The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Thursday awarded compensation of Rs3 lakh to the family of the four-year-old boy, who died falling into a septic tank at a Government school premises in Kuchinda of Sambalpur district in July last year. The boy’s father Kartik Kissan had approached the commission through human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das stating that the under-construction tank of 12 feet deep was left open for several days without any barricade around it.
Alleging that he lost his son for gross negligence of the school authorities, Kartik had sought a damage of Rs10 lakh. Basing on the reports of the district Collector in which it was admitted that there has been gross negligence on the part of the authorities for the delay in completion of the tank and leaving the deep pit uncovered for months together, the OHRC held the Govt responsible for the mishap and directed it to compensate family within 60 days.