National Institute of Miners Health | 25 Jul 2019

The Union Cabinet has approved the merger of National Institute of Miners Health with Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Occupational Health.

Background

  • Expenditure Management Commission established by the Government of India to review the working and performance of autonomous institutes, recommended the merger of organisations with similar objectives.

Impact of Merger

  • Enhance expertise in the field of occupational health.
  • Efficient management of public resources

National Institute of Miners Health

  • It was set up by the Government of India in 1990 and was registered as a Society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960.
  • It is an autonomous Institute under Ministry of Mines and located at Kolar Gold Fields, Karnataka and the Central Laboratory in Nagpur.
  • It conducts applied research in occupational health and hygiene and specializes in providing technical support services to mining and mineral based industry with special reference to metalliferous sector.
  • It has the state-of-art infrastructural facilities and expertise for conducting Airborne Respirable Dust, Heat Stress, Vibrations, Noise Monitoring & Mapping, Illumination, ergonomic, etc. surveys in underground and opencast mines and routine & specialized health surveillance of persons employed in mines.

National Institute of Occupational Health

  • It was established in 1966 as Occupational Health Research Institute (OHRI) at Ahmedabad and later renamed as National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in 1970.
  • It works under the administrative control of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • Its primary responsibility is to support the national policy makers for adopting an appropriate policy in the field of occupational health which includes occupational medicine and occupational hygiene.
  • It has two regional office at Kolkata and Bangalore.

Source: PIB