Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas’ remarks here on Monday that an expert enquiry committee had not attributed any death from mysterious illnesses here to the aerial spraying of Endosulfan on the cashew estates of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala had invited widespread resentment here with Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers burning him in effigy.
Anti-Endosulfan Campaign Committee chairman Narayanan Periya decried the Minister’s statement saying that when around 70 nations had banned the use of the deadly pesticide why India did not oppose it at a recently held international meeting in Geneva. It was unfortunate that the Minister had relied on the report of the expert committee.
M.A. Rahman, convenor of the campaign committee, said the Minister’s statement that it was not yet clear whether the aerial spraying of the banned pesticide actually caused the lifelong ordeal for hundreds of suspected victims of the pesticide was a shame on Indians.
Mr. Rahman said the committee was in the process of evolving strategies to intensify its agitation to get the pesticide banned.