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Hea,rts 01: StorIe - f=ailure to protect quarry workers in and around Dell,i Inder Mohan Large-scale illegal quarrying of red sand and other construction materials on the outskirts of Oelhi and in adjoining parts of Haryana, and exploitation of labour engaged in this work have continued despite several efforts during the past decade to check these. In this article the author, a social worker, who has been closely involved in these efforts, examines this failure and gives some suggestions for future action.
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in ing and quarrying work for obtaining stone, red sand and silica sand is carried out on a large scale in the hills on the southern outskirts of Delhi, stretchi ng into adjoini ng parts of Haryana, mainly Farid abad dis trict. Related to .these is the large-scale stone-crushing work. in places like Rajokri , Lal Kuan " Rangpuri. Surajkund load, the stretch from Gurukul to Lakarpur. No firm estimate is available of the by and large unorganised workers engaged in this task but according to a rou gh esti mate anything between 35000 to 50000 workers may be toiling here , the ir nu mber reduced only duri ng the rainy season or some festive occasion .
Working Conditions These quarries and the wo rkers toiling there have oft en been in news largely on account of the revolting and hazardous working conditions prevailing he re , frequently resulting in fatal accidents. While news reports on these accidents have been quite frequ ent. it is also true that manv other accidents in vo lving workers- here are ne ver reported . Around 1975-76, when some socially concerned persons tried to estimate th e number of fatal accidents in mines in and around Bhatti area alone. they found that the number of fatal acciden ts was extreme ly high , Despite a lot of information becoming available on the tragiC plight of these workers and the periodic announcements of the government to better organise the working of these mines, the sad conditions of the workers - in ter ms of real earnings , fac ilit ies at work site , housing or safety -over the last decade or so. Safety conditions may have improved somewhat in the ·3 mines of Bhatti area being directly worked by th e government , but taking an overall view of this large-scale work spread at many places, no significant positive change towards improvement of
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workers' condition is discernible.
Contractors Tactics It is still common for contractors to hush up cases of deaths or serious injuries. pay ing a smal l sum to buy silence. Very basic faciliti es like clean drinking water are not provided and at many places workers have to drink du st-pollut ed water or even buy water. Diarrhoea, dysentary, eye problem s rlJG common ai lm ents, . and many workers suffer from serious illnesses like tuberculosis and silicos is. yet they continue to toil in dusty conditions. Recently several deaths occur-' red among quarry workers and villagers in Rajokri showin g sysmptoms of chol era althoug h th ere were off icial deni al s of this being a cholera epid emic. Wh al is the wage for wh ich th ese workers to il in such hazardous conditions? It is not easy ' !I to answer such a basic question in th e context of th e conditions prevailing here for the rate pe r truck may differ from place to place, then the interest payment for loans take n (including those for work-related expenses such as the purchase of tools, setting up a hut near work- site etc.) has. to be taken care of, as also the work expen ses such as the upkeep of th e mules an d donkeys. Keeping in vi ew all this it is unlikely that a worker earns more than Rs. 15 to 20 a day, de spite exposing himself to the worst haz ards. If we kee p in mind the extent to which the earning life of the workers is cut short by di seases and accide nts to whish they are gravely exposed due to the ex isti ng working cond it ions. thei r real earnings appear to be even more me agre.
specially cre ated for th is purpose, but in actual practice almost all the work is being done illegally by the contract ors , and in fact their presence can also be felt in the few DSMDC run mines in Bhatti area . It may surprise many that such a situatio n should prevail so close to the capital city, but the same nex us of corrupt politi cian-official contractor which has ensured illegal, high -profi t qu arry ing and mining at so many places in th e country has operated here also and made it diff ic ult to dislodge the contractors de spite so much hue and cry being raised and several steps being taken at least on paper to end the contracto r syste m. Und er such conditions it may appear futile to on ce again call upon the authorities to implement their own laws and stated policies in this area of darkness on the outskirts of th.e capital city and very close to the posh farm hou ses of some of the richest people in Delhi. It 'may be more pertinent to sug gest some rethinking on the part of those persons who have been co n- ·
cerned and active about the workers getting their rig hts.
Construction Workers Quarrying work constitutes only a part of the total construction work - the others being brick-kilns , stone-cru shers and the actual construction of build ing, roads etc. It is important to make an effort to org an ise workers in all the se segments of the construction industry instead of' making isolated efforts in different sectors . Of course the workers are wide ly scattered and it is a difficult task. But a small beg inning can be made, a nucleus can
The construction industry workers are today busy in makir}g creations of no meaning to their lives. They know that they can never live or WfU'k in these buildings, perhaps they cannot even enf) ) them once these have been completed. Housing is a strongly fell need of the weaker sections, and it is from these sections that the construction workers came. So it is important to link up the two struggles - the betterment of the construction workers and tl1e fulfilment of the housing needs of the weaker sections.
Sant Nidhan Singh Kesar Awards Sant Nidhan Singh Kesar Memorial Award, sponsored by a Bangkok based organisation , has announced its awards for the year 1988 to the following, "·terateurs and social activist1 _
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Illegal Mining Who is res ponsible for this deplorable state of working co ndition s? Officially, on paper, th e mining work is in the hands of the govern men t in Delhi as well as in Harya na . In fact in Delh i th§ Delhi St ate Mineral D evelo p me Af~ ' Corporat io n (DSMDC) has been
be set up which will later throw up wider possibil ities. The construction industry workers are today busy in making creations of no meaning to their live'>. They know that they can never live or work in these build ing s, t->erhaps they cannot even enter them once these have been ( ,mpleted. Hou sing is a strongly fell need of the weaker ~'ections, and it is from these sections that the construction workers came. So it is important to link up the two struggles - the betterment of thl construction workers and the fulfilment of the housing needs of the weaker ( sections. Last but not the least at the risk of repetit ion this fact has to be stressed again that efforts to organise largely urban based groups such as construction workers n ~e d to be supported and complemen ted by efforts in the villages from which they came to resist exploitation and injustice.
Giani Bhagat Singh (Theology & History)
Hira
Dr. Hari Singh (Promotion of Punjabi Language & Culture) S. Piara Singh Data (Satire & Travelogue) Dr. Maheep Singh (Fiction & Civil Liberty) Smt. Raji nder Kaur (Short Story)
Winnie Mandela, wife 'o r Jailed African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela addressed a news conference to .umounce a "Concert for Peace" scheduled for Sunday in.JobannesbUFg. The concert bas heeD organised to mark Nelson Mandela's 70th birtbdayon July 18. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to cbarity. - AP/PTI -photo MlI1dnty Rights IIi!
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Civil liberties Equality for women Democratic Values Environmental Protection
Each awardee will receive a memento and 500 U,S. Dollors in a spec ially orgarised function to be hei~ in the last week of Oct. this year in New Delhi . c
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20 July - 4 August 1988