CITU State secretariat has called for protests against the stand of the Central government on endosulfan.
In a resolution adopted at its meeting here, the CITU said that the Central government was adopting an anti-people stand on the issue.
Hundreds of people had died and thousands suffer from serious illnesses caused by endosulfan. Many of the problems would be affecting the next generation. However, the Centre had adopted an inhuman attitude though the issues had come to its notice by many memoranda, applications and requests.
However, the Union government had stated in the Court that endosulfan was not a harmful pesticide. This was to protect the interests of endosulfan manufacturers, and amounted to cruelty against the people. India had withdrawn from supporting use of endosulfan under national and international pressure at the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Now it was adopting a contrary stand stating that the health effects of endosulfan had not been proved.
The resolution said that 14 of the 16 studies on the subject had held that endosulfan was dangerous. Studies had shown that the pesticide was the cause of suffering of people in 11 villages of Kasaragod district.
In another resolution, the secretariat said that the Kerala government was harassing leaders of labour unions by transferring them. The government should come forward to discuss the issue with the unions and redress their complaints.
It said that five office bearers of two unions in the Kerala Financial Corporation were under suspension. General secretary of the Headload Workers Welfare Fund Employees Union Murukan and vice president Mini and general secretary of the Forest Development Corporation Employees Union G. K. Radhakrishnan had been transferred.
It decided to organise protests against attack on trade union leaders and workers in West Bengal and provide financial aid to the victims.
