Over a decade on, Ballari mine workers still await justice

They are launching a padayatra from Sandur to Ballari on Tuesday to demand re-employment and compensation

Yeriswamy, from Ranjitpur village in Sandur taluk of Ballari district, worked for 11 years in Bharat Mines & Minerals (BMM), one of the mining companies that operated in the mineral-rich Ballari district. He entered the company in 2000 as a field labourer for monthly wages of ₹700 and rose to the position of a supervisor with his monthly wages touching ₹5,000 a month in 2011. Like most of his colleagues, he worked for 24 hours every alternate day, with the intervening day being an off.

But one day in 2011, he was asked not to report to work. He was told that the company had stopped its operations following the Supreme Court order and offered a one-time payment of ₹52,000 as compensation. He was also assured that he would be taken back when the company resumes operations. That day never came.

He has since taken up many jobs, from watchman to an agriculture labourer, struggling to take care of his family.

Mr. Yeriswamy is among over 30,000 mine workers who were fired from their work in 2011 following the Supreme Court order for the closure of all mines in Ballari, in view of rampant illegal mining and the environmental devastation it caused.

The labourers who thus lost their jobs are from the most disadvantaged sections in Ballari district. They worked as operators of earthmovers, truck drivers, cleaners, loaders, blasters and many more odd jobs in hazardous working conditions of the iron ore, manganese and other mines, often without proper safety equipment and basic facilities. Most of them were never paid minimum wages, as the Labour Department looked the other way.

In 2013, some of the mine workers formed a union and began pressing for their rights. The recent reopening of A and B category mines had triggered new hopes of reemployment, but they were short-lived. Now, it is mostly migrant workers from other States who are employed through labour contracts and sub-contracts.

To demand for their rights, the workers are now holding a padayatra from Sandur to Ballari. It is scheduled to be flagged off by activist Medha Patkar at Sandur APMC at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and will culminate at the Ballari Deputy Commissioner’s office on Thursday.