2012-12-22 : Ramsharan’s Compensation: Hamara Manch Update 22nd December, 2012

(Related pages: Death of Shri Ram Saran Rai)

    For over a week now Suntaliya (late Ram Sharan’s widow) and her family have been assured that all their dues would be cleared by the end of this week. As some of you may recall Suntaliya and her two children along with her brother and one of her late husband’s colleagues have been parked in Kanpur (just outside the campus) since 10th of December. This is her second visit since her husband’s death on 21st last month. This time she had brought along all the requisite papers (as told to her by the officials of M/s Ramki, the contractor for which her husband was working at the time of his death). As posted earlier it took the Institute and the contractor four days to even acknowledge her presence that too when it was told to them by a friend of HM. On the 15th of December she was told that some more papers would be required by the labour department to process her case further. Two of her late husband’s colleagues had to rush to Kanpur with those papers from her native place and they were submitted to the labour office on Monday the 17th of December. Since then the contractor’s representatives have been telling them that their dues would be cleared in a couple of days.

    We at HM knew of these developments, and though we were concerned by the inexplicable delays as well as the arbitrariness of asking for additional documents which have to be procured at such short notices, we decided to not report it back to the community and wait till the compensation was paid up as promised. Also since the intervention of the community the contractor had been providing some bare minimum provisions to the family. The Director’s mail to the community that ‘IIT Kanpur will reimburse the entire cost of her travel and stay at IIT Kanpur along with her family members’ and that the compensation would also be paid up ‘shortly’ further reassured us. Yesterday the family was told that their compensation would be paid up in full today (i.e. 22nd December, 2012) at the labour court. But at around 2 pm a co-worker of late Ram Sharan informed HM that some more papers are required hence they will have to go back to the village to get them and that they would have to leave immediately to catch the train. Some of us rushed to where Suntaliya and her children were staying to understand this completely unexpected turn of events. And this is what we got to know:

• After being told that all their papers were in order till today morning, some Institute representative told them in the afternoon that they will have to get additional papers including:

  • Attested photocopy of Suntaliya’s bank account

  • Details of the family on Stamp Paper

  • Inheritance proof from DM’s office

  • A photo proof from the Company

• They were also given a photocopy of a draft which apparently has been submitted by the contractor towards the compensation.

• The official also gave Rs 2000 to Ram Sharan’s colleagues towards their fare (to go and come back) as well as other expenses.

• They have been instructed that only one of his colleague besides Suntaliya and her two children and Suntaliya’s brother should come back with the papers.

Now let us get some facts straight:

1. Late RamSharan was a migrant worker from Bihar and to go to Suntaliya’s village one has to take a train up to Sahibganj which is 921 kms from Kanpur central.

2. HM’s Question: How can the Institute and contractor with all their resources not ascertain the documents required at one go and keep asking for additional documents completely unmindful of the efforts entailed by a bereaved family and their friends (constituting of migrant workers)? Why is a pregnant widow along with her two toddlers made to travel 6000 kms (2000 kms thrice over) to get her dead husband’s compensation?(that is if she gets it this time around)?

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4. The fare by sleeper class is Rs 321/- per person which itself would come to over Rs 1500/- for the five people (Suntaliya, her brother Virendra, and three of her colleagues –since her children are toddlers they do not need ticket) one way. This is not counting the fare from here to the station and from Sahibganj to the village.

5. HM’s Question : How are they supposed to buy food, other amenities, nutrition for the toddlers in the money given? With the festival and the year end rush and the extreme cold prevailing all over the Gangetic plains how are Suntaliya and her family expected to travel at such short notice without reservations? Apparently last time too when the colleagues of her husband requested the contractor’s representative to at least provide one reservation for Suntaliya and her children apparently he retorted ‘ab tu log bhi reservation me jaayega?’ (Now you people would also travel in reserved class?)

6. How are they supposed to come back since the money given would not cover for their return journey?

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8. Suntaliya is illiterate and can barely communicate, her brother (cousin) is a peasant and both of them have never ever stepped out of their village before. The dealing with the contractor, Institute officials, others including procuring all the necessary documents papers so far has been done by late Ram Sharan’s colleagues. Several of them have been at it since the tragic accident and the case would not have come so far without their efforts. Probably to scrimp on a few hundred rupees the official who handed over the travel money strictly instructed the family that only one person besides Suntaliya and her brother should come back with the papers. Further the contractor’s men who have been buying them provisions have been continuously haranguing them with remarks like ‘tu log bahoot sara khata hai’. As one of the colleagues said ‘bahut zillat lagti hai, pet hi me to khaate, peeth me to nahi na baandhte’ (it is extremely demeaning, we eat to merely fill our bellies and do not tuck it away for later). Further all of us know that to get any document from government officials would entail greasing palms especially at such short notices and all this cost has been borne by the family and colleagues of RamSharan.

9. HM’s Question: Institute insists that only Suntaliya alongwith her brother should come back but with no support from the Institute or the contractor how is Suntaliya supposed to procure papers, handle the officials, take care of her children all at once? Why does an Institute which can spend crores on the construction of buildings need to economise on a few hundred rupees at the expense of a recently bereaved widow?

    While we stood around Suntaliya and her husband’s colleagues started packing up their meagre belongings. Her children huddled in one corner the elder one (4 year old) trying to soothe the younger one who was wailing incessantly. Both the children seemed to have caught a chill – their noses were running and they were coughing too. Not surprisingly since the dark unlit space where they have been staying for the past two weeks was even more damp than usual, the unmade floor was all slushy and all of them were bare feet. But we knew even more uncertainty awaited them, the weather has turned bitingly cold, they would have to travel without reservation in extremely crowded trains, but before that they probably would have to spend several hours at the station, as all trains are running several hours late.

Not in our names

    We at HM have now got used to the indifference and callousness of officials who are supposed to be responsible for contract workers. We still cringe when we come to know about the depth of pettiness which is routinely meted out to the most vulnerable section of our community, but the regularity of such incidents dulls our reaction to an extent.  And yet we had somehow assumed that at least in this case given the concern it has raised all over the community the Institute would extend some dignity to the late Ram Sharan after his death. But the ‘hospitality’ that the Institute has extended to his family leaves us with a deep sense of shame. Thus while the Institute officials quibble about their ‘exact’ legal responsibilities or negotiate what Ram Sharan’s life was ‘worth’ monetarily we at HM refuse to accept a system which does not even accord the minimum dignity which every human deserves.