KASARGOD: It was reported that only 8 out of 3718 endosulfan victims had received the compensation of Rs 5 lakh from the Kasargod Collectorate, despite the government sanctioning Rs 200 crore. On Friday, Rs 5 lakh each was transferred to the accounts of 450 people at lightning speed. The action was taken following the Kerala Kaumudi report.
A total of Rs 9.3 crores have reached the accounts of these people. An intense campaign has been launched to transfer the money to a thousand victims over the next five days. Though today is a second Saturday, the staff at the endosulfan cell will be on duty. `Things moved at lightning speed after Kerala Kaumudi published a report yesterday stating that the District Collectorate officials were yet to pay the compensation of Rs 200 crore to Endosulfan victims sanctioned by the government.
The action was taken at the Kasargod Collectorate yesterday on a war footing after the Chief Minister's Office and Local Self Government Minister MV Govindan intervened and issued a stern order for immediate compensation to all those eligible. At a meeting of district collectors convened by the chief minister, the chief minister had asked ADM AK Ramendran, the acting district collector of Kasargod, for details of the payments and the rest who are yet to receive compensation.
District Collector Bhandari Swagat Ranveerchand, who is on leave, directed the ADM to take immediate action. Sasidharan Pillai, who took over as deputy collector of the endosulfan cell two days ago, stepped up the efforts.
The endosulfan cell was in a state of disarray after the deputy collector was suspended in connection with a vigilance corruption case. Victims and NGOs had alleged that the authorities used to mistreat those who came to the cell with complaints.
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