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What now, following the remarkable rescue of 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara tunnel? The Uttarkashi accident, in a GOI flagship project, is a wake-up call. It is reason enough, if one were needed, to review the safety of workers across India, a legislative and regulatory blind spot. It is no revelation that workers are forced to work in hazardous conditions, with little concept of any right to safety. Such rights, where they exist in the snarl of labour laws, are often only on paper because the term ‘worker’ itself is not uniformly defined. And that is just one hiccup. Worksite accidents, injuries, and fatalities across the country are massively underreported, not least because no records are required to be maintained uniformly by all states. Multiple labour laws mention safety norms and compensation, but compliance is poor, monitoring and supervision are even worse.
The attempt at replacing 13 labour laws with the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019, was withdrawn in 2020 over its multiple shortcomings – not least that the term ‘worker’ was still not defined. India hasn’t ratified either of the two ILO workers’ safety conventions. The country doesn’t have a primary law on occupational safety and health. Compensation to workers or their families on death, worked into a raft...
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...