Jajpur: In a significant development, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday issued notice to the Odisha Chief Secretary over the recent deaths due to Tuberculosis in the Kaliapani area under the Jajpur district.
The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of the event following receiving a complaint from an advocate and human rights activist from Odisha and a separate complaint from rights activist Akhand.
The petitioner claimed that residents of Jajpur’s Kaliapani are ill due to their poverty, filthy lifestyle, and lack of nourishing food.
He added that because timely access to competent medical care was lacking, four people in Jajpur between 29 and 48 died of Tuberculosis. He claimed that the Health Department representatives seldom go there, which causes many of the indigenous inhabitants to suffer.
The petitioner asked the Commission to become involved with the situation.
After hearing the case, the Commission expressed its opinion that, if accurate, the news report’s claims would seriously violate the citizens’ human rights.
The Commission sent a notice to the Chief Secretary of Odisha requesting a thorough report on the situation within four weeks after taking suo motu notice of the news report.
The Commission also wanted to hear what actions/proposals the state authorities had made to address the issue.
