Haryana Government on Monday approved an integrated policy for the workers suffering from Silicosis, under which such workers would be provided free treatment, investigations and medicines at the ESI hospitals and all district hospitals and medical colleges in the state.
A policy has been formulated and it would ensure treatment, compensation, rehabilitation and have provision of various welfare measures for the workers suffering from Silicosis, said the Minister of State for labour and Employment, Nayab Singh.
He said that any worker confirmed as suffering from Silicosis by the Silicosis Diagnosis Board, Haryana would be covered under this policy.
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the lobes of lungs and is categorized as a type of pneumoconiosis.
This policy is applicable only for the workers working in factories and at construction sites. All the functions pertaining to the implementation of welfare measures and execution of the policy would be performed by the Haryana labour Welfare Board, said the Minister.
For availing the welfare assistance, the affected workers would have to submit an application to the Assistant Director, Industrial Health, labour Department of the jurisdiction concerned. Haryana labour Welfare Board would issue an identity card to the affected worker, he added.