Congress urges Kerala CM to add more Endosulfan victims to govt list for treatment, benefits

The opposition Congress on Thursday urged the Left government in Kerala to include over a thousand more people in the list of Endosulfan victims in the northernmost Kasaragod district, so that they can get the treatment required.

Inviting the urgent attention of the CM in the matter, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan sent a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding that the government take necessary steps to include the remaining 1,031 persons also in the list and provide them with the necessary treatment and other government benefits being granted to Endosulfan victims. Endosulfan, an off-patent organochlorine insecticide and acaricide, was used widely on crops like cashew, cotton, tea, paddy, fruits and others until 2011, when the Supreme Court banned its production and distribution. The adverse effects of the chemical on human health include neurotoxicity, late sexual maturity, physical deformities, and poisoning among others. The pesticide was widely used in Kerala as well as other states.

Reportedly, over 3,700 victims of endosulfan exposure have been identified, of whom 102 are bedridden, 326 mentally challenged, 201 physically disabled and 119 suffering from cancer.

The opposition put forward the demand in the wake of a memorandum submitted to Satheesan by Endosulfan Agitation Action Council convenor P Shainy.

In the letter, the LoP pointed out that in the special medical camp held in five places of Kasaragod district in 2017, as many as 1,905 persons had been identified as Endosulfan victims and of them, 363 were included in the government list.

Following a hunger strike staged by Endosulfan victims in front of the Secretariat here in January in 2019 to press various demands, a meeting convened by the CM decided to include those below the age of 18 years without any examination and the rest after checking their medical records, Satheesan said.

As per the memorandum, as many as 511 persons below the age of 18 years had been included in the list as per the then decision. But, no action has been taken till date in respect of the remaining 1031 persons, he said.

The action council, in the memorandum, said it was a denial of natural justice to Endosulfan victims.