpur in Jhelum district to Kalabagh area of Mianwali district. It is rich in mineral resources, including salt, coal, gypsum, limestone, fibre-clay, sandstone, chromites and bentonite.
The main centre of mining is at Khewra where the Asia’s largest and world’s second-largest rock-salt deposits are found. Khewra salt mines are 260km from Lahore in Pind Dadan Khan tehsil of Jhelum district, with an estimated 220 million tons of rock-salt deposits. Khewra mines produce around 325,000 tons salt per annum.
Salt Range Federation of Trade Unions President Raja Kazim Kamal and Secretary-General Malik Ajmal said hundreds of unregistered workers at Kundwal, Lilla, Bhaliwal, Dhok Sakhi, Chak Shafi, Khora, Chitti Dund and Khewra were being subjected to various kinds of exploitation by contractors and lessees in the Salt Range.“At present, there exists no mechanism for payment of compensation to the workers who die or get injured in the accidents at the mines and gypsum quarries. Mine and quarry owners do not provide even drinking water to the workers at the sites. In the rainy season due to suspension of approach to mines from other areas, mine and quarry workers suffer severe income losses, exacerbating their economic worries,” said Kamal.
Ajmal said: “The government gets more than Rs1.8 billion in taxes from Pind Dadan Khan in Salt Range as the area produces coal, salt, gypsum, limestone, silica and other minerals. It should get all the workers registered with the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and ensure payment of minimum wages, old age benefits, life insurance, marriage and death grants, safety kits and pension facilities to all the registered and unregistered workers.”
Mines and Gypsum Quarries Workers Union Secretary-General Yousaf Naz said that last week a workers’ convention was arranged in collaboration with Anjuman Rafah-i-Aama and ActionAid-Pakistan at Khewra.
Punjab Chief Inspector of Mines Raja Tehzibul Hasan Ansari announced at the convention that the government would soon provide health, education and residential facilities to the mine and gypsum quarry workers in the province.
Mr Ansari also pledged a medical camp, to be set up in Khewra, besides a dispensary at Dhok Sakhi Khan and provision of education scholarship for the workers’ children from Workers Welfare Fund. The Punjab government has initiated steps to register the workers with the EOBI.
Mr Ansari announced establishment of a residential colony for mine and gypsum quarry workers at Khewra, having facilities like water supply, gas, electricity, school, hospital and mosque. The matter has been discussed in details with Pakistan Minerals Development Corporation (PMDC) and some 100-kanal land would be acquired for the purpose.
Naz said MNA Raja Asad Afzal vowed to keep raising the mine workers’ issues at the National Assembly floor till grant of workers’ rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.