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21 Apr 2026

Kashmir's PDD workers are dying on the job at a rate that cannot be called accidental. It can only be called chosen

Every few weeks, a name briefly surfaces: a lineman, a daily wager, a young father electrocuted somewhere in the Valley. A condolence statement follows. Then silence. Until the next death. This is not a misfortune. It is policy. At least sixty-two daily-wage PDD linemen have been electrocuted to death in Kashmir in the last five years. Eighty-four more carry permanent disabilities. Total electrocution deaths in the department since 2010 exceed four hundred. In 2026 alone, workers have already died in Budgam, Rafiabad, Chanpora, and Zewan. Thirty to 40 percent of workers have ever been issued safety gear. Many are dispatched to live lines with no formal training. Supervisors issue orders by phone and rarely appear at work sites. A daily-wage PDD labourer earns Rs. 225 per day. He carries no insurance. He is not covered under SRO 43, the regulation that provides compensation to regular government employees killed or injured on duty. If he dies fixing a transformer, his family receives nothing from the state. J&K has allocated thousands of crores to power sector upgradation under central schemes. The money for safety equipment, structured training, and basic insurance for casual workers exists. What is absent is the will to direct it toward the people doing the dangerous work. The administration summons these workers when lines fail and forgets them when the repair is done or when they are gone. That is not an oversight. It is a choice. And it is a choice this government must now be compelled to reverse.