NHRC Issues Notice To Odisha Govt Over Death Of Labourers In Sewage Tank

Bhubaneswar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) pulled up the Odisha government and issued a notice over the death of two workers while cleaning a sewage tank in Cuttack.

The Commission issued notice to the chief secretary and sought a reply on why a compensation of Rs 10 lakh be not paid to the family of the deceased workers. The state government was also asked to specify whether any compensation has been paid to the injured person.

The NHRC directed the chief secretary to reply to the notice in a period of four weeks.

It is apparent that during the departmental enquiry, it was found that the Junior Engineer and contractor are responsible for the death of the two workers which reflects that the incident took place due to the negligence on the part of the government employees for which the state is liable as the human rights of the two deceased persons and one injured person have been violated, it said.

Accordingly, a show cause notice be issued to the government of Odisha through its chief secretary as to why compensation of Rs 10 lakh be not recommended by the Commission to the state to be paid to the nest of kin of the deceased and to specify whether any compensation has been paid to the injured person, it said.

It may be noted that two workers engaged in manual scavenging of a sewage tank died due to suspected asphyxiation in CDA Sector-10 area of Cuttack on April 15, 2021.