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Rs.8cr spent on ICMR; not a single research on Bhopal gas victims
Thursday January 24, 2013 10:09:59 PM,
Pervez Bari, ummid.com
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Bhopal: Addressing a press
conference the representatives of five organizations working among
the survivors of the Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, world's
worst industrial catastrophe, condemned the National Institute for
Research on Environmental Health, (NIREH), for betraying the
promises made during its founding in October 2010.
The organizations said that NIREH was established as the 31st
centre of the Indian Council of Medical Research, (ICMR), on 11th
October 2010 with the primary objective of carrying out research
that would benefit the survivors of the disaster who are still
battling chronic illnesses. They said that despite the passage of
more than two years, the centre has published only a manual for
treatment of mental illnesses and less than two hundred survivors
have received help in treatment for chronic respiratory diseases
and eye problems.
Based on the documents obtained through the RTI Act the
organizations said that NIREH has spent more than Rs.8/- crores in
the last two years and has imported close to 30 equipments from
USA, Germany, Japan and other countries. However, only two of
these equipments have been put to use so far.
The organizations said that of the five Bhopal based consultants
employed by NIREH, three have full time jobs. In addition to their
salaries for their full time jobs these three have been drawing
Rs.40,000/- per month from NIREH as part time consultants.
Interestingly, their duty hours at their places of fulltime
employment overlap their duty hours as part time consultants at
NIREH.
The organizations charged that the majority of the consultants do
not have the required qualifications to carry out the research
projects proposed by them and none have published any papers on
the topics proposed by them.
One of the consultants –Dr. Brajendra Mishra who is supposed to be
the Principal Investigator for a project to set up a registry on
birth defects has never worked on the subject and there is proof
that that parts of his research proposal at NIREH has been
plagiarized from publications available on the internet. Moreover,
in a clear demonstration of conflict of interest his Rs.3 crores
project proposes providing treatment to children with birth
defects at the Chirayu Hospital whereas he is a professor of
community medicine in the medical college run by the same
establishment.
Another consultant Dr. Arun Bhatnagar who is the Principal
Investigator of a study on birth defects is according to his own
website (http://www.cosmeticandplasticsurgerybhopal.com/) is a
specialist in "cosmetic and plastic surgery and performs face
lifts, implants, fat injections, breast and other surgeries". He
has no published study on birth defects and his Rs.1 crore project
is awaiting approval by ICMR.
The organizations said that except the manual on mental health
care there has been no publication by the NIREH in the last more
than two years. The technical report on long term epidemiological
study from 1995 to 2010 has been revised four times but remains at
the draft stage. A quarterly bulletin in Hindi proposed in
September 2011 remains to see the light of the day.
The Press conference was addressed by the representatives of the
five NGOs namely Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karamchari
Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal
Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Children
Against Dow-Carbide and Bhopal Group for Information & Action.
It may be recalled here that on the intervening night of December
2-3, 1984 Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing factory had spewed
poisonous Methyl Iso-cyanate gas whereby 3000 people had perished
virtually instantly and over the years more than 25000 have kissed
death and the sad saga is still continuing uninterruptedly. About
half a million are suffering from the side effects of the
poisonous gas and several thousand people have been maimed for
life.
(pervezbari@eth.net)
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