Mangaluru: The verdict of the Karnataka High Court (HC) pronounced on January 27, has not borne fruits in the lives of long neglected Endosulfan victims in the district. A victim claimed, that though the HC has passed an order to ensure protection, the monthly stipend has been halted since two months.
Sadly, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dakshina Kannada (DK), A B Ibrahim appears to be in the dark on the unpaid pension row. The DC said that, stipend has been paid until January and only this month’s (February) was due. However the government has not released pension fund since two months in spite of correspondence initiated by the District Health Officer (DHO) of DK with the government.
The HC of Karnataka had earlier passed orders favoring the victims. The orders directed DHOs and Taluk Health Offices to swiftly address the troubles providing earmarked amenities to the victims. Disposing of a petition filed by the High Court Legal Services Committee based on media reports of the sufferings of Endosulfan victims, the division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri directed legal service authorities of the three affected districts to assist the victims in getting their grievances redressed.
“Forget amenities, our monthly pension has been held up since December 2014 quoting some procedural delay in crediting the pension to the rightful beneficiaries,” said Shridhar Gowda, victim-cum-activist of Endo Virodhi Horata Samiti. Lamenting the destitute plight of Endo-victims, he claimed the district administration has even failed to issue the notification of providing free bus passes to commute to get medical checkup and treatment.
Many victims were visiting the Karnataka State Road Transportation Corporation, Puttur division, but to no use. Though the HC directed the district and taluk legal service authority to monitor the situation no action has been observed on the ground. The victims were troubled due to continued odds which have been encountered since they were identified for deadly Endosulfan.
The prevailing response to the grievances of the victims was quite poor and over 2000 victims hailing from Dakshina Kannada did not receive their monthly stipend of January and February. The government, he said, has paid December’s pension to half of the victims and other half has not been paid. This means, many victims did not get their entitled pension from Dec 2014.
“We are disappointed by the callous attitude of the health and family welfare and revenue department, the authority responsible for the payment,” expressed Gowda, while Senior Civil Judge and Member Secretary of District Legal Services Authority, Ganesh B said the Deputy Commissioner and DHO should be held responsible for the irregularities. He further informed that he had not received the court orders and once he gets the order he would stringently mount surveillance on the implementing authority to get the implementation done.
The DHO, Ramakrishna Rao admitted that stipend from two months has not been credited as government failed to release the fund in time. In other words, the DHO contradicted the DC who said there was delay in paying only February’s stipend. The DHO informed that though the department sent letters to release the funds to the Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department the matter was not pursued till date. Rao hoped government would discharge funds shortly.
