Latest News
Back
The Public Insurance Act, 1991 and its Shortcomings
The Public Insurance Act, 1991 was framed after the unfortunate incident of Bhopal Gas Tragedy. This act aims at providing immediate relief to third parties other than the workmen who are affected by an accident of the company. It contains 23 sections and a schedule that provides the amount for the monetary compensation available to the victims. It is one of the Indian Legislations which complies with the principle of “No-Fault Liability”.
Shortcomings of the Act
The insurance protects the company from any third person liability once the insurance policy is completed. There exists a monetary cap of Rs. 50 Crores on the insurance policy, the size of the factory is not taken into consideration. One the policy is completed the act comes into force and provides a meager amount of compensation to the victims. It does not take into consideration the mental agony as well which has been suffered and also ignored the important aspect of environmental loss.
According to the schedule of the act, medical expenses of up to Rs. 12,500 is provided to every victim. If a victim suffers from a permanent disability or dies then he is provided with Rs. 25,000 in addition to the medical costs of up to Rs. 12,500. The property damage cost provided is up to Rs. 6,000. Even in cases of temporary disablement which causes a loss of salary only Rs. 1,000 is provided per month that for a period of three months only. The amounts have remained the same over these three decades and no revision has taken place in it. This points out the poor state of Indian legislation in the dynamic world.
In 2020, the Vizag gas leak is where this compensation plan would be followed, until the victims decide to sue the company and get extra compensation years after the incident. This adds to ones financial crises despite the sufferings due to the accident. Thus Indian needs to overhauls its compensatory policies and revise it time to time so as to suit the needs of the citizens rather than the companies which cause huge damage to human life as well as the environment.
