Rajasthan stone crushers delay 19-day strike after talks with govt

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After talks with the state government, the 19-day strike by the Rajasthan Stone Crusher Association and the Rajasthan Small Mines Lease Holder Association has been postponed. 

Rajasthan Stone Crusher Association President Yogesh Katara said that under the direction of the government, committees of the mining department and traders were formed three days ago and demands were discussed. All other demands were agreed upon in the discussions, but there is no agreement on the drone survey yet. 

“The government has assured that a solution will be found for this soon. The associations have given the government two and a half months to act on the demands. The strike will be called off fully only if action is taken on the demands within this period.  Otherwise, the strike will restart. Our strike also got support from other industrial organisations,” he said. 

The strike was called against what these associations called “repressive” policies, administrative hurdles, and impractical rules of the government. It started on August 2 and was postponed on August 20. 

Businesses worth approximately ₹1,500 crore to ₹2,000 crore were hit due to strike, associations claimed. 

During the strike, around 2,200 stone crusher units and 18,000 small mines across the state remained shut.

 

Also, employment of about 1400,000 people was also affected, especially daily wage earners. 

Katara said that the Rajasthan government should revise its mineral policy and implement a transparent and straightforward process, as the current policy is neither transparent nor straightforward. 

He said that one of their main demands was that the around 25 per cent increase in the royalty amount should be reduced. The royalty was increased only two years ago. “Now it has been increased again, suddenly,” he said. 

“The impractical drone surveys of mines and some rules of The Rajasthan Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2017 (RMMCR 2017) should be made practical, among other such issues,” he said.