The Hindu : Help workers hit by KGF mines closure: CM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 18, 2003

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Help workers hit by KGF mines closure: CM

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI AUG. 17. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has sought the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee's intervention in mitigating the sufferings of Tamil workers of the Bharat Gold Mines in Kolar Gold Fields, Karnataka, following closure of the units.

Pointing to the ``pathetic plight'' of nearly 4,000 workers, who were from Tamil Nadu, she said that since the closure of the mines in March 2001, as ordered by the Centre, the workers had not been paid salaries or wages.

``They have been reduced to a state of near-starvation'', she said in her August 16 letter.

``The Government of India should take immediate steps to reopen the mines and if this is not feasible in the short-term, a mutually-acceptable separation package should be finalised to the satisfaction of the workers.

The Government of India may take a liberal view and finalise a suitable package acceptable to the workers, particularly since a majority of them belong to the SC/ST category and are from economically weaker sections'', Ms. Jayalalithaa said.

Most of the workers had worked in the mines for over 25 years and would find it difficult to seek alternative employment at this stage of their life. Pending a decision to reopen the mines or finalise the package, an ex-gratia amount, as an interim measure, might be released to them immediately, she suggested.

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