Mid-Day:
New Delhi: Friday, 19 September 2014.
The
Maharashtra government seems to care little about the lives of the poor
industrial labourers even as it gloats about the state’s economic clout.
Neither the government nor their employers have bothered to give compensation
or medical help to the first 13 confirmed cases of deadly occupational diseases
like silicosis, asbestosis, and toxic nephritis reported across the state.
These
labourers, who worked at factories in Kalyan, Raigad and Ratnagiri, are struggling
to carry on with their lives amidst deteriorating health and hope, even as the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken note of a mid-day investigation
highlighting their plight.
The latest
health audits of the workers obtained by mid-day under RTI show that four of
them, in Raigad’s Dhatav village, are suffering from ‘end-stage’ renal disease,
four others have been diagnosed with toxic nephritis, and five are suffering
from asbestosis.
All of them are undergoing dialysis and other
medical treatments without any help from their employers or the government.
Activists and experts fear the worst for these workers if they are not given
help at the earliest.
“There are
hundreds of cases in which workers are suspected of having asbestosis, but the
certifying surgeons never confirm these. The contract workers then languish for
years, awaiting compensation from the government or factory owners.
Our
organisation fought for one such woman worker for ten years in the 90s, but she
succumbed to her disease without getting any compensation,” said S Shekhar, a
Mumbai-based activist fighting for the rights of factory workers suffering from
asbestosis.
A mid-day
investigation (‘Danger, factory ahead’/ ‘They lied to me for 15 years of my
life, says asbestosis-afflicted labourer’), which appeared on July 21, had
revealed how 13 cases of industrial diseases had been reported in Mumbai and
the surrounding regions. This was the first time that industrial diseases had
been reported in Maharashtra and they had come to light after an inspection was
carried out by a Gujarat-based Central agency. mid-day had also reported how
Yogesh Sawant, a worker who was being exposed to asbestos on a daily basis and
was repeatedly assured by factory owners and doctors that everything was fine,
had been diagnosed with asbestosis by the National Institute of Occupational
Health (NIOH). Sawant and Manoj Saroj, from the same unit in Kalyan, turned out
to be the first confirmed cases of asbestosis in Maharashtra.
Sawant continues
to live in neglect at his Kalyan home, and is forced to pay his own medical
bills. Following the mid-day story, he was approached by the factory owner for
treatment and taken to various hospitals for check-ups, but he hasn’t been paid
any monetary compensation. Officials from the state’s Directorate of Industrial
Safety & Health (DISH) also approached him, promising help, but to no
avail.
“I have been
taken to one hospital after another in Mumbai, but they are not giving me a
clear picture of how my health is or whether I will get my compensation. This
only looks like an attempt to hush-up my case so that no compensation has to be
paid,” Sawant told mid-day.
'Serious
matter'
The four
workers diagnosed with toxic nephritis have to undergo dialysis twice a week.
Certifying surgeons reported that 32-year-old Mangesh Malusare was a patient of
end-stage renal disease. “He was working as a contract worker at a chemical
plant in Ratnagiri for more than eight years.
He complained
of loss of appetite and uneasiness, and was diagnosed with grade 3 renal
parenchymal disease. He has been on dialysis since and, being a contract
worker, no treatment facility or compensation was provided to him,” said Dr
Parag Gaiki in his report.
Gaiki told
mid-day that the seriousness of this particular “matter” cannot be ignored. “We
need to conduct fresh inspections and see if there is any improvement in the
condition of these four workers at all,” he said.
Gaiki had
inspected a unit at Dhatav in Raigad district last year and diagnosed Dhanaji
Khandekar, 39, Bharat Lad, 38, Suresh Chavan, 57, and Malusare with acute toxic
nephritis.
“Most of them
were exposed to hazardous chemicals regularly for 7-8 years. When we conducted
a check-up, they were found with high blood urea and creatinine as high as 20
mg/dl,” said Gaiki in his report.
Four others
detected with silicosis are all contract workers at a unit in MIDC, Ratnagiri.
They are 45-year-old Pravin Shinde, Pandurang Juwle (45), Uday Pawar (39) and
Amarjeet Rajbhar (39).
“These cases
were found during my inspection at the scouring department of the factory,
where there was clear presence of crystalline silica dust,” said Dr Vaishali
Jadhav, who had conducted the inspection in March 2014.
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