SHILLONG, July 9: Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma on Friday announced that the state government will proceed with ex gratia payment to the next of kin of the six miners who were trapped inside the coal mines at Krem Ule, Umpleng in East Jaintia Hills.
The announcement comes a day after rescue operations were suspended on Thursday. The rescue team from Indian Navy, NDRF, SDRF and SRT, assisted by the east Jaintia Hills district administration, were able to retrieve three bodies from the flooded mine.
“We will pay the ex gratia as fixed by the NGT once the identification is completed and the family members are contacted,” Sangma said.
Official sources said that the government will have to pay Rs 4 lakh to each family.
They also said that the mine owner(s) have to pay to the next of kin of the mine workers as per the provisions of the Labour Act. The compensation will come to around Rs 12 to Rs 14 lakh depending on the age of the victims.
Official sources said that the total expenditure incurred on the rescue efforts touched Rs 30 lakh without taking miscellaneous expenses into account. There was also no clarity on whether the government would have to pay conveyance charges to the Navy team.
Scientific mining awaits Ministry’s nod
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that scientific mining of coal in the state would begin as soon as the Ministry of Coal approves the mining plan of the six prospective mining license holders.
“50 to 60% of the work has been done by getting the prospective mining licenses. We are hopeful that once the prospecting reports come in it would be forwarded along with the mining plan to the Centre for approval,” Sangma said.
The CM also said that the auction of the first batch of two lakh MT of extracted and assessed coal has already started and the money has already been disbursed to the coal owners.
