DGMS – ITS
STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTIONS
Including its Role
For administering the provisions of the Indian Mines Act,
1901, the Government of India set up a "Bureau of Mines
Inspection" on the 7th January 1902 with headquarters at
Calcutta.
The name of the organisation was changed to
Department of Mines in 1904 and its headquarters shifted
to Dhanbad in 1908.
On 01.01.1960, the organisation was renamed as "Office
of the Chief Inspector of Mines".
Since 01.05.1967, the office has been re-designated as
Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS in short).
Under the Constitution of India, safety, health and welfare
of workers employed in mines are the concern of the Central
Government (Entry 55-Union List-Article 246).
The objective is regulated by the Mines Act, 1952 and the
Rules and Regulations framed thereunder. These are
administered by the Directorate General of Mines Safety
(DGMS), under the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment.
Apart from administering the Mines Act and the
subordinate legislation there under, DGMS also administers
some other allied legislation, including the Indian Electricity
Act.
Current functions of DGMS
1. Inspection of mines
2. Investigation into –
(a) accidents
(b) dangerous occurrences – emergency
response
(c) complaints & other matters
3. (a) Grant of :
(i) statutory permission, exemptions & relaxations
(ii) approval of mine safety equipment, material &
appliances
(b)Interactions for development of safety equipment,
material and safe work Practices through workshop etc.
(c)Development of Safety Legislation & Standards
(d)Safety Information Dissemination
4. Conduct of examinations for grant of competency
certificates.
Safety promotional initiatives
(a) Organization of –
• Conference on Safety in Mines
• National Safety Awards
• Safety Weeks & campaigns
(b) Promoting –
• - safety education and awareness programmes
• - workers’ participation in safety management through –
• Workmen’s inspector
• Safety committee
• Tripartite reviews
Field Organisation
Zone Region
Eastern Zone
Sitarampur,
West Bengal
1. Sitarampur Region No.1
2. Sitarampur Region No.2
3. Sitarampur Region No.3
4. Guwahati
Central Zone 1. Dhanbad Regional No. 1
Dhanbad, 2. Dhanbad Regional No. 2
Jharkhand 3. Dhanbad Regional No. 3
4. Kodarma
South Eastern 1. Ranchi
Zone Ranchi, 2. Bhubaneswar-1
Jharkhand 3. Bhubaneswar-2
4. Chaibasa
North Western 1. Ahmedabad-1
Zone Udaipur, 2. Ahmedabad-2
Rajasthan 3. Udaipur
4. Surat
5. Ajmer-1
6. Ajmer-2
North Zone 1. Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, 2.Srinagar
Uttar Pradesh 3.Parasia
4.Jabalpur
5. Gowalior
6. Varanashi
South 1. Hyderabad Region No . 1
Central Zone 2. Hyderabad Region No . 2
3. Hyderabad Region No . 3
Hyderabad, 4. Nellore
Telengana
Southern Zone 1. Bengaluru
Bengaluru 2. Bellary-1
Karnataka 3. Bellary-2
4. Chennai
Western 1. Nagpur Region No.1
Zone 2. Nagpur Region No.2
Nagpur, 3. Bilaspur-1
Maharashtra 4. Bilaspur-2
5. Raigarh
6.Goa
Role and Functions of DGMS
1. While carrying out its traditional role and
functions including setting standards on
safety, the DGMS should reassign priorities in
organized sector giving greater emphasis on
system examination and prevention of major
accidents. Granting permissions should
likewise be broad based rather than
piecemeal.
2. The inspection policy should be based on:
(a) Enquiry into all fatal and immediate serious accidents and
important dangerous occurrences.
(b) Two general inspections of all mines every year.
(c) Follow up inspections, where necessary.
(d) Inspections required to deal with applications for
permissions, relaxations, exemptions and complaints.
(e) Inspections required for promotional and developmental
work.
(f) Undertake special investigations, such as strata control,
ventilation, slope stability, mining electronics etc. For complying with
the above norms it would be essential to provide necessary inputs.
3. A high-power Committee comprising of representatives
of Ministries of Finance and Labour, Department of
Personnel and the DGMS may be constituted to examine
and recommend the size and structure of DGMS
organisation taking into account the present and
anticipated size of and technological developments in the
mineral industry in the country, the associated safety
problems and the norms of inspection/enquiries and other
statutory and Non-statutory work expected of the
Organisation. The Committee might also suggest steps to be
taken to attract qualified and competent officers to DGMS.
• The Trade Unions will place their views before the
high-power committee. Since compliance with
recommendation (3) above will take some time, as
an immediate measure the service and work
conditions (Pay scales, allowances, transport
facilities etc.) of the employees of DGMS should be
improved. Technical expertise in the DGMS shall be
kept up-to-date by exposing the officers to advanced
technology in other countries and allowing them to
participate in National and International Seminars.
