When he heard about the death of his elder brother in a workplace accident in Iran, the ground slipped under Raghu Maho’s feet. This was followed by an ordinance for long -term for incorrect bodies, bureaucracy apathy and compensation.
On 27 March, Alakh Nandan Maho, brother of Raghu of Tartara village in West Singhbhum district, died in a “accident” on MV Rasa in a ship under Iran’s shipping company BND Yat Ship Management Services, an agency approved by the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping). Another engineer was killed in the accident and a third was seriously injured. All three were Indians
In the following days, the family got the wrong body and ran into many bureaucracy walls as they continued to wait for compensation. But they all have an obscure email in the first week of May from the shipping company. That email, reaction to several emails sent by the family, stated that “time needed.”
Raghu told The Indian Express, “Still, even after three months of the incident, no one is committed to giving us compensation from the Government of Jharkhand, employer or DG shipping.”
In its share, DG shipping claims that it blocked the license of BND Marine after some violations at the end of 2024. When contacted, Anita Sinha, a senior DG shipping officer, confirmed that the department was chasing the case “actively”. But he also admitted that there were “some complications” – such as Alakh’s name was listed against another vessel.
“We have taken it with foreign embassies, including our Indian mission and flag states in Iran. We are also following with the agency and P&I (Protection and Compensation) Club,” he said. “This case is the top priority for us.”
However, Raghu is suspicious, wondering how, if the company was blocked in August 2024, would the engineers continue to be sending abroad until March 2025.
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“They say that immigration records suggest that my brother was assigned to a separate ship, but he died on one and one. How is my brother’s fault? Is it not a DG shipping job to track?” He asked.
According to the family, Alakh always dreamed of working in the sea. After obtaining a mechanical engineering degree from a college in Chennai in 2013, he worked briefly Maruti Suzuki Before enrolling in Graduate Marine Engineering (GME) syllabus, a pre-controversial training program approved by the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping).
Since then, he worked on rotation-based contracts, which previously traveled to Iran, Andaman and Kolkata ports. In August, he was posted in BND YAT ship management services.
After the accident, the family reached the office of DG Shipping headquarters in Mumbai, where they were reported that there was no official communication on the incident.
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In the following days, many government departments, local district police, ministry and shipping office were looped. Despite these efforts, the body took a month to come to Kolkata.
But the family was for a jerk – when the coffin was opened, they found that the inside body was not alakh, but another crew member – for a person from Uttar Pradesh. Raghu then approached his father and traveled to Uttar Pradesh to hand over the body.
Raghu said, “Nobody helped the government. We paid for coordination with ambulances, legal formalities, departments from our pocket … I also took someone else’s body to Uttar Pradesh and finally returned before receiving my brother’s remains.” “After a week in May, we got the right body.”
Meanwhile, compensation continues to wait. While the family is demanding pre–Gratia assistance under the Chief Minister Jharkhand International Pravasi Pravasi Karyakar Grants Scheme, it is later said that they are disqualified.
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Under this scheme, a lump sum of Rs 5 lakh will be paid to the dependents of the eligible beneficiaries by the appropriate Deputy Commissioner in the event of untimely death during the stay of a worker abroad.
Avinash Thakur, District Superintendent of Labor Superintendent of Western Singhbah, said, “For pre -Gratia aid in such cases, a legitimate family income certificate showing annual income below Rs 72,000 is mandatory. Without this, we cannot pay compensation. The family of the deceased has explained this.”
Meanwhile, West Singhbham Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar said that he was “not aware of the case”.
But Raghu disputed, saying that he had spoken to the Deputy Commissioner. “The Deputy Commissioner and the District Labor Department says that we are not eligible because our family income is more than 72,000/years. But they do not see the costs – bringing the body back, Mumbai’s frequent travel, emotional toll … even activists of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme get more than Rs 6,000 for their work.”
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