Kerala seeks Rs 100 crore for endosulfan victims

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government has decided to seek a special assistance of Rs 100 crore from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation of endosulfan victims, Chief Minister V S Achuthana
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government has decided to seek a special assistance of Rs 100 crore from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation of endosulfan victims, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said here today after a meeting of the state cabinet.

An all-party delegation from the state will soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up this and other demands on the issue including a nationwide ban on manufacture and sale of the pesticide, whose use resulted in human casualties and serious health problems to people in parts of the state like Kasargode district.

The cabinet also approved the comprehensive relief package for the affected families, worked out at a high level meeting of ministers, officials and people's representatives held here yesterday. The state government would be setting up a special relief fund exclusively for this purpose.

The package included enhancement of pension and relief payments, supply of rice at the nominal rate of Rs 2 per Kg, debt relief measures and improvement of medical care for the victims and their families. The package would bring immediate relief to 486 families that had been suffering from serious problems like malgrowth, mental retardation and physical disabilities for being exposed to the pesticide.

Several studies had pointed out that the situation was caused by aerial spraying of endosulfan in state-owned cashew estates in Kasargode district. Kerala had banned sale of endosulfan in any form or brand and has been campaigning for a nationwide ban of the pesticide.

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