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Hindu: MANGALORE: Tuesday, October 16, 2012.
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| The former Minister P.K. Sreemathy, along with T.V. Rajesh, MLA, and other DYFI leaders, visits the house of Janu Naik, an endosulfan victim who had committed suicide in Kasaragod district |
The ICMR
report and suggestions made for the benefit of endosulfan victims had been
incorporated in the directions issued by the Supreme Court three days ago
An Indian
Council for Medical Research-funded study on the use of endosulfan in Kasargod
and Dakshina Kannada, which had been put in the backburner for years, saw the
light of day because of the Right to Information Act that helped activists to
explain the harmful affects of the pesticide before the Supreme Court,
Ravindranath Shanbhag, activist and dean of K.V. Virani Institute of Pharmacy
and Research Institute, Amreli, Gujarat, who has been fighting for the cause of
endosulfan victims, has said.
Speaking at a
function to mark the seventh anniversary of the Act here on Saturday, Dr.
Shanbhag said the Supreme Court in 2011 asked ICMR for a report on the impact
of endosulfan on the people. For this, the ICMR president stated that the
institute needed 15 years. “Such a statement came as a shock as ICMR had funded
a research way back in July 2003,” Dr. Shanbhag said.
Dr. Shanbhag
filed an application under the Right to Information Act seeking details of the
research conducted by a team led by Pratap Kumar, professor and head of the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Kastruba Medical College (KMC).
“Following the application, ICMR sought from KMC a copy of the report as it had
destroyed the original one. The copy received by ICMR from KMC was given to me.
This is all before the Supreme Court,” Dr. Shanbhag said.
The ICMR
report and suggestions made for the benefit of endosulfan victims had been
incorporated in the directions issued by the Supreme Court three days ago, he
said.
Earlier, RTI
activist Krishna Moolya spoke about the way an application under the Right to
Information Act led to release of prize amount granted to a non-governmental
organisation under Nirmal Gram Yojana, which had been with the State government
for over three years.
Harsha Raj
Gatty, convenor and coordinator of White Whistle, Mangalore, spoke.
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