Two employees died in Hyderabad University in five days, roots of caste oppression exposed

The professor who had suspended Rohit Vemula and thrown him out of the hostel has been accused of harassing his subordinate employee. After the death of two employees, the student organization demanded action against the head of the department, Alok Pandey.

Published on: 17 Dec 2023, 11:27 am

New Delhi:The workplace death of two employees (one Dalit, one Christian) in the University of Hyderabad in the last five days has once again exposed the roots of caste oppression prevalent in the university. Has been brought forward. Vinod Kumar, working in the Hindi department, who comes from a Christian background, died due to heart attack and late provision of medical facilities, on the other hand, Kichala Praveen (Dalit employee), a sweeper at Lake View Guest House, Committed suicide by drinking pesticide. 

It is being told that both the employees were upset with their supervisor for a long time. The students, student union and employees of the Hindi department have together demanded the university administration to dismiss both the supervisors from their posts and give appropriate compensation to the families of the deceased.

On December 15, a large number of employees and students met the Registrar and informed about these incidents. Students told that, on the demand of immediate dismissal of the sanitization supervisor, the registrar went into the office without saying anything. Hurt by this irresponsible behavior of the registrar, the students also protested in the admin building around 6 pm.

The entire University of Hyderabad, which has the title of Institute of Eminence, is shocked by the on-duty death of two employees in the last one week. Both were working in the university on contract basis for a long time. 

According to sources, Vinod Kumar, the office employee there, was worried since the appointment of the new head of the department in the Hindi department a month ago. It is alleged that Vinod Kumar, troubled by extra work pressure, scolding, insulting behavior and abusive words by the head of the department, Alok Pandey, had applied for transfer within a month. The insensitivity towards the employee working below him was so deep that on the day of the incident, even when Vinod Kumar was showing symptoms of a heart attack, the head of the department did not take any necessary steps in time. 

M.A. in Hindi Department A student studying in said, “I had gone to the department to get the signature of the head of the department on a form. There in the office I saw that Vinod Sir was unwell yet he was forced to work. I told the head of the department several times that his health had deteriorated and that he should be taken to the health centre, but he did not listen to me and started scolding me. When the situation worsened, he came out of the office and quickly signed our form. He was nervous. After some time it came to light that Vinod sir is no more.”

On the other hand, the head of the department told the students that, when Vinod’s health deteriorated, he gave him his pillow and asked him to lie down on the office table. A female professor also gave him a medicine called Diazine. Vinod was feeling uncomfortable and in the same pain went towards the toilet and was found fallen there. He died there. 

In the second incident, sanitization worker Kichala Praveen was being harassed by his supervisor Basanti Mallesh for a long time. It is alleged that the supervisor does not provide gloves etc. to the workers for cleaning and takes extra work. If any worker even tried to complain, Basanti Mallesh would threaten to fire him. His fellow workers have testified to this.

This is not the first time that a student or employee has died in Hyderabad University. Rohit Vemula, a student of the same university, committed suicide in 2016. Rohit VemulaHis suicide had shocked the entire country. According to sources, the same head of the Hindi department, Alok Pandey, was also involved as the main accused in Rohit’s suicide case. He was the Chief Proctor at that time.

The students’ organization of the University of Hyderabad has written a letter to the Vice Chancellor and Registrar of the University on Friday, December 15, demanding a fair investigation into the entire matter and action against the accused. In the letter written by the student organization, the students have also placed their 7-point demands before the university. 

In a letter addressed to the university, the students’ organization wrote, “On December 11, Vinod Sir, who was an office employee in the Hindi department, died while working, allegedly due to harassment and pressure from his superiors. On December 14, Kichala Praveen Sir, a sanitation worker, allegedly committed suicide at work due to harassment and pressure. Two deaths in a span of four days have put the horrific workplace conditions facing employees at the University of Hyderabad into the spotlight. “Not addressing the conditions that led to the two deaths is putting the lives of all employees working at the university at risk.”

The letter further read that, therefore, we the Students Union 2023-24, demand that the following measures be taken immediately:

1.A thorough and independent investigation should be launched into both deaths. The investigation should also investigate the large scale caste discrimination against contract workers.

2. Professor Alok Pandey, who serves as the Head of the Hindi Department, Shri Srinivas Rao, who serves as the Deputy Registrar (Sanitation) and Shri Basanti Mallesh, who serves as the Section Officer ( Sanitation), is to be removed from his post. Position to ensure independent and impartial investigation.

3.Adequate compensation should be provided to the families of both the workers who died during work. A permanent job is to be allotted to one member of both the families.

4.An accountability mechanism will have to be created to ensure that workers’ salaries are paid on time.

5.The extraordinary pressure on sanitation workers and office staff is due to the acute shortage of staff, which is prevalent in various departments. More workers will have to be employed immediately in proportion to the workload.

6. Respectful and safe working conditions have to be ensured for the sanitation workers. The safety standards and penalties should be in line with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 and the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2016. Violation of the above is a cognizable non-bailable offense under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
7.Regularize all contract workers.