What have the two main political parties done for the Bhopal Gas Victims in the last 29 years?
|
BJP Government |
Congress Government |
|
Compensation for Gas Victims |
|
| Empty promise of providing each gas victims with compensation of Rs 5 lakh | Colluded with Union Carbide and entered into a paltry settlement |
| Downplaying of injuries caused by the gas disaster | Downplaying of injuries caused by the gas disaster. |
|
Compensation for people affected by ground water contamination |
|
| Downplaying the extent of contamination of soil and ground water caused by Union Carbide’s hazardous waste | Downplaying the extent of contamination of soil and ground water caused by Union Carbide’s hazardous waste |
| No health monitoring for people affected by ground water contamination | No health monitoring for people affected by ground water contamination |
|
Medical Care for Gas Victims |
|
| No Treatment Protocol implemented for gas victims | Treatment Protocol for only one lung problem |
| Non implementation of recommendations of Monitoring Committee to improve Medical Care of Gas Victims | Non implementation of recommendations of Advisory Committee to improve Medical Care of Gas Victims |
|
Support to Union Carbide or Dow Chemical Company |
|
| Tried Diluting criminal charges against Anderson | Escorted Anderson out of Bhopal and let him go |
| Arun Jaitely gave legal opinion absolving Dow Chemical of its legal liability | Abhishek Manu Singhvi gave legal opinion absolving Dow Chemical of its legal liability |
|
Jobs for Gas Victims |
|
| Corruption and inefficiency in providing jobs to gas victims | No monitoring of utilization of funds allocated for providing jobs to gas victims |
| Opposed formation of Empowered Commission on Bhopal | Approved Empowered Commission on Bhopal for rehabilitation of gas victims |
|
Clean up of Toxic Waste |
|
| Despite evidence of severe contamination no action on comprehensive scientific assessment | Despite evidence of severe contamination no action on comprehensive scientific assessment |
| First opposed Incineration of toxic waste at Pithampur and now has shown willingness to incinerate it in December | Pushed for incineration of 350MT of toxic waste in unsafe facility in Pithampur |
Press Statement From The Five Survivors’ Groups.
Press Conference
November 13, 2013
At a press conference today, five organizations working among the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster, launched their campaign to educate the gas- affected voters in the city about the NOTA option of rejecting all candidates in the forthcoming elections.
Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh said that the two principal parties, BJP and Congress have equally denied the gas victims their legal rights to adequate compensation and both have provided support to the offending multinationals – Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.
President of Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Balkrishna Namdeo said that the BJP and the Congress have mainly been in power at the state and the centre in the last nearly three decades. The forthcoming elections are an opportunity for the over 8 hundred thousand voters from gas affected families to oppose the betrayal by both these political parties.
Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that in the light of documentary evidence of harm caused to the interests of the gas affected people by both the political parties, the NOTA option was best suited for the gas affected people.
“We will distribute pamphlets, address public meetings and present the charges against the governments under both the parties and tell our people about the NOTA option” said Nawab Khan, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha.
Safreen Khan of Children Against Dow Carbide said that many second generation survivors are angry at the treatment meted out to their families by governments run by both the parties. “It is indeed sad and telling that our first step in to democracy is the NOTA button.” she said
