Worker electrocuted at HAL official's house

A casual worker, M Nagesh, 42, was electrocuted while felling a tree at the residence of Balakrishna, Executive Director, HAL Engine Division here on Thursday.

Another worker Avadesh Kumar Gupta, 34, who was assisting Nagesh, suffered injuries.
According to the police, Nagesh and Gupta were deployed at the official residence of Balakrishna.

The official’s wife asked the two to fell a tree. Nagesh was electrocuted when he came in contact with a branch that had fallen on a 11-KV high tension wire. Nagesh and Gupta were rushed to the HAL hospital.

A colleague of Nagesh told Deccan Herald that felling trees was not part of their job description as they were hired as gardeners.

Tens of casual employees of HAL had gathered outside the hospital hoping for a substantial compensation for Nageh’s family.

Inside the hospital, representatives of the trade union, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Employees’ (SC/ST) Union, the management and Balakrishna were discussing the nature and quantum of compensation.

A person who was part of the discussion said the SC/ST employees union representatives wanted a minimum compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the bereaved family.

Nagesh, who was drawing a monthly salary of Rs 7,000, had seven more years of service. Going by that, the SC/ST union members were seeking Rs 25 lakh for his family, said Nagesh’s colleague.

It is said that following the negotiations, Balakrishna has agreed to pay around Rs 3 lakh to Nagesh’s family. Balakrishna was not immediately available for comments. Besides, HAL has not issued an official statement about the incident.

Casual employees and the trade union leaders said that they would hold a protest on Friday, seeking ‘justice’ to the family of the dead, if the management does not volunteer to do the needful.