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To get the best answers on this subject--the written experiences of people who actually lived in Pripyat or Chornobyl or who worked at the power plant (ChNPP)--you would need to have some Russian language skills and frequent an online message board serving these folks. Quora won't let me post hyperlinks apparently, but I am happy to provide over email if you're interested. I have experience visiting Chernobyl on multiple occasions and based on that experience, I can provide some brief answers toward this question. In doing so, I assume you are most interested in life during the period dominated by nuclear power, the 1970s and '80s. Predating the arrival of the nuclear industry, the Chernobyl region had a rich Jewish history, a tragic experience in the Second World War, an important agricultural role in the early USSR, etc., but I will focus on its role as the site for the nuclear power plant.1. Pripyat, the city built to house the ChNPP workforce, was a highly-desirable, exclusive place to live. Like other cities built to serve high-technology industry central to the Soviet economy or national defense, this was a planned model city with more spacious housing (including three-room flats for management), better schools, easier access to consumer perks like cars (it offered garages!), entertainment (a disco!), recreation (beaches!), a large telephone exchange, strong public transportation, comprehensive healthcare, and the perception of prestige in wider society. Obtaining a permanent job at ChNPP and qualifying to live in Pripyat were competitive and hallmarks of personal success in the Soviet Union. Relevantly similar cities endure in the former USSR; examples are Sosnovy Bor, the city serving the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant; and Ozyorsk, the city serving the Mayak nuclear weapons and reprocessing complex. The material culture abandoned in Pripyat attests to civic pride, ambition, strong institutions, an abundance of children, and standards of living not found in traditional communities in the Soviet Union. One can contrast Pripyat with Chornobyl (the major village south of the power plant) and the various smaller peasant villages in the present Exclusion Zone in terms of quality of life and the occupation and educational attainment of typical citizens.2. The area was a giant, nonstop construction site. The city of Pripyat and ChNPP were under incessant construction from 1970 all the way to the time of the 1986 accident. Two reactors out of a planned total of six remain unfinished at the site. Construction workers came and went as needed. Life was full of the inconveniences of noise and heavy equipment, as well as the regular celebrations for various progress milestones (completion of housing projects, successive startup of each of the plant's four reactors, cityhood status in 1979, etc.)3. Nuclear accidents and significant local radiological contamination had already occurred before the 1986 disaster, and industrial culture was problematic from the start. In September 1982, some of the fuel melted in ChNPP Reactor 1, a serious accident in itself resulting in high doses to workers and major offsite release of radioactivity, the worst of it borne (without official notification) by peasant villages near the plant. Although central government proponents of Soviet nuclear power were unflinchingly optimistic, workers at ChNPP were already familiar with serious operational safety challenges and inured to a culture that valued subordination to official hierarchy above all else. Very young workers who assiduously toed the line could obtain seniority quite quickly; many of the operators killed in the accident were young (the "senior reactor operator" was only in his mid-twenties and his shift supervisor was 32). Official secrecy thwarted the evolution of operating practices, the healthy exchange of wisdom between operators, managers, and designers, and an open and transparent interaction between the industry and its workers and local populations. These cultural attributes lead in no small way to the later accident, and also provide insight into a few notable differences between the geography and architectural engineering at ChNPP and those at nuclear power sites in the "western" world: As a visitor, one can observe the decorative and structural use of flammable materials at ChNPP, its dirty and leaky single-loop coolant system, its dirty gas circuit, its inferior concrete workmanship, its combined safety and service systems for multiple units, its proximity of only a few km from significant population, its flaky dosimetry control system based on vacuum-tube electronics; and so forth. The power plant's General Director also exercised de-facto control over civic life in Pripyat for much of its history; for example, he could approve or deny the use of hotel lodging and access to the Palace of Culture for touring entertainers. If you wanted to come to Pripyat and do anything, you had to send his office a telegram. Obviously, under such a climate, you weren't likely to hear much dissent or challenging opinions about the local enterprise.

