Media reports added that on the outskirts of Thoothukudi in Tamilnadu, 34 year old Karthiban has gone into a deep depression. He crouched on a stone slab, frantically chewing fingernails on his left hand, he said “He tried, tried to live. But he needed to die, and dying is better than living without his right hand”. Previously Karthiban got injured in 2017 while working at Sterlite’s copper plant here.
Moreover after working for four years in the plant, his medical expenses were covered by ESI (Employees’ State Insurance) payments, but his long wait for a pension of Rs 5,000 that he is entitled to, continues. Accordingly the amount is a pittance compared to his loss, but even that is nowhere in sight. Furthermore there is a deafening silence on the streets and little celebration, as the plant’s closure announcement has changed everything for workers. Further a total of 3,500 workers may be laid off while another 30,000-40,000 people work for it indirectly, in ancillary units of one kind or another, are likely to be affected.
As per report Karthiban is one among the many
injured workers who have not yet received compensation from Sterlite, but some
settlements for families whose breadwinners have died in the factory premises
go up to lakhs of rupees, and are settled unofficially, claims Adhisaya Kumar,
a lawyer who has been fighting cases on behalf of Sterlite workers.
