Anantnag: Shabir Ahmad Khan, of Check-Ishardas village of Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district is now another addition to the long list of on duty casual labourers working in the Power Development Department (PDD) to have lost life. Khan, 33 was electrocuted to death repairing supply line early morning in Wantrag-Kehribal village.
His death, a source said is another case of official negligence. “The power –supply of Kehribal feeder was not turned off when he (Shabir) was repairing the fault line,” he said.
A source said the officials had instead cut the supply to Deenthu feeder and gave the lineman a green signal. A police official said, they have taken cognizance of the incident and further proceedings are underway. Khan was working in the department for past fifteen years. He left behind, a 3 year old daughter, and an expecting mother.
“ He left home assuring his daughter , he will be back soon, but returned dead. His wife who is into the fourth month of her pregnancy is shell- shocked,” said one of his colleagues.
He described him as a very jolly person who would win friends easily. Khan is not the only one to lose his life performing duty. Hundreds of these daily-wage casual labourers in Kashmir working as lineman have either been electrocuted to death or have been rendered handicapped while repairing the power supply.
In the past decade alone, at least 75 daily wagers have been electrocuted to death.
285 others have been paralysed for life. However, in the absence of a compensation scheme for the victims of accidents and lack of ample safety gear these casual laborers continue to suffer unheard and unnoticed. The casual labourers have not been regularized either even after decades of service. Greater Kashmir has carried series of stories on their plight.
A decade back Muhammad Amin Bhat, 39, was repairing a fault in an electric line in Ashmuqam, Anantnag only to be electrocuted. He fell down and both his hands were damaged in the accident. Bhat’s right arm was amputated and his left arm is unable to function.
“I cannot earn and can’t even eat with my own hands,” Bhat had told this newspaper. “We did get any financial help from authorities and to sell our land for my treatment,” said he. Bhat said that due to the financial crisis he is not able to pay the school fees of his two sons either.
To meet the end, his wife now sells homemade handicraft items. “I gave thirteen years to the department and got nothing in return. Now, only wishes for a better life for my family and children,” Bhat says. The victims have been left alone in difficult circumstances without any assistance.
“They do not get any compensation from the government, or the department, for their treatment. The families who have lost their kin in these accidents are not rehabilitated either” said a daily wager wishing anonymity. The daily wagers also lamented that their services are not regularized after decades of service.
“ I have been working since 2002, but my services have still not been regularized. Despite risking our lives we have no financial security,” said another daily wager from Anantnag.
He said they are getting mere Rs 6750 as wages and the insurance cases of victims are not being cleared.
“ Even as the department bought us under insurance cover, and money is deducted from our meager wages but the cases of victims are still not been cleared, said another daily wager.He also lamented the non-availability of safety gears for the daily wagers and attributed growing accidents to it.
“Yes, there is some safety equipment but that doesn’t suffice people on the ground,” the daily wager said. He said they never get shock-proof gloves, rain hoods, and insulated trousers while repairing power lines.
“There aren’t even enough ladders to climb the poles,” daily wager said. He said casual laborers don’t even get the shoes. “Are our lives so cheap?,” the daily wagers asked.