TRAVAILS OF A GOVERNMENT WITH ITS ANTICORRUPTION WINGS CLIPPEDA day before the Independence Day, a pigeon fall on our terrace with its wings entangled in a web of Chinese Manjha (strings) used illegally in kite flying in Delhi. Children use these Chinese strings. We took hold of the injured bird, cut some strings and then the bird flew away. Though we have attained independence from the British rule, the Delhi Government which was formed by Arvind Kejriwal with an overwhelming mandate given by the people of Delhi can be compared to a pigeon with its wings clapped illegally and unconstitutionally by the Central Government who appear to behave like the children who used the Chinese Manjha illegally.Jesus said in Luke 7:32 when Pharisees questioned His wisdom, “To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ Men in the government who are supposed to follow the Constitution and the rule of law at times behave like children sitting in the market places who call out to one another, we play the flute for you and you did not dance.......If the Union Government who are supposed to behave like a father towards their children, compared to the state governments choose to be puerile and to mislead the nation expecting the people to dance to their music, then the whole edifice of governance in both the Central Government and the state government concerned collapses.No sooner the AAP which rode to power in Delhi on the sole plank of eradication of corruption begun to flutter its anticorruption wings in early 2015 than the illegal Chinese strings were used to clip its wings.http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/mha-notification-lands-major-blow-on-delhi-government/article7234669.eceKindly read the above news report. On 21st May 2015, the MHA issued a notification to the Government of NCT of Delhi. The notification clearly left matters pertaining to services of bureaucrats to be settled by the L-G allowing him discretionary power to seek the opinion of the Chief Minister as and when the former deemed it fit.It also reiterated the fact that the Delhi Government's ACB, vide a notification in July 2014 that limited its jurisdiction to officials of the Delhi Government, was still in force thus, effectively clipping its wings.The Delhi Assembly had, in March, passed a unanimous resolution against the said notification alleging that it diluted the powers of the said anti-graft body.The powers of the ACB were first curtailed by the MHA as the ACB under the control of Arvind Kejriwal took upon itself the job to probe Ambani and the then Union Petroleum Minister of the UPA on a complaint lodged by an NGO with the ACB. Then in 2015, the second notification was issued by the MHA giving absolute powers to the LG on the subject of services in matters pertaining to posting and transfer of All India service officers.The then LG using his discretionary powers appointed one M.K. Meena, IPS in supersession of one S.S. Yadav, IPS appointed by the Kejriwal government who alleged that Meena was not an officer of integrity as serious allegations were pending investigation against him.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/delhi-government-sends-chargesheet-against-acb-chief-mukesh-kumar-meena-to-cvc/articleshow/48970763.cmsThe above report of the economic times shows:An inquiry report found out that the price of curtains that were bought was between Rs 50 and Rs 75 per metre, they were bought at a uniform price of Rs 590 per metre," the Delhi government official said.As many as 322 bills of less than Rs 5,000 were fabricated to avoid the need of issuing tender," he said, adding, that all the bills had same date and mentioned a non-existent company.The complaint claims that several senior police officials, including then police commissioner took no action….The Delhi Government sent a draft major penalty charge-sheet to be issued to Meena for certain glaring irregularities committed by him in awarding the contract to some firms at exorbitant rates bypassing the procedure. A tender committee was constituted for awarding the contract and Meena, the approving authority, approved the tender at exorbitant rates causing financial loss to the exchequer. Though the committee members were punished through a departmental inquiry, the approving authority was allowed to go unpunished though there was prima facie evidence against him.The Delhi Government could not get the approval of the CVC for issuing the charge-sheet to Meena, probably on some technical grounds because the Govt. of NCT of Delhi had no “jurisdiction” to issue the charge-sheet to an All India Services officer.If a departmental inquiry was allowed to be held against him, the whole truth would have come out. He also could have been exonerated during the inquiry as he would be given all the reasonable opportunity. This case was killed in its womb.He was also charged for a major penalty for certain acts of misconduct for not obeying the orders of the Govt. The move of the Government to take disciplinary action against the officer who was working for the Govt. on deputation was also subsequently scuttled.Shri Meena reported only to the LG and not to the Director of Vigilance under the Delhi Government. Thus, the ACB was hijacked from the elected Government in an illegal manner.Then during 2016, the Directorate of Vigilance was also hijacked from the elected government as the Director of Vigilance begun reporting to the LG directly, bypassing the Chief Minister and the Dy.Chief Minister who was given the charge of “Vigilance” in the original plan of the scheme concerning the work of vigilance and anticorruption.Recently, the LG Shri Anil Bajijal sought the legal opinion of the Additional Solicitor General of the Govt. of India