Endosulfan: HC assured of real victims’ list

The State government on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that the Kasaragod District Collector had already initiated steps for identifying the real victims of endosulfan and excluding the ineligible persons included on the list of beneficiaries of a compensation scheme meant for the victims.

The government said it had directed the Collector to revamp the existing list on the basis of the guidelines laid down for the preparation of the list of beneficiaries. Besides, an expert medical panel had also been constituted to identify the beneficiaries.

The panel of doctors was constituted following a large number of applications seeking to include them on the beneficiary list of endosulfan victims. That apart, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had found that several ineligible persons had been included on the list of beneficiaries.

The statement was filed in response to a petition filed by social activist Gangadharan Nair seeking a directive to revise the beneficiary list of persons eligible for compensation given to endosulfan victims in Kasaragod district.