Bhubaneswar: We face a dearth of skilled manpower to operate mines in Odisha for which we are unable to maintain safety in many mining sectors,” said Vineel Krishna, Managing Director of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). Krishna addressed the gathering at the concluding day 37th Odisha Metalliferous Mines Safety Week celebration, Sunday, held at the Railway Auditorium in Bhubaneswar.
“Odisha has richness of mines and minerals. There are many mines that will be opened and expanded in the state. Mines auction is going on and more exploration process is being conducted here. In such situation, we really need skilled manpower to operate these mines for which we may avoid accidents,” Krishna said. He believed that utilisation of technologies and training modules may help to minimise human errors in the mining sector.
“OMC is recruiting people, but, sadly, we don’t get skilled manpower in many cases. Even at the senior level, we don’t find suitable candidates for interview. We need to think of improving skills and manpower. We may face such crises in future as well,” Krishna said.
Meanwhile, chairman of Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) Surya Kanta Mishra hoped that the industries will get skilled manpower owing to the help received from skill development program. “There will be no shortage of skilled manpower in near future,” Mishra said.
The UAIL chairman also added that that Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) need to investigate the reason behind coal mine accident that occurred at Bharatpur open cast (coal) mines located at the Talcher coalfields and they should take adequate safety measures and precautions to safeguard the future of workers.
