Kendrapara: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought for detailed reports from the Centre and Odisha government on snakebite deaths, preventive measures and provision of compensation to the victims’ families.
The NHRC passed the order October 11 while acting on a petition filed by civil rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy. The commission sought the report from the Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, the Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Odisha, and the District Collectors of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Boudh and Bhadrak.
The petitioner has drawn the attention of the NHRC on the death of about 58,000 innocent people every year due to snakebite across the country. Citing incidents of negligence of the education department and district administration of Keonjhar, three students died after a venomous snake bit them while they were sleeping inside a coaching centre in Nischintapur area July 22.
Tripathy quoted various instances of snakebite in Mayurbhanj, Boudh and Bhadrak, Bolangir and other areas in Odisha. He claimed that among the disaster casualties in state, snakebite deaths alone accounted for more than 40 per cent of the total disaster deaths.
The snakebite death cases in Odisha, he said, have doubled to 1,159 in 2021 from 522 in 2015 especially due to shortage of antisnake venom stocks in the government-run-health facilities even in the state-run SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
The AVS is also not easily available in the open market in Odisha, he said and pointed out that an average of 58,000 deaths occurred per year in the country due to snakebite, of which 70 per cent are reported in low-altitude areas of nine states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Tripathy requested the NHRC for payment of compensation and benefits under the social welfare schemes to the next of kin of the deceased, action against the officials for their lapses who failed to ensure safety and security of the students in the coaching centers and adequate availability of the antisnake venom in the hospitals.
He further requested the NHRC to direct the authorities concerned for maintenance of a comprehensive national data of snakebite cases, to make more search on this issue and designate the snakebite as a ‘Notifiable Disease’ within the ‘Integrated Disease Surveillance Program’ and to get a permanent solution.
In response, the Bolangir District Magistrate informed that the ‘Danda’ dance artist late Nakula Bariha of Putisbahal village of Bolangir district died due to snakebite July 16 and the payment of compensation of `4 lakh has been made. The NHRC asked the authorities to submit an action taken report (ATR) to the commission within eight weeks latest by December 16 for further consideration by the commission.
Earlier the NHRC had sought for ATR from the authorities to ensure needful action and submit an ATR to the commission within six weeks, but no detailed response so far has been received by the NHRC.
PNN