Indian
Express: Bengaluru: Friday, September 07, 2018.
Is the state government spinning a web of lies
in order to impress on the High Court that it is earnestly helping endosulfan
victims lead a life of dignity? Information obtained under Right to Information
(RTI) Act by RTI activist Sanjeeva Kabaka reveals that the government has
misled the High Court and later the Karnataka State Human Rights Corporation
(KSHRC) with a string of lies on the rehabilitation of victims of endosulfan
poisoning in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts.
Kabaka told Express that the government had
recently submitted a report to KSHRC on its programmes being implemented
exclusively for the welfare of endosulfan victims in three coastal districts.
KSHRC had sought a report from the government after Kokkada endosulfan victims
horata sangha convenor Sreedhar Gowda K filed a complaint accusing the
government of not responding to their demands.
The report submitted to KSHRC was also shared
with Sreedhara Gowda and other activists ‘“After reading the report, we decided
to expose the lies of the government,’’ said Kabaka.In the report, the Health
and Family Welfare Department stated that following an approval from the
government an ‘independent agency’ had been set up to identify Endosulfan victims
and arrange vehicles to ferry them to the hospital among others. The department
also claimed that an exclusive package worth `5,000 lakh had been accepted by
government. “The biggest false statement is that the government had been
disbursing free of cost 10 kg of food grains to each endosulfan victim,’’ said
Kabaka.
Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies in
Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, in their RTI replies,had
declared that besides Anna Bhagya and Antyodaya there were no free ration food
disbursal schemes exclusively for victims.
Lies and more lies..
An exclusisve agency to implement welfare
programmes for endosulfan victims Rs 5,000 lakh package for endosulfan victims
approved by govt
Free ration, home based palliative care, mobile
medical unit
Three more day care centres and two permanent
rehabilitation centres to be a reality within a year (July 2017)
CASE IN POINT
19-year-old Revathi, an endosulfan victim,
breathed her last weeks ago. She did not receive any free foodgrains let alone
compensation, says her father Gopanna Gowda. Shivaprasad, an endosulfan victim
from Soorikumeru in Bantwal taluk, is yet to receive monthly stipend. The delay
in releasing stipend had forced Karnataka State Human Rights Organisation to request
the DK Deputy Commissioner to expedite the release of stipend.