The report published in The Telegraph on Monday

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 31: The state government today directed authorities of the labour and employment department to conduct a probe into the tampering of an important file dealing with fatal industrial mishaps that took place in the last six years. The accidents took place in almost all major industrial complexes of the state.

Reacting to the file tampering case, labour and employment minister Puspendra Singh Deo said: “Direction has been issued to start a probe on this issue. Whoever is found guilty will be taken to task.”

The state government was forced to react after The Telegraph carried a report on Monday revealing how efforts were made to destroy the records of industrial death at the behest of the officials of the directorate of factories and boilers (F&B). The report was published under the headline “Pages go missing from government file”.

After the government’s direction, efforts were made in the labour and employment department today to locate the officer who had mutilated the important column of file No. LL-II-FM-73/11 on fatal accidents.

“We will certainly catch hold of the officer who had tampered with the file at the behest of officials of the directorate of F&B,” said a senior official.

Official records state that 102 fatal accidents took place in 2010, 122 in 2009, 81 in 2008, 75 in 2007, 65 in 2006 and 37 in 2005. The minister said the industries have also been directed to send detailed reports on fatal accidents to the department directly. The government also directed officials to furnish all information related to industrial problems on the website. Interestingly, the government website of the labour and welfare department does not carry much information on its functioning.

Sources said the government, in its letter earlier this month to the directorate of F&B, said that officers at various levels functioning in the directorate were “indulging in gross malpractices” trying to cover up fatal accidents within industrial premises.

In yet another development, the government is planning to take up all vigilance cases related to the functioning of the directorate of F&B. A review meeting was held relating to the welfare of the labourers. Sources said the government discussed the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RRBY).

Moreover, because of laxity in the labour department, families of the labourers were not getting their compensation on time.

“There have been instances of people running from pillar to post to get their compensation. Even the cases of 2007 have not yet been settled,” said a senior official.

According to the labour statistics report, nearly 5,816 cases were pending for hearing. The department is yet to compile the reports for 2010. In 2009, the state government has given Rs 11.20 crore as compensation while disposing of nearly 1,217 cases under the Workmens’ Compensation Act 1923.

Labour commissioner Alekh Chandra Padhiari said: “It is very difficult to pay compensation to the labourer’s family immediately, The Labour Commission office is hit by a serious staff crunch.”