Mill workers’ ills get a hearing

From March this year, Jalinder Gayakwad, Tanaji Patil, Tanaji Sorge, Kisan Dhumal, Jaywant Bhalwar and Prakash Ravrane, who are suffering from 40 per cent hearing loss as a result of constant noise pollution at their work places, are being paid Rs900 per month. In October, 1997, the highest compensation sum was awarded to Bandu Kumbhar, a 45-year-old Piramal Mill worker. Kumbhar, who suffers 80 per cent hearing loss, which means that he is virtually deaf, receives Rs 1,800 per month. Like the six other workers, he will continue to get this sum even after he retires or quits his job.

Cases of compensation of this nature are not new; a hotel employee who suffered from hearing loss after years of working next to an air-conditioning plant was granted compensation two years ago. These recent cases, however, assume significance given the prevalent noise levels cutting across all mills.

Kumbhar’s hearing problems first began in 1992. After four long years of hospital-hopping, he approached the training centre at Lower Parel. This centre is run by the Occupationl Health and Safety Centre and Participatory Research in Asia (PRIYA), a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation. After being examined by the medical board, it was declared that he hadsuffered permanent damage and thus should get compensation.

According to Dr V Murlidhar, an honorary employee with the centre, “Some doctors had presented data on occupational-related diseases at international conferences, but very few bother to inform the poor worker or give him a medical certificate.”

The first compensation case to be handled by the centre was that of Sampat Piraji Thapre, who suffered from byssinosis as a result of years of working in a textile mill. Byssinosis is a chronic condition which occurs when cotton fibres get into a person’s lungs. The symptoms are similar to asthma, but unlike the latter, it cannot be treated. Thapre was awarded compensation in 1994, following which 50 more byssinosis cases, including 25 women workers, have been handled by the centre.

In order to make workers aware of their rights, Thapre and another mill worker, Suryakant Amberkar, carry out poster campaigns and distribute hand-bills outside the mill compounds. Social workers Dnyanesh Patil and PralhadMalvalkar operate the lung-function machine which charts the extent of damage to the chest. The centre has also acquired an audio-meter to determine hearing loss.

Despite the sucess of the recent cases, getting compensation still remains a tough proposition. Rues Patil, “Sometimes, labour officers or company managers refuse to sign on occupational disease forms. The medical board, comprising ESI doctors from different parts of the country, meet just once in six months.” The centre can only help, he adds. Ultimately, it is the worker’s grit that will see him through.