Satish Puri addresses the media after assuming charge in Dhanbad on Friday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, Oct. 1: The new director-general of Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Satish Puri, took charge today.

Soon after assuming office, Puri conceded that the directorate had several challenges before it with the number of contractual labourers, outsourcing and multinational companies in the mining sector having increased manifold over the past few years.

“The old school of thought and the system of working has to change in view of the current scenario. The Union labour department has also felt the need for change,” Puri, an alumnus of Indian School of Mines (mining engineering, 1975 batch), said.

“We can’t continue to work according to the norms of the colonial era,” added Puri, who joined the Dehradun project of Pyrites, Phosphates and Chemicals Limited as a management trainee soon after completing his BTech in 1975.

Stressing on the need to spread awareness about mining rules among the management as well as workers, Puri said strict punishment should be awarded to those guilty of flouting the regulations.

“But for all this, we need to make people aware about the rules. The level of awareness about one’s responsibilities towards the society, community and the organisation concerned should be such that there is no room for mistake and punishment,” he added.

Saying that BCCL was the lifeline of the coal industry in Dhanbad, Puri wished the company good luck.

He further said his priority in his capacity as the director-general of DGMS would be to start e-governance so that work became easier. “It’s convenient to deal with multinationals if we rely more on computers,” he added.

On the manpower crunch at the directorate, Puri said they would hire more employees soon.

Puri started his stint at DGMS in 1983 when he joined the regulatory agency as deputy director. In 1996, he was promoted to the post of director. He became the deputy director-general in 2004.