Vipul Mittra said that recently, a factory in Surat was asked to shut shop after a fire incident resulted in casualties. (Photo: Thinkstock Images)Stating that the Gujarat government has become “strict” about the safety of workers employed in industrial units, Vipul Mittra, Additional Chief Secretary of Labour and Employment Department, said the government has started issuing closure notices to factories where workers are not compensated for accidents.
“The government has become strict about workers’ safety. In factories where workers die due to accidents, closure notices are issued and we do not allow them to reopen till the time the compensation is paid,” said Mittra, while addressing an event organised by the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board on Tuesday. He said that recently, a factory in Surat was asked to shut shop after a fire incident resulted in casualties.
“In the last few years, compensation to the next of kin have been given in 400 cases,” he said, adding that this included workers who have been compensated for injury. The Indian Express in July, 2019 reported that a total of 989 workers died in industrial units across Gujarat, in the period between October, 2013 and September, 2018. These deaths happened in the 895 industrial units registered under the Factories Act (1948) and Rs 81.06 crore has been paid in compensation for these deaths. During the event held on Tuesday, the Gujarat Labour We-lfare Board distributed cheques w-orth Rs 71.04 lakh to 1,969 beneficiaries of various schemes run by the Board.
