Gujarat government "indifference" towards deadly asbestosis: State RTI watchdog castigates govt industries department

By A Representative
Documents released by Gujarat's senior activists suggest that the state government, claiming to be No 1 in industrial investment, has remained highly indifferent to a major occupational diseases. The documents show that the has has not only not cared to take cognisance of the workers who suffer from the deadly asbestosis. Worse, it has refused to provide basic information on right to information (RTI) pleas seeking details of those who suffer from it.

Released by Occupational Health and Safety Association's (OSHA's) Raghunath Manwar, and People's Training and Research Centre's (PTRC's) Jagdish Patel, one of them is an order dated April 4, 2015, Gujarat's chief information commissioner Balwant Singh, who has castigated the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), Gujarat, for refusing to part with basic information concerning the safety and health of the labourers working in an industrial unit which uses asbestos as a raw material.

Singh says in the order, the state official concerned has been persistently reluctant in providing information. This raises the suspicion that "the authorities are deliberately not disclosing the information relating to the concerned industrial unit which apparently is not taking sufficient measures for the safety and health of the labourers."
While Gujarat's chief information commissioner imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the official who did not provide the information, the activists suggested, this is not an isolated case of official indifference towards asbestosis.

A separate factsheet released by them, on the basis of separate RTI pleas with DISH, showed that none of the workers working in 40-odd industrial units working with asbestos, for which the data was sought, had been covered under the Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) to take care of the workers' health.
The factsheet dotted down the type of products these units want the workers to deal with -- gasket joint, gasket cloth, fire blanket asbestos, gland packaging, asbestos rope, asbestos roof sheets, asbestos cement pipes, and so on.

A scan through the sheet suggests that they work in or around Gujarat's business capital, Ahmedabad's areas such as Ambavadi, Vadsar, Ranip, Odhav and Sanand; along the Jambusar-Vadodara Highway, Panoli and Vadodara proper in Central Gujarat; in Surat district; and at several places in Kutch district.
The activists pointed out, the Gujarat government "no information at any level about the number of workers who have so far suffered from asbestosis." Demanding an immediate ban to asbestos, which is imported from Russia, Brazil and Kazakhstan, the activists added tha while its use has gone up drastically in the country -- from 2.83 lakh tonnes in 2007 to 4.15 lakh tonnes in 2011 -- the activists said, "There is no data about its use in Gujarat."

They said, "To RTI queries, the state government merely provided details of just 657 workers working in small units and another 1,470 workers in big units working in industries where asbestosis is used in some form."
Wanting the Government of India to take steps to sign international convention to ban asbestos, known as Rotterdam convention, the activists regretted that the Centre, instead of relying on existing facts about asbestos, has wished to "study" the adverse impact of asbestos.

Quoting expert studies, they insisted, "Prolonged inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause serious and fatal illnesses including malignant lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis (a type of pneumoconiosis)."

Giving details of the malignant mesothelioma, commonly develops in the lungs of people exposed to asbestos, the activists said, an RTI plea to the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, operating under state supervision, showed that as many as 108 have suffered from this extreme form of asbestosis.

"The the institute refused to provide information of patients invoking specific clauses of the RTI law which disallows personal details", the activists said, adding, in their view, "the numbers should be much higher."

Comments

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog