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print version(This is the official statement of the Bhopalis to the recommendations allegedly contained in the Group of Ministers’ report in India. The GoM’s report is not in the public domain yet, and whatever is being commented on is based on what is reported in media, and by inside sources. )
June 22, 2010
Press Statement
Calling the Group of Minister’s offer of compensation a smokescreen, all seven organizations for survivors’ rights have strongly condemned the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on Bhopal. The Group of Ministers pretends to offer relief and rehabilitation but the details reveal that issues of compensation, rehabilitation and corporate liability are totally ignored. The organizations said that the recommendations demonstrate more concern for the welfare of American corporations than for Bhopal survivors.
The organizations said that the compensation recommended by the Group of Ministers will go to less than 10% of people known to be exposed to Union Carbide’s toxic gases. “The GoM has based its decision on the notoriously flawed system of damage assessment that was designed to downplay and diminish the death and injury caused by Union Carbide Corporation. It has made no recommendations regarding review of death claims or registration of exposure related death claims after 1997, when such registration was arbitrarily stopped. "The GoM has denied any additional compensation to 521,000 [91%] survivors who received a paltry sum of Rs. 25, 000 for life long injuries,†said Abdul Jabbar, convenor of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan.
The Group of Ministers has gone back on its June 2008 decision to concede Bhopalis long-standing demand to set up an Empowered Commission on Bhopal to oversee rehabilitation. Instead, it proposes to transfer Rs. 720 crores to the Madhya Pradesh Government for medical, economic, social, and environmental rehabilitation. “More than Rs. 530 crores have already been spent by the M.P. Government in the name of relief and rehabilitation, and there is nothing to show for this. The Rs. 720 crores will go the same way – into the pockets of the Ministers and bureaucrats†said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action. “The Madhya Pradesh Government’s list of equipment to buy includes fictitious equipment such as ’automatic micro-organism detection instruments’ and ’identification & sensitivity of micro organism" that cost more than 35 lakhs," Dhingra added. "The Group of Ministers could just as well put the money straight into these bureaucrats’ pockets and save on overhead costs."
The organizations also expressed dismay that the GoM has failed to recommend action for extraditing the authorized representatives of Union Carbide Corporation, USA and Union Carbide Eastern, Incorporated that is now reincarnated as Union Carbide Asia Pacific and Union Carbide Asia Ltd. “As 100% percent owner of Union Carbide, USA, Dow Chemical is guilty of sheltering a fugitive from justice punishable by 3 years imprisonment under Sec 212 of the Indian Penal Code and the Group of Ministers has made no directions regarding the summons against Dow Chemical issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal District Court, on January 6, 2005,†said Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Sangharsh Morcha.
The Group of Ministers has also failed to recommend any action to make Dow Chemical pay for the clean up of the thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste and extensive damage to human health caused by contamination of ground water. “The Group of Ministers and in particular certain members of it who are known to be Dow Chemical’s agents have made appropriate noises but their money is not where their mouth is," said Safreen Khan of Children Against Dow Carbide. “It has decided to spend Rs. 300 crores of public money towards removal of toxic waste — something which is the legal responsibility of Dow Chemical." Survivors’ organizations pointed out that Dow Chemical, through its lawyer Abhishek M. Singhvi, has refused to accept jurisdiction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court for the last six years. Despite this, the Group of Ministers has not made a single recommendation towards making Dow Chemical answerable to Indian courts, even as the company continues to do business in India. “This clearly displays an intention by the government to let Dow Chemical off the hook and is just as criminal as the act of helping Anderson escape justice. It is in fact a greater crime because Dow Chemical’s ongoing environmental disaster continues to maim and kill people, including the unborn, as we speak today,†said Rashida Bi, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh.
The organizations said that the recommendations of the Group of Ministers are designed to please the US-India CEO Forum, that is meeting today in Washington, DC. Survivors’ organizations point out that the Group of Minister’s recommendation of spending money from the public exchequer to address the lingering issue of toxic contamination follows from one of the founding principles of the US-India CEO Forum that prescribes a “specific focus on resolving legacy issues such as those impacting Dow / Bhopal tragedy of 1984 … to send a strong positive signal to US investors.†(http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/USIndia.pdf)
The organizations said that the GoM’s recommendations demonstrate the failure of the media attention and public awareness to change the UPA government’s priorities of FDI over the survival of ordinary people in this country. They said that hundreds of survivors will be traveling to New Delhi tomorrow to place their concerns before the Cabinet Committee that is expected to issue directives based on the recommendations of the GoM in its meeting on June 25, 2010.
Safreen Khan
Children Against Dow-Carbide
Mob. 9826994797
Balkrishna Namdeo
Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha
Mob. 9826345423
Abdul Jabbar
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan
Mob. 9406511720
Syed M Irfan
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purusg Sangharsh Morcha
Mob. 9329026319
Rashida Bee, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh
Mob. 9425688215
ND Jayaprakash
Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti
Mob. 09968014630
Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Mob. 9826167369
