Document vVOYker4ra6R5r1Zn5KKz482Y

FILE NAME: Shree Digvijay (SDV) DATE: 1984 Feb 23 DOC#: SDV029 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter from India Consumer Education & Research Centre to Barry Castleman RE Negotiations with Shree Digvijay Thakorebhai Desai Smarak Bhavan, Near Law College, Ellisbridge, 23rd February, 1984 CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE Ahmedabad-380 006. (India) Gram : C O N S U M E R Ph. No. 448833 iur Barry C a s t l e m a n Bn v i ro nme n t ai Consultant 1722 Linden Ave. Baltimore maryland 21217 Lear i:r Castleraan It was good to hear from you once again. n e g o t i a t i o n s with Shri Diyvijay are going on though not at the pace we w o u l d wish. The only reason for thi delay is a^t ^ have been trying to probe end utilise all m e a n s and .methods before we e v e n t u a l l y go to the court. In this connection, w e _had._a p p r o a ched the concerned State Minister for Labour, who had initially shown a keen inter e s t in taking some action in tne matter, r.ovv- ever, noth i n g had fw peneo and we lost rime m sensing rer.iino.ers. i \ OVv are seriously c onsidering that s.in.ce. .we hav,e e.xhausted all our e f f o r t s at lo b b y i n g ana advocacy, it is rime^to t Ur to 1 iti nation, however the strategy is still not finalisea. de garb i n g the other questions that you r a i s e d in your letter, Ihe answers are as follows. * Yes, there are 2 unions connected with the plant. How ever, the unions seem to tare a position that they would orefer to confine t h emselves to payment of proper wages and bonus etc. rather than safety aspects. In any esse, our several meetings with the union leaoers have only evoked a luke-warm response from them. _ * TRUSTEES Obviously what we hope to gain is provision of maximum safety measures to the workers, strict compliance with the p r o v i s i o n s of law as regards seifety and health pr o visions, thereby minimising the occupational health hazards and also minimising the environmental pollution.. A o u itC o u T L-m W i \A'OL O v im c r IK r CM) umjl* 0W L L i iU X U x X j T h e management!s position is like that of eny otner m a n a gement, non-committal and yet putting up^a front that they would be willing to cooperate. However it would oe unfair to say that things have remained the same since Prof. Manubhai Shah, Mr. Bhaskar Tanna, Mr. Pravin Parekh, Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad. New Delhi. M iss Hemlata Hegiste, Ahmedabad. Mrs. Swaran Kohli, Bombay. Tel. 0. Tel. 0. Tel. 0. Tel. 0. Tel. 0. 371371 447744 324315, 324623 311702 216220 R .: 441138 Telex R .;447744 R.: 667703, 669397 R .:392585 R .:2020068 : 0121-214 <5 S t f a l h s m . P ah n l H is t P u n e P in 9 CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE 2 you visited Shri Digvijay last* Cloak rooms ana showers have been commissioned and the process, as 1 oointod out earlier, has partially being changed to a wet*one. At the same time a great deal remains to be accomplished and so far as the safety and health aspects in terms of routine check up, medical records, X-ray scans etc. the whole scene remains totally unsatisfactory. On the o t h e r hanct is the good news that the Centre for Edu c a t i o n and Documentation, Bombay has recently releasee some important findings on asbestosis. The name of the f e p o r t is: ''Asbestos: the^dust that kills." If you wish to communicate with them, their aodress is as follows: Centre for Education and Documentation 8, S u l e m a n C h a m b e r s 4, Battery St. Behind Regal Cinema Bombay 400 039 I hear that one w o r k e r from H i n d u s t a n Ferodo, M r S. R a j a g o p a l has already filed a claim for compensation because he has contracted asbestosis while working with Hindustan rerodo for the past 23 years. I have already corresponded/this Centre and I am waiting A 1 for another report which was put ouTTby Central Labour Institute. " Bombay on Shri Digvijay. As of today the Central Labour Institute is no t m a k i n g this d o c u m e n t public. Once I have this report (and even if I d o n 't get it after a r e asonable time) I hope things will move one way or the other and I shall definitely keep you posted. I should love to get a copy of you r book w h e n e v e r it does come out, and i will be doubly honoured if it will be inscribed by you. Some times I am struck by the fact that ordinary events can make friends of complete strangers and that too half way around the world l With good wishes ' Sincerely Rani Advani Legal Research Coordinator.