Press atrocity charges on contractor for two 2017 scavenging deaths: NCSC

National commission writes to civic, police chiefs of twin towns; deceaseds’ kin denied fair compensation, says lawyer

Three years after the tragic deaths of two conservancy staffers while trying to clear a drainage chamber and a nullah, respectively, in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) on Friday has asked Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner and twin towns police commissioner to implicate the contractor under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

Both the authorities had reportedly failed to implicate the accused, who was merely booked under section 304 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Because of the absence of the relevant charges, the family members of the deceased did not receive any compensatory jobs and other relief and benefits in the form of housing and education for the children.

The two separate incidents took place on June 30 and September 13, 2017, claiming the lives of Balu Bhagwan Sonawane and Bharat Bhimrao Davkhar, respectively.

Both Shravan Hardikar, the municipal chief, and Krishna Prakash, the police chief, have received notices from NCSC authorities, ordering them to submit their report within the next 15 days.

Advocate Sagar Charan, vice president of the health department of the grievance redressal committee of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), had raised the issue with the national commission as both the deceased employees belonged to Scheduled Castes. The spouses of both the deceased employees had also raised the issue with the commission, demanding rehabilitation of family members.

PCMC had made the contractor in question pay financial assistance to the kin of the deceased men after a two-member committee found that the accident was a result of negligence by the contractor. Both the families of the ex-staffers received Rs 10 lakh each.

Commenting on the developments, Charan alleged, “Sonawane died after receiving electric shock due to open cables in the nullah, while Davkhar lost his life after inhaling poisonous gases inside the manhole. Both their families are still struggling to receive optimum compensation due to insufficient sections applied in both the cases.”

“In this regard, Kaushal Kumar, director, NCSC, has already issued guidelines to the state chief secretary to provide relief under these acts to the family members in case of similar tragedies taking place anywhere in the state,” added Charan.