JOIN USNo end to the plight of endosulfan victims of Kasargod
While the government assurances on addressing the woes of the endosulfan victims of Kasargod in Kerala still remain on papers, the victims and their relatives have intensified their stir.
On Wednesday, the Congress-led United Democratic Front raised the issue in the state assembly, and the victims and their relatives staged demonstration outside the government secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the government did not give any firm assurances.
The Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress insisted on a reply from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the house on key plights like the remediation cell remaining defunct for one year and the reasons for not including over 1,000 victims in the official list of victims. Vijayan did not reply.
The victims who have been carrying out protests over the last several years said that the state government assured in 2019 that a review of those excluded would be conducted, but it had not happened yet.
The concerns of the victims aggravated as a former district collector of Kasargod gave a report that many ineligible persons made to the list of victims and hence a review of the existing beneficiaries was required.
To the relief of the victims, Social Justice Minister R Bindu, while replying to the adjournment motion notice given by Kasargod MLA N A Nellikunnu of the Indian Union Muslim League, said that the collector's report was not yet taken into consideration by the government.
According to the endosulfan victims' forum, of the 6,727 endosulfan victims identified, only 1,446 were given the compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as directed by the Supreme Court. Around 4,000 eligible for the compensation were not yet paid. The officials concerned were trying to sabotage it, the forum alleged.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said that the plight of the endosulfan victims worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic as 20 died due to inadequate treatment. He also urged the government to take steps to resume the functioning of the remediation cell.
A series of demands of the endosulfan victims, including advanced treatment facilities in Kasargod district and the service of a neurologist in the district, were also long pending.
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