Shri Chandra Kishore Mishra,
The Secretary to Govt of India
 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Ali Ganj, Jorbagh Road,
New Delhi, Delhi 110003

Re:      Total Ban on new Red Clay Brick Kiln; & Forcibly converting the existing Red Clay Brick Kiln to Coal Ash Brick Kiln
Ref:     G.S.R. 157(E) dated 25^th February, 2019

Dear Sir, 

On the above referred subject, on behalf my organisation – The Centre of Indian Trade Unions, I draw your urgent attention to the following: 

1. I raise serious objection on your issuing this notification just on the eve of 17^thLok Sabha election (Election) and asking public opinion during the ongoing election process. Accepting this being an important issue of public interest, not being a routine one, and, hence, soliciting public opinion; the present outgoing Union Government has no right to take any action on this during the ongoing process of Election and till the next Government takes over.   I, therefore, with abundant caution, requesting you to not take any further Executive action on this notification.

2. By endorsing a copy of this letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), I am also requesting the ECI to issue notice to you in this regard.

3. I suspect that this notification was issued, just before the Election, to favour the coal and lignite based private power companies, mainly the Adani Power Limited of Adanis and the Reliance Power Limited of Ambanis; vitiating the entire Election process.

4. The above referred intended notification of putting a total ban on new Red Clay Kiln and converting the existing ones to Coal Ash Brick Kilns within 300 KMs radius of all Coal and Lignite based Power Plants; will lead to jobloss of lakhs of unorganised sector brick kiln workers and will have devastating effect on the economy, after the ill effect of demonetisation and GST.

5. Unfortunately, your ministry, in its hurry, has ignored the question of job-losses of such huge number of most under-privileged  brick kiln workers due to Government’s notification and, hence,  neither has taken the Department of Labour and Employment of the Government nor the recognised Central Trade Unions, including the one that I represent, on board for consultation before issuing such notification.

6. The intended notification proposes implementation of such vital issues of Ban on Red Clay brick Kiln and conversion of the existing ones to Coal Ash Brick Kilns through Executive order just by amending two decades old S.O. 763(E) dated 14^thSeptember, 1999; bypassing the Parliament and necessary amendment in Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

7. The notification also makes the State Governments and the District Magistrates, under them, directly responsible for implementation of such decisions. Yet, the matter was never even discussed with the State Governments giving a direct blow in Centre-State relations.

Under the above circumstances, I once again urge you not to please operationalise the above referred intended notification.
With regards,
Yours sincerely
(Tapan Sen)
General Secretary