1st Floor, 19/9-B, CHB Jodhpur-342008 (Rajasthan) INDIA
As the Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC), our mission is to ensure the dignity, safety, and livelihood security of mine workers by advocating for their legal rights, providing health and financial assistance, and fostering sustainable development in mining areas. Here's a detailed look at how we achieve this, drawing from our initiatives and the insights from our Board of Trustees' Meeting:
We recognize that effective policy interventions and fund utilization require contributing to the discourse around existing mechanisms, improving their efficiency, and aligning them with the needs of those affected.
Identifying volunteers: We identify two volunteers from each village in 38 villages across three districts. These volunteers then engage five people each, focusing on key concern areas such as health, education, pension and compensation, alternative livelihoods, and civic infrastructure.
Mobilizing communities: We encourage these volunteers to mobilize communities for public hearings and mailing campaigns in consultation with the district administration.
Addressing concerns: We ensure that both individual concerns (delayed pensions, compensation) and collective concerns (infrastructure, oxygen banks, training centers) are taken up for consideration at DMFT Council Meetings.
This two-pronged approach ensures that incorporating public hearings and mailing campaigns becomes organically naturalized into the administrative machinery. Regular public hearings at the village/tehsil/district level, combined with transparency and accountability on the allocation and utilization of the DMFT Fund, ensure it is directed towards bringing about commendable socio-economic changes.
We aim to influence policy design so that DMFT and EC funds are accessible for alternative livelihoods. We also strive to contribute to a sustainable, transparent, and accountable business environment.
We help communities engage with and harness the funds of the DMFT through awareness programs, technical expertise, mobilization, and periodical events.
We acknowledge that policy interventions and fund utilization can be tackled through contributing to the discourse around existing mechanisms and allocations, striving to improve their efficiency, and realigning these mechanisms with those affected, through information on how to access these mechanisms.
Awareness programs, health camps, breathing therapy, and exercise training for silicosis patients and mine workers, and advocating for their protection against occupational health hazards remain a central focus area.
Educating mine workers: We educate them to incorporate healthy lifestyle practices and choices.
Consultative processes: We articulate the importance of workplace safety and preventive measures through consultative processes involving government stakeholders, mining companies, and affected communities.
Rehabilitative therapy: We expect rehabilitative therapy and breathing exercises orientation and training to be part of the functionalities of public health representatives in districts affected by mining.
Ramping up public health infrastructure: We advocate for ramping up public health infrastructure and equipment in these areas. Infrastructure and equipment, such as dedicated resting areas, ambulances, oxygen banks, and periodical health checkup camps, are instrumental in securing the living conditions of mine workers.
Influencing Policy: We aim to influence Rajasthan's Pneumoconiosis Policy (2019) in terms of designing and incorporating instruments of public health infrastructures from the village to the district level for the special care and attention silicosis patients deserve.
We recognize that the informal nature of the mining industry induces vulnerability in the lives of populations outside the purview of social protection.
Identifying households/widows: We identify households/widows and encourage them to explore alternative avenues of livelihood.
Providing localized access to information: We provide access to information on a variety of products, ranging from clarified butter (ghee), honey, vermicompost, and mushroom cultivation.
Promoting diversified practices: We support animal husbandry, fisheries, and apiary management.
Holistic approach: There is a holistic approach in terms of the instruments in the economic rehabilitation vertical, which aligns with the broader BHR framework, which underscores the role of businesses in creating resilient communities by addressing the systemic inequalities perpetuated by exploitative industries.
Key Instruments: Preliminary orientation and training, seed capital funding, and market access are key instruments on which the success of this initiative has been chartered.
Influencing policy design: We aim to influence policy design so that the DMFT and EC funds should be made accessible for alternative livelihoods in these areas.
We aim to embed ethical and social considerations into the decision-making processes of mining businesses; transparency, accountability, and worker welfare are not only necessary aspects but can only function in a system with robust legal protections and redressals.
MLPC strives to contribute to a sustainable, transparent and accountable, yet conducive business environment. This will be further emboldened with access to legal redressal mechanisms as well as alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, wherein workers are in consonance with their rights, as well as aware of the mechanisms to access them. In a wider framework, judicial mechanisms as well as community mobilization towards judicious use of the DMFT and EC funds will lead to a robust outcome.
By focusing on these key areas, we strive to create a mining industry that prioritizes the well-being of workers, respects the environment, and contributes to sustainable community development.