NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (NHRC) CALLED FOR A NATIONWIDE BAN ON ENDOSULFAN

     The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called for a nationwide ban on "Endosulfan". India should also  agree to a global ban ,sid the Commission, which also recommended higher compensation for victims. The NHRC submitted its report on Friday, 31 st December,2020. NHRC accused the government of ignoring the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) study detailing the harmful effects of the pesticide on health and development of children in a north Kerala village. Aerial spraying of the pesticide appears to have caused neuro behavioral disorders, congenital Mal formations in girls and reproductive abnormalities in boys. Following the NIOH's 2002 study,the Kerala government had forbidden the uses of  endosulfan, but this ban has been easily circumvented.
     the Commission sent a team to Kerala for an independent investigation in November, they confirmed that medical disorders still continued in high numbers even while  the relief sanctioned by the government of Kerala has made very little impact because it is meager,irregular and sometimes siphoned off before it reaches the intended beneficiaries..
      At the International level, India  was the only nation that voted against a world wide ban on endosulfan at the last review meeting of the stockholm convention in October,2010. At that meeting the Indian government claimed that there was  no scientific basis for a ban, despite the NIOH's comprehensive study showing the endosulfan had serious and long term effects on health and  environment. Since the 2002 study, 60 other nations have banned the pesticide.
    The NHRC recommended that the government conduct a nation-wide survey of populations that have been affected by the use of endosulfan and help the state governments provide relief and long term rehabilitation, including the establishment of a  centrally sponsored palliative care hospital in Karagod district of Kerala, where at least 6,000 victims live in 11 villages.
     the state government has been asked to pay at least Rs 5 lakh to the families of the dead and severely disabled, with financial help from the center. It has been asked to ensure that the increased relief is paid regularly and completely to the victims and their families, and improve health facilities for them.

Prof.JohnKurakar