Bhubaneswar: The Centre on Thursday announced a 300 per cent hike in ex-gratia for victims involved in fatal mine accidents. The amount has been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
The announcement was made by Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi during his maiden visit to the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). The welfare measure, he said, will cover both permanent miners and contractors and over 3.5 lakh families of miners working under Coal India and its subsidiaries in eight states of the country.
He also announced that the Mahanadi Coalfields would offer employment to over 4000 land oustees by the financial year 2024-25 and invest more than Rs 9000 crore for creation of railway infrastructure for seamless transportation of coal from across MCL mines.
He undertook an aerial survey and inspection of mining operations of Talcher Coalfields in Mahanadi Coalfields Limited and laid the foundation stone of MCL DAV School, Lingaraj Area, which will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 45 crore.
