Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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Committee to submit report to government to alleviate woesof victims
The Assurances Committee of the Legislative Council on Wednesday directed the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner to get the surface and the groundwater of endosulfan-affected areas tested to verify whether they are the still contaminated with the chemical. Chairing a review meeting on endosulfan victims here, committee chairman K.C. Kondaiah observed that though the pesticide was extensively used between 1980 and 2000, people continuing to get affected by the symptoms raises suspicion as to whether it is still present in the environs. Meanwhile, Mr. Kondaiah and other members, S. Ravi, K.T. Srikante Gowda, K.V. Narayanaswamy, Tejaswini Gowda, K. Harish Kumar, Arun Shahapur and M.A. Gopalaswamy, who were visibly apalled by the condition of endosulfan victims after visiting them in the district, said the committee would recommend to the government to provide all required assistance to alleviate their woes. Responding to a query on enhancement of monetary assistance to victims, Mr. Kondaiah said when the DC S. Sasikanth Senthil sends a proposal, the committee will ask the government to act upon it. At present, the victims are paid Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 3,000 per month depending upon the degree of disability. There were suggestions and demands during the meeting from NGOs and social activists like opening of permanent rehabilitation centres, four more day-care centres, well-equipped ambulance for victims, providing nutritious food, vocational training to victims and others. A victim’s mother said they have formed a society and urged the committee to direct the government to allot land and funds to build a rehabilitation centre as victims themselves could provide better care to their pals. Mr. Kondaiah said the committee members would discuss the issue again among themselves. They would also get information about victims from Udupi (1,588) and Uttara Kannada (1,860) districts, details of which were not made available to the committee, before submitting a report to the government. The report will be binding on the government, which has to implement it, he noted. The issue came to the committee’s purview in 2013 when then MLCs M.C. Nanaiah and Bharathi Shetty raised the issue at the council, he said.
