Kasargod's endosulfan victims upset as Kerala CM Vijayan's assurance remains on paper

Thiruvananthapuram: People with deformities and their parents staged a sit in before the Kasargod district collectorate on Thursday alleging that 1031 persons found to be victims of endosulfan pesticide were yet to be included in state government's endosulfan victims' list.

Even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured last year that the case of 1031 persons who were not included in the endosulfan victims' list will be reconsidered, it has not been done. As a result the victims and families are not getting any assistance offered to endosulfan victims.

In a medical camp held in 2017, as many as 1,905 persons were reportedly found to be affected by the pesticide. However, only 874 among them were included in the list. The remaining 1,031 were excluded on the grounds that they did not live in the regions where the pesticide was sprayed in cashew plantations.

The affected people are countering this citing that people from those regions were earlier considered as endosulfan victims as the impact of the aerial spraying affected nearby regions too. They feel that the government is trying to get rid of the financial obligations.

Parents of the victims said that the government should at least provide treatment to the victims.