Stand-off on compensation to worker’s kin continues

Officials are not certain if Satyam, the deceased worker, was a contract worker as it is possible that he might have taken up the job for a local eatery

While the stand-off between the GHMC and the workers’ union on the compensation amount for the family of Satyam, a labourer who died after he fell into a manhole at Madhapur, continues, senior officials are still unsure if the deceased was a contract worker of the civic body.

The workers’ union has been demanding compensation worth Rs. 5 lakh, having scaled it down from their earlier demand of Rs. 20 lakh, to Satyam’s family. But officials, citing rules, said the family was eligible for Rs. 2 lakh, 1 lakh each from the Mayor’s discretionary fund and ex-gratia.

Another person, Anjaneyalu, too died following inhalation of poisonous gases when he entered the manhole to rescue Satyam on Saturday. There is, however, no word on compensation for his family.

“We are proposing to enhance the compensatory amount for such incidents to Rs. 4 lakh through a tie-up with the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH). But it will take some time as the process has just begun. The union has been making outrageous demands, with the threat of stopping garbage collection,” said senior officials.

At the same time, they said it was not yet known if the labourer was a contract worker. “We have asked local officials to check because as far as we are concerned no work on cleaning the drain at the site was assigned to the worker, and such works are done using a suction machine,” they added.

Senior Municipal officials claimed that most sanitary workers were on the job only till 10 a.m., and more than one person are usually employed for such works. “It is quite possible that the victim had taken up a private job for a local eatery. We are also looking into that aspect,” officials said.

Police have filed a case against an unknown contractor.