4 years later, Punjab government okays jobs for kin of minors killed in Maur Mandi blast

The explosion had taken place close to an election campaign site of Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi, just days before the Assembly polls.

The blast on January 31, 2017 had also left 13 injured. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

Four years after a bomb blast in Bathinda’s Maur Mandi killed seven people, the Punjab government Friday approved special provisions in its rules to provide government jobs to the kin of the four of the victims who were minors. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

The blast on January 31, 2017 had also left 13 injured. The explosion had taken place close to an election campaign site of Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi, just days before the Assembly polls.

The Cabinet decided to grant special provision to provide jobs on compassionate grounds as per the educational qualifications to a member of the families of Japsimaran Singh (15), Sourav Singla (14), Ankush (11) and Ripandeep Singh (9).

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The existing rules did not provide for employment in the state service on compassionate grounds for minor victims.

The jobs to be provided by the state government are in addition to a financial grant of Rs 5 lakh given to the each family. Each injured was given Rs 50,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

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The state government had earlier provided government jobs to the next of kin of two victims–Harpal Singh (40) and Ashok Kumar (35)– as per the existing policy since both were the breadwinners for their families.

In Ashok Kumar’s case, his minor daughter Bago (11) was also killed but since one member of the family has already been given a job, Bago was not been included in the special provision.

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