A ₹ 7.5 crore proposal would be submitted to the government to establish a permanent centre for the rehabilitation of endosulfan victims in Udupi district, said Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, here on Wednesday.
Chairing a meeting on issues related to endosulfan victims at the Zilla Panchayat Hall, Mr. Madhwaraj said that five acres of land was required to establish a permanent centre for the rehabilitation of endosulfan victims.
Since the number of endosulfan victims were more in Kundapur taluk, there was a demand to establish the centre in that taluk, he said and directed the Special Tahsildar of Byndoor to identify land for the centre. He said that some schools in Byndoor education zone had over 10 acres of land. The tahsildar should identify such schools also, he added. Mr. Madhwaraj directed the officers of all departments to work in coordination with one another to provide facilities to endosulfan victims. While identifying those affected by endosulan and providing them facilities, the officers should take into account the yardstick used by officers in Dakshina Kannada district.
They should take precautions to see that no person affected by endosulfan was left out. They should do a survey of those villages that were left out in the previous survey to identify endosulfan victims. They should dispose of the applications seeking monthly pensions for endosulfan victims as soon as possible. Efforts should be made to see that these persons also got bus passes, Mr. Madhwaraj said.
Rohini, District Health and Family Welfare Officer, said that 28 screening camps were held in the district for endosulfan victims. There were 1,328 endosulfan victims in the district. But, of these, 33 had died. At present, monthly pensions were being given to 1,295 endosulfan victims, she said.
Dinakar Babu, president of the Zilla Panchayat, Sheela K. Shetty, vice-president, Priyanka Mary Francis, Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat, Shilpa Nag, Assistant Commissioner, G. Anuradha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, representatives of various voluntary organizations, were present.
