Jaipur, October 4: Pneumoconiosis is a deadly disease peculiar to mine-workers. Rajasthan has announced the creation of a Pneumoconiosis Fund for mine-workers, which will be majorly financed by money from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF). This Fund will be used to finance a comprehensive policy on the disease released by the Rajasthan government yesterday.
Pneumoconiosis, a lung disease, mostly affects workers who work in the mining and construction sectors and deal with soil, silica, coal dust and asbestos. The disease includes asbestosis, silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis.
“The aim of the policy is to streamline the strategy to deal with pneumoconiosis. For the first time, we are looking at a strong preventive mechanism and better assistance to the victims and their families,” Said Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Rajasthan.
The Fund will include pension for patients and their families after the patient’s death and their inclusion in the state’s social security schemes, which will be over and above the compensation paid. Rajasthan is one of the leading mining states of India, with a distinction of having more than 33,000 mine leases, the highest in the country. Most of these are sandstone mines and quarries.
It is also the state with a high prevalence of pneumoconiosis, including silicosis. According to data from the state silicosis portal, more than 55,000 cases of silicosis have been registered for medical verification across all of Rajasthan’s districts from 2016 till date. According to a 2018 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the number of deaths due to silicosis had increased in Rajasthan from 1 in 2013-14 to 235 in 2016-17.
Various mine workers organisations and unions had been demanding a comprehensive framework to address the issue and provide due compensation to the patients over the last decade.
Earlier, the state government was just providing a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the silicosis patient, of which Rs 1 lakh was paid to the victim and Rs. 3 lakh to the family after the patient’s death. This was paid through the Rajasthan Environmental Health Administration Board (REHAB), constituted under the Rajasthan Environment and Health Cess Rules, 2008.
DMF will be one of the biggest components of the Pneumoconiosis Fund. After DMF was instituted, REHAB was discontinued. The compensation was revised to Rs 5 lakh (Rs 2 lakh to the patient and Rs 3 lakh to the family after the patient’s death). It will also bring in convergence of other available funds such as Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Welfare Fund, the state budget, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The state level fund has been created so that pneumoconiosis patients can be helped even in districts where DMF funds are not substantial. In Rajasthan, districts like Bhilwara, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Ajmer have a sizeable DMF accrual each year ranging from Rs 250 crore to Rs 100 crore.
The policy recognizes prevention as a major focus because pneumoconiosis, once contracted, is a terminal illness. For this, all mines and industries having dust hazards will be registered and notified as hazardous and brought under a tight regulatory framework to ensure protective equipment and dust suppression measures.
The policy also looks at a comprehensive patient rehabilitation and pension for patients and their families. It introduces pension for patients and after their passing, to their families irrespective of income criteria. It also calls for creating livelihood opportunities for silicosis patients and their kin.