THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 5,000 endosulfan victims in Kasaragod district do not find a place in the government’s priority list for Onam benefits. The monthly payment due to the victims and their caretakers have been pending since April.
“This is for the first time that we are denied pension during Onam. In the previous years, the arrears since April were paid ahead of Onam,” said Chandravathi, the mother of a 20-year-old woman victim living at Pakkam near Kanhangad. Her daughter is mentally retarded and suffers from occasional seizures. Her husband is a daily wager and the couple’s other daughter is a college student. This Onam, the family does not have any celebration except for Onakkodi for the children, she said. “Six families in our neighbourhood got `2000 each from a kind-hearted NRK. I spent it on buying clothes for children and some groceries,” she said.
This year, Kerala Government spent a whopping Rs 18,000 crore as allowances and welfare activities as part of Onam. “The minister told us that the arrears could not be paid this time due to the government’s financial crisis. I wonder why our children do not fall on their priority list. Women like me who have sick children cannot go for any job. Parents of female children have to take extra care,” Chandravathi said.
Manjula, 36, a blind woman hailing from Bedadka, is a beneficiary of the “Snehasanthwanam” scheme for endosulfan victims. Her husband abandoned her and she has to take care of her boys studying in classes VI and IX. “Government’s assistance, `2,200 a month, is the only income I have. My mother, a daily wager, meets expenses in addition to that,” she says. The default in payment has worsened the family’s plight. Manjula said Onam will be just another day for her children.
“I cannot afford to give them a sadya or onakkodi. Festivals are beautiful celebrations only when you have money,” she said. Manjula is among the victims who were selected for a free housing project by an NGO. Though the construction is complete, the government is yet to provide promised free power connection.
Social activist Ambalathara Kunhikrishnan said endosulfan victims deserved better care from the government.
“It is high time the government paid the monthly assistance without delay. Most families are heavily dependent on the income though it may appear to be a small amount. In many areas, the government’s scheme for supply of free medicines has stopped. Most of the beneficiaries suffer from serious diseases like cancer,” he said.