Hunger strike for a Rs 30 pay hike

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Keywords: Pay Hike, Strike

Kalakote: A hundred and sixty metres down in a coal mine, with glucose bottles attached to the dark black surrounding, 21 miners have not seen sunlight for the last 16 days.

They are on a hunger strike inside a coal mine in Moghlla - all for a hike of Rs 30 in their wages.

Says a miner, Manzoor Hussain, "We have been fighting for our rights for the last nine years. Our co-workers have been forced to go on a hunger strike now because there has been no justice for us."

In Kalakote, there are over 350 miners and every miner gets Rs 70 for 10 hours of work per day - for efforts that involve collecting an average of four quintals of coal.

The market value of these four quintals is Rs 1,200. The miners are saying that they should get Rs 100 for every four quintals that they collect - a meagre demand considering the risks involved in their job.

Says another miner, Romesh Chander, "This is the mine where over 10 people had died due to a blast. We all face a grave risk and we should get our rights."

The state administration has asked the miners to suspend the strike for a week, but the miners say that they will cut the strike only when the government will act on their demands.

If the government does not give in, then they will just retreat deeper into the mine and continue the hunger strike.

(With inputs from Pradeep Raj)