05 June,2011 08:36 AM IST | | Yoshita Sengupta
By building contractor operating without a licence, cruel stroke of fate & indifferent authorities of reputed sobo college
It's been just a year since 20 year-old Jyoti married 31 year-old Sunil Kumar, and on Saturday evening, she found herself at Mumbai's Nair Hospital, waiting to claim his body after the post mortem. On Friday afternoon, Kumar, a daily wage labourer who was working at a construction site on South Mumbai's reputed Jai Hind College, slipped and fell from the second floor of the building at 1.30 pm. His friends, who were working on the same site, rushed his body to Mumbai Central's Nair Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Jyoti Kumar lost her husband Sunil, a daily wage labourer, when he
fell from the second floor of a building he was painting. Pic/Shadab Khan
"He was painting a portion of the facade of the college building when he fell. He was bleeding from his ears, and it took a while for us to make arrangements to take him to hospital. No one knows the exact reason behind the accident," said Gopinath Gangadhar Chander, 28, a middleman and Kumar's friend, who hired for a certain Phoolchand. Phoolchand, who was approached by the college for the paint job, outsouced the job to contractor Baburao More.
"I am a small contractor, and this was my first assignment. There was no safety net on site because it was a small paint job. Besides, Sunil should have used a safety belt which I am told he did not. But I am willing to pay whatever little I can on humanitarian grounds," said More. "I don't know how my husband died. I was at work, and I was told about his death on Friday evening. We live in a rented house in Kalwa. After his death, I have no one to go to in this city," said a clueless Jyoti, who had to wait for close to 30 hours to be given charge of her husband's body. Neither does she know if she will receive a compensation, or if she is entitled to one in the first place.
On Saturday afternoon, Chander with a few workers approached the college administration to request compensation, but was turned away. "The college authorities refused. They claim the accident is not their responsibility, and threw a challenge before us to fight the case in court," Gopinath said. When Sunday MiD DAY contacted principal of Jai Hind College Dr Kirti Narain on her cell phone, a woman who identified herself as her daughter said Narain was unwell and could not be disturbed.
Chander refuses to file a case and is adamant no one else does either. He claims to have reached an agreement with More and Phoolchand according to which Jyoti will be given Rs 1 lakh as compensation. "Baburao and Phoolchand have agreed to pay Rs 40,000 each, and I will add Rs 20,000. We don't have the money to pay lawyers. Even if you or a social worker arranges a lawyer, the college will buy him out," he said.
Twenty one year-old Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, another friend of Kumar's from Kalwa, however holds the college responsible. "The college is responsible since Baburao had no license to operate. If a case is filed, Jai Hind College will be answerable in court," Sheikh said.
Dr Vivek Monteiro, Secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Maharashtra observed that there have been similar cases in the recent past when the labourer's family has received compensation up to Rs 4 lakh. "They can easily file a case against the contractor and the college under the Workmen's Compensation Act in Bandra's labour Court."
Despite the resistance, not-for-profit organisation Alternative Realities is following the case and has decided to take it up with concerned authorities. "Labourers work in dangerous conditions and the facilities provided at sites are far from satisfactory. Jyoti should receive compensation, and it's not just the responsibility of the contractor but of the college too. The college should have verified the credentials of the contractor and ensured that labour laws were followed," said Abhishek Bharadwaj, founder.
