Deaths and injuries

    There has been a series of deaths and accidents at IITK, we have being attempting to document the more serious of these since 2007. 

    These accidents and deaths very often result from a deliberate lack of safety gears and precautions for the sake of profit, even those which are legally required. In several cases workers are forced to do jobs they are not trained in, to save costs. Often, the working environment is inadequately equipped for the job at hand. Worse, contract workers are treated as outsiders and denied access to health center facilities. On several occasions, even emergency treatment has been denied. Lack of first aid facilities at the work site compounds the problem.

    To add insult to injury, every attempt is made to hush up the accidents -- the workers are removed from the sites and instructed not to talk about the accident, on some occasions safety-nets have been placed after the accident to give a semblance of everything is in order, often there is a deliberate misrepresentation of facts (compounded by the lack of legally required documentation). 

    Details of some of the deaths and more serious accidents can be accessed below:

• 1. (Multiple Deaths) Multiple deaths at the Earth Sciences Building. August 1, 2019.

  2. (Death) Death of Shri Ram Saran Rai, November 21, 2012.

  3. (Death) Death of Shri Atar Singh, October 18, 2012.

  4. (Death) Death of Shri Jagat Narayan. June 1, 2011.

  5. (Death) Death of Shri Rohit. May 18, 2011.

  6. (Severe Accident) Finger loss case. Oct 8, 2009.

  7. (Severe Accident) Shri Baijnath (name changed) sustains severe electric shock. Sep 12, 2009.

  8. (Death) Death of Mr. Shafiq Ahmad. July 26, 2009.

  9. (Severe Accident, (unconfirmed) subsequent Death) Tinku's Accident. May 16, 2008.

  10. (Death) Death of Shri Ram Prakash. April 26, 2008.

  11. (Death) A tragic death at IIT Kanpur. August 31, 2007.

  12. (Death) Electrocution of a worker. Aug 30, 2007.

  13. (Death) Third death unraveled at IIT Kanpur. July, 2007.

    In most of the cases so far no serious effort has been made to rehabilitate the family. Only recently in 2011, with considerable pressure from the alumni (including us) as well as sustained efforts from the campus community members, that the legally due compensation was paid for the first time, and institute formally began reporting accidental deaths to labor authorities. Similarly, the pressure from the alumni also resulted in the institute mandating safety-gears, however the mannerism in which the process has been implemented as well as the quality of the safety gear suggests that it was done more to appease the community rather than any attempt at real safety. For example, take a look at photographs of the safety gear for cleaning workers, or at the construction sites.

    You can also access some reports and recommendations in the context of safety practices on this page, while our (and others) communications on safety are documented on this page.