Compensation to blame: Amendments to strengthen law on industrial accidents

Proposed amendments to the Public Liability Insurance Act may end the high level of non-compliance among companies

The horrendous toll from the Bhopal gas tragedy of December 2-3, 1984, helped India draw up a far-sighted social welfare legislation that also stipulated the extent to which the public is entitled to compensation in the event of an industrial accident. This was the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 (PLI Act).
 
Once the law was passed, everybody forgot about it.
 
A stock-taking exercise conducted in March 2020 by Debadityo Sinha for Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy found an insurance pool set up under this Act to finance citizens, who sue companies for injury or death caused by hazardous