Kejriwal, Sheila Dikshit meet family of sanitation worker who died while cleaning drain

Two days after the death of a sanitation worker in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress' state chief Sheila Dikshit met his family.

Kejriwal, who met the family in the morning, assured the them of a job and compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

Dikshit, a three-time chief minister of Delhi, visited the family in the evening and demanded a probe into the incident. She also criticised Kejriwal as he went after Dikshit announced that she will meet the family.

The 37-year-old contractual sanitation worker, Kishan, suffocated to death after he got trapped inside an underground drain of Irrigation and Flood Control Department in north Delhi's Wazirabad area on Sunday.

"It is very sad. We will give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and job to one of the family member of the deceased sanitation worker," Kejriwal said after meeting the family at Gandhi Vihar area.

Delhi government has set a very stringent norm for cleaning of drains and sewers, but many times, some contractors and engineers violate the rule and ask the labourers to enter the drain or sewer without proper safety kit, he said.

"This also prima facie looks like a similar case. We will take strong action against the contractor and the engineer involved in this," he said.

Dikshit, accompanied by state party leaders, met Kishan's family and hit out at the chief minister for meeting the victim's family in a "hurry".

"It was very sad that neither the Delhi chief minister nor the higher officials of the Delhi government enquired about the family for two days, and Kejriwal met the family of the labourer in a hurry only when he came to know about her proposed visit to the residence of the late labourer," a Congress statement quoted Dikshit as saying.

The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) has sent a notice to the Delhi government over the incident.

It said that reportedly workers at the site were "not provided" safety gears such as face masks, breathing apparatus, uniforms and other equipment.