Silicosis patients find themselves out of govt portal

However, recently, when Lal tried to register on Rajasthan’s silicosis portal with his Aadhaar number, his application was ‘rejected’. The reason cited was ‘symptoms not found, rejected at appointment level’. Lal said he was never called for any appointment or put through any medical tests apart from the ones in 2016, following which he got his silicosis certificate.

“I have been suffering since 2016 and have breathing problems. How can I not have symptoms if tested?” said Lal, a resident of Bicchudra village in Bhilwara district.

The Rajasthan government silicosis portal data shows a high rejection rate of applications. According to the data, 66.2 per cent of the total 1.74 lakh applications are rejected, with only 14.4 per cent (28,478) actually getting certificates.

Activists say that inconsistencies and lack of streamlining and coordination at various levels of the government while adding silicosis patients with physical certificates to the online database, mean there are many like Lal. Many are attending the ongoing Jawabdehi Dharna in Jaipur.

After he was certified as a silicosis patient in 2016, Lal received Rs 1 lakh as compensation under the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government. The current Ashok Gehlot government has enhanced relief for silicosis patients, which Lal says he has not received.

Sardar Singh, Misri Singh, Prabhu Singh and Vijay Singh, of Bhilwara district, also said their applications had been rejected despite them holding certificates dating back five-six years identifying them as silicosis patients. “We were never told that we had to appear before a medical board (for recertification),” said Misri Singh.

Activist Nikhil Dey from the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan said the government should have ensured that when the silicosis patient database was made online, data of the existing patients was automatically uploaded.

“When a silicosis patient gets rejected, then complains and still gets rejected, it’s almost like the end of the road for the person,” said Dey, questioning the logic of calling a person for a re-test if he had been certified as a patient of silicosis already, considering it is an incurable disease.

In 2019, the Congress government had launched its silicosis policy, raising one-time assistance to affected persons who have certification from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, apart from Rs 2 lakh as compensation to next of kin in case of death, and monthly pension of Rs 1,500.

Labourers such as Misri Singh added that they never received the monthly pension of Rs. 1,500 from the state government.

In reply to a Lok Sabha question in March 2020, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had said that Rajasthan topped states with silicosis cases between 2015 and 2019.

Gajanand Sharma, Commissioner and Secretary to Government, Disabilities, told The Indian Express that if people have been left out, they would look into the same. “We have put the entire database online and it is an automatic process. If there are any offline cases, the person will also get relief on applying online… It has also been seen that many people don’t submit needed documents on time.”