On what grounds claim can be made that smaller mines and quarries are not safe for workers?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Unlike larger companies, smaller companies do not cover open holes
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, Option (4) can also be considered correct, as explained below.
Option (1) Proper registers are maintained — Incorrect. The opposite is true: many contractors do not maintain proper registers of workers, and so they avoid any responsibility for accidents and benefits. Keeping proper registers would protect the workers, so it is not a ground for calling smaller mines and quarries unsafe.
Option (2) Unlike larger companies, smaller companies do not cover open holes — Correct as per NTA. The Mines Act lays down safety rules, but these rules may be followed in big companies, not in smaller mines and quarries. After mining is finished, the company is supposed to cover up the open holes and restore the area, but this is not done, and the open pits stay a danger.
Option (3) Workers have flexi-time culture — Incorrect. ‘Flexi-time’ is a management practice in the software industry that in theory lets an employee choose his or her working hours. It has nothing to do with mines. The dangers of mining are open pits left uncovered and, underground, flooding, fire, the collapse of roofs and sides, gases and ventilation failures.
Option (4) Smallest companies tend to out source their work — Can also be considered correct. Outsourcing here means giving the work to contractors. In smaller mines and quarries sub-contracting is widespread, and many contractors keep no proper registers of workers and so avoid any responsibility for accidents and benefits. When the work is handed out to contractors in this way, no one takes responsibility for the workers’ safety, so outsourcing is also a ground for saying that these mines are not safe.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.5 Working conditions … The government has passed a number of laws to regulate working conditions. Let us look at mining, where a number of people are employed. Coal mines alone employ 5.5 lakh workers. The Mines Act 1952, which has now been included in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Condition Code, 2020, specifies the maximum number of hours a person can be made to work in a week, the need to pay overtime for any extra hours worked and safety rules. These rules may be followed in big companies, but not in smaller mines and quarries. Moreover, sub-contracting is widespread. Many contractors do not maintain proper registers of workers, thus avoiding any responsibility for accidents and benefits. After mining has been finished in an area, the company is supposed to cover up the open holes and restore the area to its earlier condition. But they don’t do this.…” |