2011-07-18 : Hamara Manch Update on Two Construction Worker Deaths at IITK

(Related pages: Death of Shri Rohit, Death of Shri Jagat Narayan, Safety)

Hamara Manch Update on Two Construction Worker Deaths at IITK

July 18, 2011

On 18th May and 1st June this year two workers, Rohit and Jagat Narain, had fatal falls from separate under-construction sites of high rise buildings in the campus. We had circulated reports on both the deaths; here is an update on related developments since then.

Dues and Compensations

• • As per the statutory minimum wage of Rs. 247/ day Hamara Manch has worked out a compensation of approximately Rs 7 lakh 40 thousand for Rohit and Rs. 6 lakh 96 thousand for Jagat Narain. In both the cases, state labour authorities (in association with IITK officials and the contractors) had calculated statutory compensation based on the salary ceiling of Rs. 4000/ per month (which has been removed in early 2010 due to high inflation in recent times). This appears to be a deliberate attempt to under-pay the due compensation.

  • Jagat Narain’s family has already received cheques worth Rs. 3 lakhs which have been deposited in his widow’s, Rinki’s, bank account and till last information is awaiting clearance. A balance of Rs. 1 lakh 30 thousand has been deposited by the contractor with labour office (based on Rs. 4000/ calculation) and should soon reach her. An application has been put up with the labour office for the rest of the claim and the Manch is pursuing the matter. HM has moved her application for additional compensation as per provisions in the ‘construction worker welfare act’ as well and she should get an amount of Rs. 1 lakh through the office of the district magistrate by this week.

  • Rinki also shared with us that the contractor’s men met her on the 13th day ceremony for her deceased husband and gave her the balance wages due for May, 2011 but only based on Rs. 160/ day -- apparently no minimum wages in IITK even after death!

  • She also met the in-charge of Institute Works Department for providing her with some employment (she has studied till XIth class, has a daughter and is also expecting another child in some time), but was told that as a policy IWD does not employ any women. HM is not aware of any such policy decision or its basis and when it has been taken as women workers on construction sites were a common sight till very recently as can be confirmed even from pictures of last year on this website (http://sites.google.com/site/iitkcitizensforum/, picture 8 in ‘The Life of a Construction Labourer at IITK’).

  • Unfortunately Rohit’s family has not been pursuing the matter of compensation; we may recall that the family has been resettled here from Bangladesh and perhaps does not feel confident enough to claim their due or is acting under some duress which they are not willing to share with us. They have not even claimed the balance already deposited, let alone filing further claims, in spite of the continuing efforts of HM to convince them.

Institute’s Response: Setting up Committees

• • A three-member Institute enquiry committee was set up after Rohit’s death constituting of two IITK officials, and an IWD officer (as its secretary). The committee could figure out in two days that everything was in order and Rohit himself was responsible for his fall. From the three page report it seems that in spite of the seriousness of the incident the members of the committee were keen to take the assurances of the contractor/ officials at their face value – that ‘all was well’ and everything was according to ‘CPWD norms’.

  • We at Hamara Manch would have also been happy to believe so only if it were true. Jagat Narain fell to his death exactly a fortnight later. Several eye witness accounts in the Jagat Narain case suggest that the whole plank of the scaffolding on which he was sitting and working gave way as it was tied with ropes (which might have worn off) and not metallic clamps and so he came crashing down sitting on the plank and hence apparently had no external injuries on the front side of his body (perhaps a head injury in the back proved fatal); moreover he was not wearing any helmet or belt, they were all placed by his side after the fall according to the eye witnesses. This time around the administration did away even with the pretence of an enquiry. Actually it did not even inform the community about the death but announced to all that the Institute had decided to “suspend the work on all the civil construction sites of the Institute with immediate effect, till further orders”, which left many very confused.

  • The Institute also instituted a ‘One-man Enquiry Committee – of Shri P. B. Vijay, Ex-Director General, CPWD, Government of India, to Review Construction Practices in the Institute’ on June 1st, 2011. The committee was supposed to submit its report within 15 days – it has been over a month and a half now and there has been no announcement on the report of the committee yet.

  • Instead the Institute officials chose to start a new website (https://sites.google.com/site/contractworkersatiitk/; the Rohit enquiry report can also be found here) which has been communicated to all the alumni across all batches. The sole purpose of this site appears to be to contradict the reports of HM through counter claims. We at Hamara Manch do not have the resources or inclination to get into a slinging match on the cyberspace. And further we sincerely wish that the Institute and its administrators would put in their energy towards a more constructive agenda. Till date no representative of the Institute has found the time to visit the families of the deceased, comfort them or facilitate the compensation, or take any sort of independent feedback from the workers.

Institute’s Response: Enforcing Safety measures

• • At more than one construction site, large fancy coloured hoardings appeared a couple of days after the second fatal accident. At one of the sites hoardings in English have 14 point safety instructions addressed to workers. They request the workers to be careful and not cause accidents. One of the instructions is ‘please think of your family before you start work’. And the final point 'your safety is your responsibility’ seems to sum up the attitude of the Institute regarding this important issue.

  • Meanwhile suddenly helmets and shoes have become ubiquitous in the campus. All kinds of workers, men and women, in cleaning, horticulture, civil maintenance and construction can be seen in shoes and helmets and even masks and gloves. But all this has been done without any reference to the kind of work involved and without any inputs from the workers.

  • Therefore even in a small survey HM found that shoes provided did not have insoles, nails were protruding from the soles wounding the feet of workers. The shoes were provided without any care taken to see if they fit the feet of the worker, including we came across a case where the make was different for the two shoes of the same pair! The shoes do not even adhere to the kind of work done which forces the workers to take them off when actually at work. It has been barely a month and the shoes of many of the workers are already completely worn out and the supervisors are threatening the workers to replace them at their own expense, else they won’t be allowed to continue working. Some pictures of the safety gear provided are placed here: https://picasaweb.google.com/citizensforumatiitk/SafetyGearForCleaningStaff#

Thus as with various other things in the name of workers these measures too appear to be more a facade to create the impression that the Institute is complying with labour safety laws rather than a thought out decision with genuine concern for the safety of the workers.

To conclude:

We are afraid that the trend of events seems uncannily similar to the tragic incidents of 2007 (when three quick deaths happened) where authorities (including some of these very same individuals) claimed to have taken measures to ensure the infallibility of the Institute and the consequences can be seen by all. Hamara Manch is concerned that instead of undertaking serious introspection, taking action against the guilty and establishing feedback mechanisms, the institute has decided to assume the attitude that ‘we are perfect’.

Hamara Manch is an initiative where workers attempt to come together in spite of being under continuous threats by officials and contractors for attending meetings which are held after their work hours or demanding for what is their legal and rightful due. It is a modest attempt in the face of our growing apprehension that this imperious attitude of the authorities is bound to lead to more tragedies and exploitation of workers in the campus. We therefore appeal to all concerned to stand in solidarity with them in whatever manner they can.

Please share it with all concerned.