The State government has decided to disburse a compensation of ₹5 lakh each to 3,714 endosulfan victims in Kasaragod after verifying their eligibility.
The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Chief Secretary V.P. Joy on March 16. An order was issued earlier allocating an additional ₹200 crore for compensation to those who are yet to get financial help from the government.
The government had included 6,727 persons on the endosulfan victims’ list. Among them, 1,442 had already been paid a compensation of ₹5 lakh and another 1,568 paid ₹3 lakh.
According to the new order issued by the Social Justice department, a team of officials from the Health and Revenue departments will visit the houses of the 3,714 victims and verify their eligibility based on the present criteria. The District Collector will distribute the compensation immediately. In the first phase, bedridden (102), mentally retarded (326), physically disabled (201) and cancer patients (119) will get the compensation.
The Confederation of Endosulfan Victims’ Rights Collective, however, alleged that this order would mean that the 2,966 victims who fall in the “other category” and 1,568 victims who were paid just ₹2 lakh would again be forced to wait.
“The order, like in the past, is issued only to convince the Supreme Court, which sought a reply from the State government recently after a contempt petition was filed by the endosulfan victims,” said secretary of the confederation K.K. Ashokan.
He said the apex court, after hearing the contempt petition filed by P. Remya and others, had ordered in 2019 that the government pay the compensation to those who were included on the “other category” list, but were denied the amount.
Mr. Ashokan said the government had already identified the victims after following due eligibility criteria. “In that case, what is the need for the District Collector to verify their eligibility once again?” This was a delaying tactic, he said.
