Jammu: The long-pending demand for compensation, medical care and rehabilitation of children left permanently disabled after consuming contaminated cough syrup in Ramnagar, Udhampur, has received a fresh push with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directing the J&K Government to enquire into the matter and submit an Action Taken Report within four weeks.
The intervention follows a complaint pursued by Jammu-based social activist Sukesh C. Khajuria, who has been persistently seeking justice, compensation and rehabilitation for four surviving children whose lives were reportedly devastated after consuming Cold Best-PC cough syrup during the 2019-20 tragedy.
The syrup was manufactured by M/s Digital Vision, Kala Amb, Himachal Pradesh, while a laboratory report cited in the case detected 34.24 per cent Diethylene Glycol (DEG) in a sample.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 12 children, for whose next of kin the NHRC had earlier recommended relief of Rs 3 lakh each. The J&K Government subsequently paid Rs 36 lakh to the families of the deceased children.
Khajuria, however, has continued to raise the plight of the survivors, demanding adequate compensation, sustained medical treatment, rehabilitation and accountability for regulatory lapses.
The latest NHRC direction has once again brought the suffering of the surviving children and their families into sharp focus.