Govt appoints ex-NCL CMD Tapas Nag as head of high-level committee on coal mines safety

• Nag was earlier serving as one of the five members of the committee and has been appointed the head of the panel in place of former Director-General of DGMS PK Sarkar

• The Coal Ministry also announced the appointment of Anup Biswas, Retired DDG, DGMS (an expert in fire handling) as Member of the high-level committee

New Delhi: The Centre has appointed former Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) CMD Tapas Kumar Nag as the head of a high-level committee on safety in coal mines formed earlier this year in January. Nag was earlier serving as one of the five members of the committee and has been appointed the head of the panel in place of former Director-General of Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) PK Sarkar. On January 1, the Centre had constituted a high-level national committee for safety in coal mines for reviewing one coal company, both public and private, every two months and ensuring that suitable policy interventions are made and safety standards are followed in coal mines to achieve the aim of zero fatality – zero harm.

Ex-DDG DGMS Anup Biswas appointed Member in place of Nag

In the notification released by the Ministry of Coal, dated May 9, the ministry also announced the appointment of Anup Biswas, Retired DDG, DGMS (an expert in fire handling) as Member of the high-level committee. The Director Technical at the Ministry of Coal, Peeyush Kumar, is the Member Secretary of the committee. And the other four Members on the panel, barring Biswas, are Head of Department (HoD) at IIT-ISM-Dhanbad Professor Ram Madhav, former DDG (Electrical) at DGMS GL Kanta Rao, former Director of CMPDI RK Chopra, and Dattatraya Sate, former HoD at Department of Vehicle Testing and Certification (Safety and Regulations), Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) and former Technical Consultant, Ministry of Road and Highways. The tenure of the Members is for a period of two years.

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The responsibilities of the committee

The high-level committee is responsible for giving advice and making recommendations about promoting and protecting the safety and health of people at coal mines and those who may be affected by coal mining operations. They are also responsible for identifying and prioritising critical risks to the safety and health of people at coal mines, reviewing the effectiveness of the Act, rules, regulations, and recognised standards, developing a five-year strategic plan for improving the safety and health of people at coal mines, studying and analysing the possible of implementation of global best mining practices and conducting internal reviews, follow-ups and evaluation of the effectiveness of programmes carried out by coal companies with regard to safety, health and training.

The panel acts as the interface between the Ministry of Coal and DGMS. The panel is required to convene a meeting once in two months to review the safety status of one coal company in each meeting and submit a report every two months for consideration to the ministry.

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