The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed Jharkhand chief secretary to submit an action taken report over allegations of failure of the state government to pay compensation to silicosis victims, dead and alive.

The NHRC directive issued on Wednesday is based on a complaint by general secretary of a NGO Occupational Safety and Health Association of Jharkhand (OSHAJ) Samit Kumar Carr for payment of compensation as per the state government’s norms to the silicosis victims.

The directive asks the chief secretary to file the action taken report within four weeks of the receipt of the NHRC letter.

“I had submitted a list of 169 silicosis victims who had been diagnosed as suffering from silicosis and a list of 81 silicosis patients who had died. So far the government has paid compensation to the relatives of 35 patients who have died. But despite my several correspondence with the district and the state government authorities they are not paying compensation to the remaining dead patients' relatives and to the 169 victims,” said Carr.

Carr further claimed that as per the state government’s norm, there is a compensation provision of Rs 5 lakh for the family of a person who has died of silicosis and Rs 1 lakh for a silicosis patient.

“All the 288 (including those who have died) silicosis victims are from nearly 50 villages in Mosaboni block of East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and had been working in ramming mass industries engaged in production of quartz stone dust and quartz stone granules which are in turn used for refractory items, fire bricks (used in furnace relining) and insulation,” said Carr.

Silicosis is an irreversible and progressive occupational respiratory disease caused by continuous or intermittent inhalation of respirable crystalline silica dust while working in silica dust exposure of different percentages of silicon dioxide as content of dust.

Incidentally, Kunti Pator, a 55-year-old woman suffering from silicosis died on Wednesday evening while her husband Sujan Pator is also suffering from silicosis.

“Around 1,000 workers worked in different ramming industries in Mosaboni and 250 out of 1,000 workers have died of silicosis. Nearly 70 per cent of the deceased comprise tribal and 40 per cent women,” added Carr.

Incidentally, in June last week, the NHRC directed the Jharkhand chief secretary and the state health department among others for an action taken report over allegations of denial of proper medical treatment to silicosis affected workers in the East Singhbhum district.

The directive was on allegation of denial of proper medical treatment to one Jagannath Pator and Kunal Kumar Singh who are stated to be one of the silicosis affected workers from Dhalbhumgarh block of East Singhbhum district.

The complainant had also alleged of fudging of medical records by doctors of a government medical college (MGM Medical College Hospital Jamshedpur in Jharkhand) to project the victims as patients of pneumoconiosis/pulmonary kochs/occupational lung disease rather than silicosis and unwillingness on the part of doctors at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS, Ranchi) to prescribe silicosis as the disease despite evidence to that effect so as to deny them and others the benefits of the relief and rehabilitation policy of silicosis by the Jharkhand government.