Silicosis deaths: Rejecting plea for higher compensation, Gujarat govt distributes 13 Rs 1 lakh cheques to victims' kin

By A Representative
After a long wait of nine years, the Gujarat government finally began distributing Rs 1 lakh as compensation against the death of agate workers who died of the deadly occupational disease, silicosis. Rejecting the demand to raise the compensation to Rs 3 lakh, the government labour officer (rural) went to Khambhat to distribute cheques to 13 families of those who had died of the disease after working in agate factories.
The People’s Training and Research Centre (PTRC), which has been advocating the cause of the silicosis victims in Gujarat, especially in Khambhat region, has said that, after a long period of discussions, in 2014 the state labour and employment department “passed and published resolution to pay Rs 1 lakh towards relief to the families of Agate workers dying of Silicosis. The resolution is applicable from 2006.”
“One of the beneficiaries Jashiben rushed from Ahmedabad to Khambhat to receive the cheque. She lost her husband Purshottambhai Vankar. Expressing her satisfaction she said that she passed through tremendous difficulties and this amount is a great help to her”, the PTRC said, adding, “She thanked PTRC for working for the welfare of agate workers.”
Speaking at the function organized for the agate worker,s Jagdish Patel, PTRC director, called it a “historical moment in the long history of struggle for social justice for these workers.” However, he added, this is only “the first step and lot more needs to be done.”
There is a strong demand by the silicosis affected workers to pay them relief when they are still alive as they pass through great difficulties. And if states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh can do this, why not Gujarat?”, Patel wondered. Even as he said this, government labour officer MK Sayed was extending his wishes to the beneficiaries, the PTRC said.

“For the last more than 50 years, agate workers keep dying of silicosis. Consistent struggle by PTRC has helped recognize the problem by the state”, PTRC said, adding, “In 2007 PTRC initiated weekly clinic to screen the exposed agate workers. The Karamsad Medical College offered free service for diagnosis, while cardiac care center, Khamabhat, provide free X-rays to the workers.”
“This helped test more than 1,200 workers tested for silicosis. Of thise, more than 300 workers have been found tested positive, out of which over 100 have succumbed to their lung injury”, PTRC said, adding, “Now, the state health department has set up infrastructure for diagnosis of silicosis at local level, which needs to be strengthened further.”
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talk of development, PTRC said, this was the “right time” for the state government to show up and give “serious thought” to develop and modernize the agate industry.
“The industry need to be helped for its transformation from unorganized to organized form, so that workers can be taken better care of their safety and health at work, as well as their social security”, PTRC said.

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Search This Blog