Any person who runs a business venture knows well that keeping the workforce happy and satisfied is important. In doing so, we need to make sure all their basic needs are met. Any person who is even faintly interested in human psychology or organisational management would tell you of the importance of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory.

One of the basic themes in this theory comprises covering an employee’s safety and security needs. This includes providing a safe environment and assurance against any major problem or calamity that may befall the employee in the course of his employment. Employers are also expected to forewarn employees about the possible hazards they may face on their job, so that employees can take necessary precautions. It is therefore important that the government as an employer also takes into account the security of its employees – especially if they are associated with the functioning and upkeep of India’s nuclear programme. 

On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.Every nuclear facility in the world is closely guarded and wrapped in secrecy. The people engaged in running such facilities are supposed to maintain secrecy, something everyone is well aware of. These nuclear secrets are highly sensitive because if they fall in the wrong hands – like terrorist groups – they can seriously compromise international security and have deadly consequences.

ISRO mum on how 684 of its staff died

Source: rediff.com - By Prasanna D Zore | January 13, 2011 01:35 IST

Indian Space and Research Organisation, the principle space research agency of India, does not want to reveal the details about its employees' deaths.

When Mumbai-based Right To Information activist Chetan Kothari tried to find out how many of ISRO's employees had died in the last 15 years at the agency and its associate units, he was provided with a bureaucratic jargon.

Although the agency replied that 684 persons had died in the last 15 years at ISRO and its associate units, it had withheld the cause of their deaths.

"All we know is that at ISRO people have been dying at the rate of 45.6 per year and it does not want to tell the public how have they perished," questioned Kothari.

The figure of deaths at ISRO, excluding its headquarters, in the last 15 years is 387, while at its associate units of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking And Command Centre, Space Applications Centre and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and ISRO HQ the figure of dead employees was 297.

"In my appeal, I had emphasised that the identity of the deceased may be withheld to protect the privacy of the families. Giving statistical information on the cause of deaths should not be a problem," said Kothari.

Right To Information activist Chetan Kothari

Last year, Kothari had obtained similar information from nuclear establishments and related organizations in which all of the government bodies had provided the cause of death. The revelation then had been startling, as it showed that 197 employees had committed suicide across all the nuclear establishments and related institutes in the last 15 years, while 1733 had died of various illness.

"I was informed by the ISRO that the information related to cause of death is not mentioned in the death certificate that is produced by the family members of the deceased to the ISRO. Majority of the government agencies know the cause of their employee's death, but the ISRO claims that it has no idea how its employees died. This is either sheer callousness on the part of the ISRO or attempt to hide facts from the public," said Kothari.

To his query seeking information about satellite launches, the ISRO provided the list of 29 successful launches done at the cost of Rs 14,160 crore.

"The information provided only pertains to the successful launch of satellites. There is no mention of failed attempts," said Kothari.

His efforts to attend the hearing of the first appeal made before the joint secretary at Anatarishk Bhavan at New Delhi was stone-walled despite several reminders. Kothari has now submitted an appeal before the Central Information Commission.

197 suicides and 1,733 deaths at India's nuclear establishments in last 15 yrs

Source: news.rediff.com - By N Ganesh | October 04, 2010 18:03 IST

197 employees belonging to a number of nuclear establishments and related institutes in India have committed suicide and 1,733 scientists and employees belonging to these centres have died of illnesses like multiple organ failure, lung cancer, cirrhosis of liver etc, as per a report compiled by Mumbai-based RTI activist Chetan Kothari.

The report based on 175 pages of documents sourced through 32 such centres also reveal that 1,733 employees and scientists from these establishments died due to various illnesses that include cardiac strokes, liver failure, multiple organ failure, tuberculosis, cardio-respiratory diseases, lung cancer, septicemia, cirrhosis of liver, cerebro-vascular dieseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, mellitus etc amongst a host of other diseases.

Interestingly, some of the RTI documents shown to rediff.com by Kothari did not mention the cause of the death and in some other cases mentioned the cause of death as 'brought dead', which Kothari was explained on the condition of anonymity as those who have committed suicides.

Kothari, after poring through the 175-pages over the weekend told rediff.com that most of the deceased in this report belonged to the 29-50 age group.

Incidentally, one doesn't find the cause of death mentioned as 'due to atomic radiation' against any of the deaths reported in these 15 years at these centres.

The data pertains to the period between 1995 to March 2010 and runs into 175 pages sourced over a period of three months by Kothari.

It was only recently that the news of scientists belonging to the atomic energy fraternity in India committing suicides had been in the news.

The RTI replies from various centres, however, have not dwelled on the reason behind these suicides or how various other illnesses were contracted by the deceased.

The largest number of suicide cases at 74 have been reported from Uranium Corporation of India Ltd, Jharkhand, and those who died of other illnesses mentioned above stood at 203 at this centre.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai [ Images ], have reported highest number of deaths, at 680, of its employees and scientists due to various illnesses.

The data has been sourced from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India in Mumbai, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Tata Memorial Hospital, Department of Atomic Energy, Atomic Energy Rgulatory Board, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (Kolkata), Uranium Corporation of India (Jharkhand), Nuclear Fuel Complex (Hyderabad), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Environmental and Industrial safety (Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu), The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Chennai), Department of Atomic Energy, Heavy Watyer Plant (Tuticorin), Harish Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad), Institute for Plasma Research Centre (Gandhinagar), Institute of Physics (Bhubaneshwar), Heavy Water Plant in Kota (Rajasthan), Heavy water Pklant, Talcher (Orissa), Raja Ramanna Centre for Advaced Technology (Indore) amongst several others.

It is disturbing that no proper probe is conducted in such circumstances, and no major steps have been taken to safeguard and prevent such incidents in the future. Being abducted or mysteriously killed should not be counted as a “known risk” that a nuclear scientist understands, or as a “work hazard” when he signs his employment contract. As per Maslow’s theory, providing for a sense of safety and security is crucial in not only winning the loyalty of employers, but in making sure that they are dedicated to their work. 

The Government of India is certainly not taking this matter seriously, and that is both saddening and deeply disturbing from a national security perspective.

India’s national security challenges becoming complex: Rajnath

What’s to be done

Iran gave all the important scientists heavy security cover when the systematic killings came to light. Unfortunately, India hasn’t learnt the lessons. There has been next to no media coverage of these deaths and suicides, and the government hasn’t given any security cover to the scientists working on its strategically important projects.

But apparently, losing people who are important to national interest is a thing India seems to be fine with.

References:

wikileaks.org - Animesh