to know whether the files pertaining to the Vigilance Department could be routed to him through the Dy. CM. In my opinion, the present LG of Delhi, a senior most bureaucrat who was well aware of the systems and procedures in the Government could have decided on his own that there was nothing amiss with the system of merely routing of the files through the Dy.CM without seeking legal opinion.If there was a case against the CM or the Dy.CM, then the LG was quite justified in getting the files directly in his office without routing the same through the CM or the Dy. CM as the case may be. This is the final nail on the coffin of the AAP government’s anti-corruption wing. A Vigilance Department is as good as any other Department of the Govt. Tomorrow, the PWD can be taken away from the Govt. on some logic.If there are allegations against the CM or the Dy.CM, then the LG can refer these cases to the Lok Ayukta for inquiry rather than allow the Directorate of Vigilance to deal with such allegations. This can save the LG from the embarrassment of getting such cases being dealt with in the Vigilance Department.In this regard, I have written the following blog in quora to drive home that the legal opinion given by the ASG is unconstitutional and illegal:https://www.quora.com/Is-the-legal-opinion-that-was-given-by-ASG-to-the-LG-of-Delhi-that-vigilance-files-should-not-be-routed-through-the-Dy-CM-constitutional-and-legal/answer/Job-Anbalagan?srid=TPyqThe CBI and the ACB started probing various allegations against the Chief Minister and members of his cabinet. I do not want to go into the merit of these cases. However, in the following blog, I wish to examine two types of cases investigated by the CBI using two different yardsticks and the case against Swati Maliwal, Chief of DCW pertaining to a case of procedural lapses allegedly committed by her in appointing AAP cadres to Government posts in DCW which mostly border on the charge of nepotism without involving bribery or any criminal angle which justifies prosecution in a court of law.https://www.quora.com/Can-the-CBI-or-the-ACB-justify-prosecution-in-cases-against-officials-in-the-AAP-government-and-in-the-BJP-Gujarat-government-on-the-same-logic/answer/Job-Anbalagan?srid=TPyqConstant and systematic vilification campaign against Arvind Kejriwal and his team is being made by the BJP and the media to present them in poor light with a view to denting their anti-corruption image. The Television anchors pick up and focus on any minor aberration committed by Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers and MLAs.If the governance wings of a constitutionally elected government which enjoys its constitutional powers to govern the people in a democracy are clipped, then there is a death of democracy as the people residing in Delhi who have elected this government do not become “the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among ... “As a citizen of Delhi who exercises his power to vote in Delhi, I write my views with pain in my heart.Jai HindPS: The author has worked as an anti-corruption professional in the apex anti-corruption body of the nation and in the Vigilance Department of three leading Central Public Sector Undertakings. He was also associated with the anti-corruption work of the Govt. of NCT of Delhi as a volunteer during 2015.

Why doesn’t HPCL absorb GATs or frame any recruitment policy for them?Skill Development at HPCL reminds me of the pre independence days when the British came and exploited the Indians leaving the skilled Indians lose their profession and trade in what they were world leaders.Who is a GAT?GAT is the acronym for Graduate Apprentice Trainee. Here the Gat is referred to the Graduate Apprentice Trainees working at the marketing locations in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited ( i.e. HPCL ). It was back in Sept 2016 when the notification for the engagement of GATs was issued and published by HPCL. As an opportunity for employment, Fresher Engineers from across the country applied. They had made through a series of tests which include Computer Based Test i.e.CBT), Panel interviews and medical tests. A 240 number of candidates were selected and posted at the marketing locations across India. These marketing locations include LPG cylinder bottling plant, Terminals, Depos, Air Fueling Stations, Regional Offices, etc.Skill Development at HPCL-The Present Scenario.In India, nowadays the skill development team is like praising the steps being taken to uplift the condition of unemployment issue. The Skill Development Programme was set up and adopted to increase the employment opportunities for freshers (in our case Engineers). But little know the fact that this skill development programmes are not really to mean their core objectives. I am keeping the experience from the GAT perspective and expect you to keep yourselves in our position to understand this better.With lots of hopes and desires young graduates joined the HPCL. We were full of joy, energy and enthusiasm. We had faith, we had hopes, we believed in The Skill India Programme. We believed what turned out to be temporary. We were proud of joining this esteemed organization. We were proud to be called the one who would now serve our nation. Everything and Everyone was new. We were new.We were posted at the markrting locations and mostly all are situated at remote locations. Soon we learnt the basics, improved on and have dealt with all working conditions. We gave our very best.Now at this point of time, when it’s more than 10 months for us working here as part of the HPCL, nothing has been done by the Government and by HPCL for our recruitment.GATs all over India are being engaged by most companies and this activity is being monitored by the the Ministry of Human Resource. There is an act which governs this process and a contract is signed between the Apprentice and the Employer. This act is the Apprentice Act (1961). Here there is clause which favours the employer as well as the Apprentice, but to reality mostly favours the Employer. The Section 22 here reads…..