Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim has asked family members of endosulfan victims to form a society that can manage a permanent rehabilitation centre for the victims.
Responding to the demand for a permanent centre for victims at a meeting here on Wednesday, Mr. Ibrahim said such a centre should be run by a responsible institution that could take care of victims from different age groups. “You (family members) are in a better position to manage it. Why not form a society of parents of victims to manage it,” Mr. Ibrahim said. The government will provide all the necessary assistance to manage the centre, he said.
Peer Mohammed, who has been fighting for the cause of victims and their family members, said parents like Sunanda Poojary from Puttur taluk, whose three children are endosulfan victims, were concerned over who would take care of their children after her death. He said parents were ready to work for the care of victims. Some of them were cooking and managing other tasks at the two day care centres in Belthangady taluk, he said.
Mr. Ibrahim expressed his anguish over the reluctance of doctors from primary health centres to visit bed-ridden victims. Medical Officer Arun Kumar S.B, who is coordinating endosulfan victims welfare activities, said 180 victims were confined to the bed. Dr. Kumar said despite directions by the District Health Officer, there had not been much compliance in visiting the houses of such victims.
Taking a stern view of non-compliance, Mr. Ibrahim directed that each doctor should visit bed-ridden victims once a week. “This is mandatory. These victims need attention as mobile clinics do not come to these places,” he said. He has sought a report from the District Health Officer on status of house patients in seven days.
Epidemiological study
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has asked the K.S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA) to submit a proposal for epidemiological study of endosulfan and its affects in Dakshina Kannada.
In a meeting held on Wednesday, a representative from KSHEMA said they had made a presentation before the ICMR in New Delhi for study of genetic impact of the pesticide. “But now they have asked us to first do an epidemiological study about endosulfan in the district. We accordingly submitted a fresh proposal 15 days ago,” the representative said.
Medical Officer Arun Kumar S.B said epidemiological study had been done by Kasturba Medical College in 2008 on endosulfan in Kokkada and Koila villages in Puttur Taluk.
It was in 2013 that the State government asked the ICMR to study, among others, the co-relation between endosulfan and deformity at birth noticed among children born in the areas where this pesticide had been sprayed.