Treat demise of CIL employee due to Covid-19 as accidental death: Minister

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said demise of any employee of state-owned CIL due to COVID-19 will be treated as accidental death and the kins of the worker will get the same financial benefits as they get in the case of accidental death during duty.

The move is likely to benefit around 4 lakh workers on roll and on contract of Coal India Ltd (CIL).

The kins of CIL employees who have died of COVID-19 so far will also get protected, the minister said.

"Putting their lives in danger Coal Indians have performed a tremendous job during COVID pandemic. They are relentlessly doing a good job. That's why I proudly call them coal warriors. I have announced this benefit just to recognise their invaluable service to

the nation," Joshi said.

The single-day increase of coronavirus cases crossed the 50,000-mark for the first time on Thursday, pushing India's COVID-19 caseload to 15,83,792, while the recoveries surpassed 10 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry.

CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.

The company is eyeing one billion tonne of production by 2023-2024.