MANGALORE: The Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has washed its hands off the endosulfan issue by shifting the onus of compensating and providing medical treatment to thousands of victims of endosulfan poisoning in Dakshina Kannada district to the Deputy Commissioner and State Government.Disposing the case, KSHRC chairperson Justice S R Nayak appeared pleased with the steps initiated to rehabilitate victims of endosulfan poisoning and sought an action taken report (ATR) from the district administration and chief secretary. It was in January this year the commission first took cognisance of violation of rights of endosulfan sufferers based on a written complaint from Human Rights Federation of India president Balakrishna Rai. Based on a series of media reports highlighting the suffering of people bed-ridden with a range of abnormalities induced from suspected poisoning of endosulfan, KSHRC slapped notices on the chief secretary and DK deputy commissioner. The report also revealed that Rs. 1.04 crore was disbursed as compensation to sufferers and Rs. 25 lakh had been spent on building a day care centre for endosulfan sufferers in Kokkoda village. Disposing the case, the commission observed that no further intervention was necessary as issues were before the National Human Rights Commission, High Court and Supreme Court. Endosulfan Virodhi Horata Samithi president Sridhar Gowda Kengudelu was unable to contain his disappointment and said the verdict would have been different if the SHRC chairman had taken some time to visit the villages hit by aerial spraying of endosulfan.
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