The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has decided to move the Supreme Court against the State government for not paying the compensation amount recommended by it to the victims of the banned pesticide, endosulfan.
“The Commission would be constrained to file a writ petition before the Supreme Court for getting its order implemented,” stated a recent meeting of an NHRC coram, headed by NHRC chairperson Justice K.G. Balakrishnan.
The coram has decided to write to the state government seeking an explanation within four weeks on reasons for not making the payment as recommended by the Commission.
The meeting observed that the state government had ‘not paid any reasonable amount as compensation to the persons who were affected by the use of endosulfan in Kasargod and other areas.’
A team of NHRC, headed by Justice K.G. Balakrishnan had visited the endosulfan-affected areas in Kasargod district in December 2010.
The Commission had then recommended that the state government pay at least Rs5 lakh to the relatives of the dead and to those who were fully bed-ridden or mentally retarded and Rs3 lakh to those who had suffered other disability.