Government employees working in a decrepit building in Telangana, India, have taken to wearing motorcycle helmets to prevent slabs of concrete from the ceiling falling on their heads.
A video of several male employees at the ‘Development Office’ of Jagtial district, in Telangana, wearing motorcycle helmets while working has gone viral on Indian social media. Ironically, the Development Office is tasked with developing the district by giving the internet to villagers and creating infrastructure, but the workplace is in such a terrible state that workers have to protect themselves against falling debris. Local media reported that the staff have been demanding relocation to a safer office building after a colleague nearly suffered brain damage when a cement slab of cement fell from the ceiling.
According to News Nine, the roof of the Mandal Parishad Development Office has been leaking since last year and is now in a dilapidated condition. The moisture has been causing pieces from the ceiling to fall off, and employees have been left with no choice but to protect themselves somehow.
After the video went viral earlier this month, Government officials from the Jagtial district of Telangana announced that the workers in the Development Office will be moved to another building ‘soon’.
Motorcycle helmets are not exactly a new form of protection among Indian Government employees. A few years back, we wrote about a similar group of workers in Bihar who were also at risk of suffering brain injuries from a derelict ceiling.