|
Bhopal:
About 3,000 cancer and kidney failure patients of the 1984 Bhopal
gas tragedy have not received the compensation amount directed by
the central government, survivors said Thursday.
At a press conference by four organisations working among the
survivors of the Bhopal disaster, several survivors diagnosed with
cancer and kidney failure complained that they had still not
received the ex-gratia amount of Rs.2 lakh announced by the
central government.
As per the March 2011 decision of the Group of Ministers on
Bhopal, these payments are to be made before June 2011.
Relatives of some patients said their application for payment of
ex-gratia was not heeded and that the patients died before they
could get the money for treatment.
The families of survivors said they had to take loans to meet the
expenses of treatment.
Shaheen, whose mother Sitara Bee, died of lung cancer last month
said they received no response to their application for ex-gratia
amount which they had submitted to the office of the Welfare
Commissioner on Jan 13 this year.
Sazid Ali said his father, a cancer patient, had applied for ex-gratia
relief on Dec 16, 2010, but he did not get a reply till his death
last month.
Relatives of Irfan, who died at age 34 of blood cancer in January,
and Guddo Bee who died at the age of 35 of liver cancer in
February this year, are yet to get any response from the welfare
commissioner, Bhopal, to their applications for interim relief.
Rashid Khan, who has been diagnosed with throat cancer and is no
longer able to work, applied for ex-gratia relief Dec 21 last year
and is still waiting to receive the amount that he can use for his
treatment.
Afroz Bee was diagnosed with breast cancer and applied for ex-gratia
relief in January this year, and is still awaiting a response.
Sameena, 30, and Chhotu Khurani, 33, whose families have spent all
their savings in their treatment for chronic renal failure have
received no ex-gratia amount despite submitting applications at
the welfare commissioner's office in March and April this year.
"What good will the money do after the patient has died?" asked
Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari
Sangh. She stated that while an estimated 3,000 gas disaster
survivors diagnosed with cancer and renal failure were to be paid
ex-gratia amounts, not a single patient has received any money so
far.
"In 2010, four such patients have succumbed to fatal diseases and
now it seems impossible that these people would be able to get
their compensation till June," apprehended Rachna Dinghra of
Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
|
Comments
|
Quick links