DYFI state secretary T V Rajesh has said that the DYFI will file a counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court against the Central Government’s affidavit that endosulfan can be sold all over the country except in Kerala and Karnataka.
The Central Government’s Agricultural Ministry director Vandana Siva, in a 100-page affidavit, had said that the government should allow endosulfan to be sold, as exporting the piled up endosulfanstock was not practical. Rajesh said that the expert committee engaged by the Supreme Court had clearly found that endosulfan had toxic effects on human health and environment. The Supreme Court had also made it clear that the report was authentic and that there was no need for any further studies.
“Labelling and limiting the endosulfan issue as a regional problem and the Centre’s decision to give a clean chit to endosulfan is a violation of people’s right to live,” Rajesh said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.
He also pointed out the instance of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan publicly going against the use of endosulfan in Punjab, where the incidence of cancer is on the rise. Aamir had even requested the Prime Minister to urgently intervene in the matter. Rajesh said that until the government stops pushing people to death to appease the pesticide lobby, the DYFI would continue the legal battle.