“It shall not be obligatory on the part of the Employer to offer an employment to the apprentice on completion of period of apprenticeship training in his establishment”.Over the years there have been several amendments to this act. One such amendment was made in the year 2014 which is The Apprentices Act (amendment), 2014. The act reads in its section 22(i) ….“Every employer shall formulate its own policy for recruiting any apprentice who has completed the period of apprenticeship training in his establishment”.The powerful, the mightier have always manipulated the rules according to his own benefits or interests. One such case has happened with us (GATs). Here the same has been done by HPCL against the GATs. As against the above Section 22(I) of the Apprentice Act 2014, the HPCL contract has sticked to the previous clause from the the Apprentice Act 1961. We had a contract signed between GATs and HPCL.Although it (contract) read that” It shall not be obligatory on the part of the employer to offer an employment to the apprentice on completion of period of his apprenticeship training in his establishment nor shall it be obligatory on the part of the apprentice to accept an employment under the employer.Provided that if there is any recruitment, employer shall formulate its own policy for recruiting any apprentice who has completed the period of apprenticeship training in his establishment in terms of sub-section (1) of section (22) of the Act.” , there was not a statement which would deny the recruitment or absorption of the GATs.HPCL had also sent an advisory letter to the Location Incharge about the same, wherein it was clearly stated that “HPCL shall not offer employment to the apprentice on completion of period of his apprenticeship training”. This was now something that was not informed to us. We approached a few Officials from the Human Resource Team, and in reply what they told us was that they had no policy for our recruitment or absorption at that moment.Many officials claimed that HPCL would offer permanent employment to GATs as other PSU do and have done in the past.. This was just to take out their work done from the GATs.Recently a recruitment notification for Graduate Trainees 2018 was published by HPCL, When went through it carefully there was no mention of the GATs. The fact is that they have not made any recruitment policy for the absorption of GATs yet. We then tried to contact the HPCL team in this regard, we tried mailing and in return our mail ids (provided by HPCL) were blocked. We asked them to reply us if they have any policy for us. Nothing was received from their part in this regard up to date. HPCL has always denied communication with us.A few of us lodged a complaint against the Employer (i.e. HPCL) in the Public Grieveance portal regarding the same issue. Finally we now have something that is officially from the HPCL team and which confirms for their intentions with this programme. In reply the General Manager – Human Resources (Marketing Division) wrote that currently there is no absorption policy for Graduate Apprentice Trainee.Here let us ask ourselves a simple question is this the same Skill India Programme in which we believed and became a part of it? Is it the same which just is a skill development programme and is not an employment generation programme? Is it the same in which the Act itself is not being followed? And if the answer to it is yes, then its time to brainstorm this critical issue. For GATs this nothing but a complete waste of one year. To talk of the skills we acquired here during our tenure of 12 months, it is very clear that we won’t be able to apply those in any institutions other than HPCL. One reason to this is all oil and natural gas companies being monitored by government and these PSUs have their own recruitment policies which won’t give any preference to the GATs or the Apprenticeship certificates which we would receive after the completion of this programme.The decision we took hoping that we had now achieved something that would make us proud, by joining here at HPCL, has brought a real disgrace to us. What is the use of such Apprenticeship Programme which would not result in employment? To us it has proved useless. It has ruined our career and thus our life.The question then arises, why does HPCL don’t want to absorb GATs?This trained workforce is capable of handling every sort of work as they have been trained by the employer and that too within the establishment itself. They are now well familiar with the company and the work. What is that is restricting or limiting the employer from providing these GATs with permanent employment? It is the greedy policy of getting cheap manpower by engaging batches after batches of GATs.For us it won’t be that easy to find a respectable career considering this work experience which involves the LPG operations.My suggestion to this apprenticeship training would be if the PSU and the Government cannot offer employment to apprentices, please provide these GATs with such an experience that they could apply the experience somewhere else in the private companies.. For now we don’t find this apprenticeship training going good and needs a lot of research and improvements to really tackle unemployment and eleviate the skills of young graduates. This is just an exploitation. Be careful with all these things..Hope others would learn a lesson from our failure.