After keeping the 6,603 endosulfan survivors waiting for seven months, the LDF government in Kerala has given administrative sanction to release Rs 11 crore to clear their pension arrears since April.
“We got the order from the Department of Social Justice today (November 2),” said an official of Kerala Social Security Mission (KSSM) in Thiruvananthapuram. “But it may take at least three days for us to get the money, depending on the availability of funds, and another seven days for the beneficiaries to get the pension in their bank accounts,” he told Onmanorama.
Back in Kasaragod, endosulfan-affected families said it was their longest wait for the monthly pension. “We did not get pension even during Onam when the government dolled out allowances to almost all people in the state,” said Rasiya K (50), a resident of Kalichanadukam, 16km from Nileshwar town.
Her two endosulfan-affected children — a 26-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter — are blind, paralysed waist down, and are dependent on her.
“With these two children at home, I cannot go out and work. Their pension is my only income,” said Rasiya. The delay in pension is causing unmitigated hardship and humiliation to the affected families.
Manjula P (36), a resident of Badiadka grama panchayat, is blind and dependent on her sons, aged 14 and 12 years, to take her around. After the government started delaying the monthly pension of Rs 2,200, she was forced to give up her rented house near her sons’ school at Ukkinadka and move in with her mother Lalitha (59) in Badiadka. (The rent was Rs 2,500.)
Earlier, her sons in classes IX and VI could go to and return from school in a line bus for Rs 8. Now, they need Rs 20 each as bus fare. Their grandmother Lalitha, who works in private arecanut plantations, gives them the money. “My little one tells me his friends get pocket money to buy sweets. I tell him to be grateful for getting the bus fare to go to school,” says Manjula.
Her husband abandoned her when her eyesight started deteriorating. Now, she feels the government has also abandoned her.
The last time the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government gave pensions to endosulfan-affected families was in March. “Then we got three months’ pension together. After that, whenever we inquire with the endosulfan cell, the officials say the government does not have money,” said Naseem Sheikh (38), mother of two ailing children in Badiadka.
The Special Cell For Rehabilitation of Endosulfan Victims is the government’s agency reviewing and coordinating the rehabilitation work and has people’s representatives, officials, survivors, and activists as members. Minister for Tourism and Public Works P A Mohammed Riyas is the chairman of the cell. “The cell has not met for the past eight months because Riyas does not have time,” said activist Ambalathara Kunhikrishnan.
Naseem’s 20-year-old son, an undergraduate in computer application, was diagnosed with astrocytoma, a brain tumour, and underwent neurosurgery at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram. “He used to collapse every five minutes. After surgery, the frequency has reduced to once in a week or so,” she said. The government has identified him as an endosulfan patient and gives him a monthly pension of Rs 1,200.
Naseem’s daughter (17), a bright class XII student, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis when she was four years old. The tissues in the lungs get thick and stiff, making breathing difficult.
Every month, Naseem takes her daughter to a private hospital in Mangaluru for treatment and has an expense of Rs 4,000. The daughter gets no assistance from the government. “With all these difficulties, we don’t ask for money from others. We depend on the government,” said Naseem.
The pension may appear less to others but it is a relief to the affected families, said Vineetha, a resident of Periyattadukkam near Periya. Her only child is diagnosed with an intellectual disability and identified as an endosulfan-affected patient. Every month, she has to take the boy to the neurologist in a private hospital in Kasaragod, 16 km away. “He has hyperactivity disorder and cannot travel on the bus. The autorickshaw charges Rs 900 and the consultation fee is Rs 520,” she said. “I wish the government was regular with disbursing the pension. It is a solace,” said Vineetha, whose son is entitled to get Rs 1,700 per month.
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