The trade unions across the world on Tuesday alleged that both Government of India (GoI) and Madhya Pradesh Government have unambiguously failed to enforce accountability of UCC and DCC, ensure rehabilitation and compensation of the victims and has over the thirty years overtly and covertly allowed UCC and DCC to evade the law.
The Government has even failed its responsibility to its citizens to ensure compensation to the victims as identified by its own agencies.
The organisations include AICCTU, IFTU, NTUI and TUCI.
They said the ‘Bhopal Gas Tragedy’ should have served as a portentous warning to the Government. And yet for the ‘ease of business’, including that of global corporations, the BJP Government was set on raising the ceiling for registration under the Factories Act by amending section 2(h). Furthermore, amendments to the Factories Act increasing the number of hours of permissible overtime are bound to create more industrial accidents.
The trade unions have come together to join in solidarity with all organisations in their continuing struggle for justice and dignity and to hold Dow Chemical accountable and demanding that the Government of India to Constitute a Special Commission on Bhopal, undertake punitive action against Dow Chemical to ensure accountability, liability and responsibility for Cleaning up abandoned plant site at Bhopal; Immediate payment of interim additional compensation according to international standards to all affected persons as per official records, Pursue the Curative Petition before the Supreme Court with diligence in consonance with the justifiable demands for compensation made by the organisations of the affected people and ensure from its side that there are no further delays in brining the petition to its conclusion.
The intervening night of December 2 and 3 will mark the thirty-year of the Bhopal gas tragedy, that killed, over 22,000 and exposed about 5,70,000 people to damaging levels of the toxic gas, that resulted in serious health problems, including genetic mutation of thousands of unborn children.
The abandoned factory site continues to threaten the health of the thousands living near. And those affected by the gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) Bhopal gas plant still await justice.