Rs 1 cr compensation sought for electrocuted Nepalese labourer

An NGO has sought compensation of Rs 1 crore from the Himachal Pradesh government for a Nepalese youth who became disabled after being electrocuted while working for a contractor.
Naresh (17), hailing from Salyan village in Lakshmipur district of Nepal, was electrocuted on September 29 when he came in contact with a high tension wire of HPEB in a forest near Shathla village of Kogarh in Shimla district where he went to collect firewood, Ajai Srivastava, chairman of Umang Foundation said in a letter to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
Naresh, who cooked meals for labourers of a "big contractor", was immediately rushed to Indira Gandhi Medical College where both his legs were amputated and his head, chest, back, neck and ears were bandaged due to severe wounds and is struggling for life, Srivastava said.

The NGO chairman claimed that the contractor paid the victim Rs 20,000, which was the first payment made since he was employed and did not include the six months' wages promised to him at Rs 300 per day.
"Since Naresh has become 100 per cent disabled, his economic and social rehabilitation is the responsibility of the state. Since his life has been spoiled by a state agency, a compensation of at least Rs 1 crore be awarded to him and the culprit be brought to justice," Srivastava demanded.
He has also written to the Nepalese Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay to come forward to support the youth.