Social activist Daya Bai continued her hunger strike in front of the Secretariat in the state capital, demanding improved healthcare infrastructure in Kasargod district, where hundreds of endosulfan victims have been struggling due to inadequate facilities.
The 81-year-old was moved to a local hospital by the police on Tuesday as her health worsened, but she resumed her agitation on Wednesday upon being discharged from the hospital. She had been on a hunger strike since October 2. ‘
One of Bai’s staunchest demands was that the Kerala government should suggest Kasargod as a location for the proposed unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala.
“A centre like AIIMS would not only help in improving the health infrastructure of the district, but will also help in conducting studies on the impact of endosulfan on current and future generations,” Endosulfan Victims’ Action Council leader Ambalathara Kunhikrishnan said.
Lack of daycare facilities for those with physical and mental deformities has caused hardships for parents, who also struggle to go back to work with this kind of responsibility, he said.
Kunhikrishnan also said that medical camps to identify fresh cases of endosulfan victims have not been held in the district for five years now.
According to him, currently the district’s residents were mainly dependent on hospitals in neighbouring Karnataka’s Mangaluru for intensive treatment. “Hence people suffered when borders were closed due to Covid-19 lockdown. Even as many died due to delay in getting treatment, the government was not taking adequate measures,” he said.
A medical college in the district, proposed nearly a decade ago, was still in progress, as only the administrative block was constructed so far.
Bai’s indefinite hunger strike, inaugurated by anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar, was gaining more support. A secretariat march to support the strike, will be organised on Friday.
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