M&MD department is toothless to look after issues about 2,000 mine workers living without social security coverage

As many as 2,000 labourers working in various sites of minerals and mines in Sindh are living without the social security coverage as the Mineral and Mines Development (M&MD) Department has no power to look after the social security issues of mines' workers, Business Recorder learnt on Tuesday.
Sindh is full of precious minerals and mines and there are more than 20 sites, running in various areas of the province where more than 2,000 labourers are working for the exploration of mines and minerals. According to an official source, there are three sites in Jamshoro, Thatta and Karachi where Silica Sand was found which used in glass manufacturing and chemicals, there is one more site in Jamshoro district where from Celestine was found, which used in color TV field of ceramic paint, rubber and signalling.
There are fairly large reserves of Fuller's Earth in four sites of Sukkur, Khairpur Mir's, Hyderabad and Jamshoro. The Fuller's earth is used for oil refining and de-colorization and cosmetic, the source said. There are un-estimated reserves of fire clay found in Thatta and Jamshoro districts which used for making ceramics and fire bricks. There are huge reserves of ordinary sand in the entire Sindh province, which used for the construction of buildings, roads and stones, sources said.
A source said that some 60 million tonnes of Silica sand are lying in the areas of Jamshoro, Thatta and Karachi, which were used for glass manufacturing and chemicals. Huge reserves of dolomite are also lying in Jamshoro and Thatta districts, which was being used in steel mills and glass making factories. The precious land of Jamshoro and Thatta is also full of Laterite, the experts of M&MD department claimed that there were huge reserves of the mineral, which is being used for making pigments, colours and cement.
The un-estimated reserves of mineral namely Red Ochre are also available in same districts, which used for manufacturing pigments, colors and cement. The Bentonite mineral was explored in Jamshoro, Thatta and Karachi, which used for mud of oil drilling and oil filtering, the sources added. Some five million tonnes of chalk are lying in Jamshoro and Thatta areas, which used in paint, glass making and rubber filling. Huge reserves of sand stone are lying in only Thatta district which used in making cement and pottery, the source said.
Un-estimated reserves of filint stone are available in same district which used in making cement and ceramics. Huge reserves of shale and clay are lying in the land of Karachi, Jamshoro and Thatta which used in cement factories, sources said. Some 8.0 million tonnes of gypsum are lying in the lands of Sanghar, Jamshoro and Tharparkar, which is being used for making cement, plaster of Paris and soil reclamation. Huge reserves of limestone are available in Khairpur Mirs's, Dadu, Jamshoro, Larkana, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Thatta and Karachi which is being used in construction, stone-making, cement factories, steel mills, soda, alkali and sugar factories, the source said.
A fairly large reserves of lake-salt are available in Khairpur Mir's, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Dadu and Tharparkar districts, which used in table salt, fisheries and chemical sectors and un-estimated reserves of trona are lying in Khairpur Mir's, Shaheed Benazirabad and Sanghar districts, which is being used in chemicals, industries and detergent, the source said.
Though, the official figure is only 500 but sources claimed that more than 2,000 labourers are working in the said sites of minerals and mines but the department has no power to look after the social security issues of mines laborers. There is an Inspectorate of Mineral and Mines, headed by Chief Inspector who has only mandate of the safety of labourers during the job time and he has no other powers to look in to the social issues of labourers like health, education, pensions, old age benefits, children facilities, over time, wages and others, the source claimed.
"The labourers working in various mineral and mines sites have to seek social security benefits from the Labour Department of Sindh as this department has the powers to make sure the social security of labourers working in any field," a senior official told this correspondent. He said that all powers should be given to the M&MD Department as mines labourers could be taken well care and they would be provided all social facilities according to provincial labour laws, he added.