Death of labourers in sewage tank: NHRC holds Odisha govt responsible, issues show cause notice

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday came down heavily on the Odisha government over the death of two workers while cleaning a sewage tank in Cuttack and issued a show cause notice through Chief Secretary.

Through the show cause notice, the NHRC also sought a reply on why a compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh be not paid to the family of the deceased and to specify whether any compensation has been paid to the injured person.

The NHRC also directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha to reply to the show cause notice in a period of four weeks.

“It is quite apparent that during the departmental enquiry, it was found that the JE 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 vicariously liable as the human rights of the two deceased persons and one injured person have been violated,” read the show cause notice.

It further read, “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 NoK of the deceased and to specify whether any compensation has been paid to the injured person.”

“The Chief Secretary, Government of Odisha is directed to replay to the show cause notice in a period of four weeks,” the notice read. 

Worth mentioning, 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. The deceased were P. Shankar of Patapur and Bishnu Nayak of Baramba in Cuttack district.