Probe sought in delay in forwarding compensation bill to Prez

Activists today submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde seeking an inquiry into "delay" in forwarding a Bill to President that secures compensation for victims of ecological damage caused by a soft drink company in Palakkad district
The Plachimada Coca-Cola Victims Relief and Compensation Claims Special Tribunal Bill 2011 was passed by the Kerala Assembly in 2011 to help the victims of Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district who had alleged that the Coca Cola plant had dried up their wells.
The activists led by Vilayodi Venugopal Chairman of Plachimada Anti Coca Cola Struggle Committee met Shinde and claimed that the bill was sent for Presidential approval through the Home Ministry in March last year but is still pending.

He said that it was intriguing as there is no provision in the Presidential assent issuing process for entertaining the intervention of a private sector company, that too a multinational that was once expelled from our country, challenging a Bill passed by a state Assembly.
The villagers of the Plachimada have been protesting against the Coca-Cola Plant for the last 13 years demanding compensation.