I think, you will find it interesting. ----- Original Message ----- From: Blind Persons' Association To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 11:44 PM Subject: BPA Marches for Victims of Bhopal Gas Disaster.
Today members of Blind Persons' Association organised a rally in Kolkata demanding adequate compensation for the victims of the notorious Bhopal gas tragedy and exemplary punishment of the responsible officials of the Union Carbide India Ltd. A four-point charter of demands was submitted to the Prime Minister (through the Governor of West Bengal). It is obvious from various reports that the interests of the persons who have suffered disability in the outcome of the Bhopal gas tragedy are being overlooked. It is a matter of shame that the accident could have been prevented if sufficient precautionary measures were adopted. It is evident from recent news that the authorities were warned of potential danger shortly before the mishap. Responsible officials should have been tried in the court on charges of crime. Instead perpetrators of the crime have emerged almost unscathed after the twenty-six year trial. Their irresponsible act has killed thousands of people and inflicted permanent disability on many more. But they have received negligible punishment on account of light charge brought by the then authorities. We also note that victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have not received adequate medical treatment. Many of them have become permanently disabled. Children born of those victims are also disabled in many instances. Their would-be offsprings may not escape this curse as well. The site of the gas accident is still carrying lethal effects of the toxic chemicals. The meager compensation meted out to those disabled is being paid out of the public exchequer. The compensation should have been exacted from the responsible company, M/s Union Carbide India Ltd, as punitive damages. Exemplary physical punishment and compensation could have warned the companies against industrial hazards. The government has done little to prevent disability in course of sixty years of independence except a few sonorous announcements. S25 in the Persons With Disabilities act, 1995 provides for steps to be taken by appropriate governments for prevention of disabilities. If factories are allowed license indiscriminately without any regard to safety system, number of disabled persons will go on increasing. The call of the protest rally was loud and clear; if people unite in support of the victims, the government will take care of the victims and punish the perpetrators. The demands of the organisation include: 1.. Steps must be taken for proper medical treatment of all victims suffering from any form of disability directly or indirectly on account of the accident. 2.. A comprehensive rehabilitation scheme must be announced for placing the disabled victims in lucrative employment. 3.. Adequate compensation package must be announced for the victims and for families of death victims, taking into account the nature of disability as applicable, the sum of money they could have earned if there had been no such disaster, and the highest-possible sum of money the company M/s Union Carbide India Ltd can be forced to pay as actual and punitive damages. 4.. The neighbouring locality of the ill-fated factory must be freed of all detrimental and damaging effects at the cost of company. . This email is sent to you because your email address are on our mailing list. If you do not wish to receive news message from us, please let us know by email or in any other form. We, however, wish you to forward our news message to your friends. Blind Persons' Association 10/2, Samsul Huda Road, Kolkata - 700017 Tel. : (033) 22903379, 24377206 Email : bpain...@gmail.com bpain...@vsnl.com Web : www.bpa.org.in Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
