More Electrocutions

In some of the very few advanced countries where the death sentence has been retained, the mode of delivering death to the hapless convict is not through the hangman’s noose, but rather through electrocution. The person sentenced to death is usually strapped to a chair and subjected to a very high charge of electricity that causes instant death. During the last few days, we have had quite a few random electrocutions of innocent people not involved in any crime, due to the courtesy of an organization called the Assam Power Development Corporation Limited (APDCL). Young students, newly-married couples and people who had many more years to live have had their lives cut short by some careless functiory of the APDCL who had left a live power cable in a position that it could easily come in contact with any passer-by, causing instant death. It is hardly surprising that such things happen in a State where not just timber posts, but any tall tree can be used to support high-voltage power cables. Even today, many of the small towns of the United States use tall timber posts to support power cables because they are so safe. But nowhere else are trees used so irresponsibly to carry power cables as is done in Assam. However, it is not just the present casual attitude to the handling of live power cables that should be a matter of grave concern. It is the ability of such careless handlers of power cables who have caused repeated deaths of people through electrocution to go totally unpunished that comes as a rude shock to everyone. Such people would have lost their jobs instantly in any other country that respects the very fundamental right to life that everyone is supposed to have. In most civilized countries, such irresponsible workers would also have faced pel action after being dismissed. In India, most administrators promote irresponsible actions of workers by failing to punish wrongdoing. One cannot help wondering whether this disinclition to punish stems from the awareness of many officers that they too have been guilty of many irresponsible actions without being punished for them. It is time people demanded suitable punishment for all acts of carelessness among workers that leads to the death or disability of others. Or have we forgotten that more than 1,100 people have died due to electrocution in Assam in just ten years?