Thiruvananthapuram: The functioning of the Justice Siri Jagan Committee, constituted by the Supreme Court to examine compensation claims of victims of stray dog attacks, has come to a halt.
While the term of the incumbent Secretary got expired in December 2022, no new appointment has been made so far. Besides, the State Government is also not extending any financial assistance for its functioning.
Justice Siri Jagan told Manorama Online that though he wrote a letter in January requesting the Government to make a new appointment to the Secretary post, he received no reply. The authorities also didn’t consider his plea for appointing a Confidential Assistant.
Without the Secretary and the Confidential Assistant, the committee is not in a position to take action on complaints reaching its office.
Until now, the three-member committee received 5700 applications, of which 818 cases were examined. The compensation was determined in 749 cases and handed over to the Government for further action. It’s the local-self institutions that have to disburse the amount.
Justice Siri Jagan was forced to spend Rs 1.5 lakh out of his pocket for issuing notices to the local bodies and the Government.
Upon receiving a complaint, notices will be first issued to the complainant and the concerned local-self institution. Another notice will be issued after deciding the date of the sitting. It would cost Rs 180 to send notices in a single complaint. The district-level sittings couldn’t be conducted since 2022 due to the non-availability of funds and non-provision of travelling allowance, dearness allowance, and the money for officials’ stay in the guest house. It’s the local-self bodies that should provide the funds for the functioning of the committee.
Presently, only a clerk and a peon are there in the committee office, functioning out of the Corporation building here, besides Justice Siri Jagan. The committee has demanded the appointment of more persons for its effective functioning.
The complainants were earlier asked to reach its office as the committee members couldn’t visit the various districts due to fund shortage. However, with a severe shortage of staff at its office, even this couldn’t be done now.
The committee headed by Justice Siri Jagan has the Health Service Director and Law Secretary as its members.
There is no drop in dog bite incidents in the state. On Sunday night, a speech-impaired boy was mauled to death by stray dogs at Muzhappilangad in Kannur. Eleven-year-old Nihal had gone missing since 5 pm and was later found unconscious in a vacant lot with bite marks on his lower body. Though he was rushed to hospital, doctors declared him brought dead.
