Skip to main content

Demand from Gujarat Govt to support silicosis patients continuously on oxygen

By A Representative
Senior health rights activist Jagdish Patel, who heads People's Training and Research Centre (PTRC), Vadodara, has asked the the Government of Gujarat to urgently arrange for oxygen concentrator for patients like Sikandar alias Ratan, suffering from silicosis since 2013. At the age of 33 Sikandar began working as agate polisher on a vertical wheel machine known as patiya, used to make round beads.
Patel in a statement said, since 2013 Sikandar got sick and had to leave the job. He did not know anything on his right to claim compensation for silicosis and has not filed any compensation claim under the Employees Compensation Act. He is now completely bedridden. He needs to be on oxygen all 24 hours, even in the toilet.
Every third day, says Patel, someone from the family has to travel in autorikshaw to Anand, the district headquarter from his village Mamhmmadpura. Married with two children, he is landless, and his daily expenses of treatment are around Rs 250 which his family cannot afford. His elder brother, a construction worker, said they have to borrow money and pay interest.
Pointing out that two of his colleagues from his village have already died of silicosis, Patel Adda, since 2013 he has taken TB medicines several times and has continued to be on AKT.

Comments

TRENDING

Retired civil servants slam CJI’s remarks on environmental litigants

By A Representative   An open letter issued on May 22, 2026, by the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), comprising 71 retired civil servants from the All India and Central Services, has strongly criticized recent remarks made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) against environmental litigants. 

The farmer's burden: How oil, war, and climate are rewriting the price of food

By Vikas Meshram   The scorching flames of the Middle East conflict are now slowly reaching the kitchens of ordinary people. The true price of this war is paid in daily markets, vegetable shops, and in the shattered minds of farmers. Expensive crude oil, skyrocketing fertilizer prices, and rising agricultural costs are together creating the conditions for global food inflation — and this crisis is directly tied to what people eat and drink every day.

Economic nationalism under strain as Indian corporates turn to America

By Sandeep Pandey*  U.S. federal prosecutors withdrew a criminal case involving allegations that Gautam Adani had bribed officials in India to secure solar energy projects, stating that they lacked sufficient evidence. Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani also settled a civil fraud case with the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a fine of around ₹180 crore without admitting wrongdoing. In addition, Adani Enterprises reportedly deposited around ₹2,750 crore into the U.S. Treasury to resolve allegations that it had violated U.S. sanctions on Iran through purchases of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).