2008 blast victims get relief,but with 3-year rider

Exactly two years after Delhi was rocked by a series of blasts,the victims and their kin are finally being given the compensation promised by the Centre then,though with a catch.

Exactly two years after Delhi was rocked by a series of blasts,the victims and their kin are finally being given the compensation promised by the Centre then,though with a catch. This financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh per victim stands over and above the compensation announced and given by the Delhi government,but will be deposited to a bank account where it will lie as a fixed deposit for three more years.

The Central government,which announced its scheme for assistance to victims of terrorist and communal violence,has started dispersing the compensation amount on the basis of the reports submitted by the Sub-Divisional Magistrates of the various districts rocked by the blasts. The serial bomb blasts in various areas of Connaught Place,Karol Bagh and Greater Kailash on September 13,2008,left 27 people dead and 140 seriously injured. Blasts also ripped through Mehrauli on September 27,killing three people and injuring about 35.

The South Asian Forum for People Against Terror,an organisation that was formed after the 2005 serial blasts in the busy Sarojini Nagar,Paharganj and Govindpuri areas,has been fighting for the compensation amount to be released and dispersed to the victims and their kin.

But forum president Ashok Randhawa said the guidelines for compensation which has anyway been released after two years is unfair. In April,the next of kin of the five victims in Connaught Place and Barakhamba Road were given cheques of Rs 3 lakh each,with no demand to put the money into fixed deposit, he told Newsline.

Some of the cheques for the Karol Bagh victims have already arrived,but with the pre-condition that they must be deposited in fixed deposit for three more years. Some of the surviving relatives of the victims of Karol Bagh blasts are between 60-80 years old and living in miserable conditions. I wonder if they would even be able to live three more years to finally get the compensation, said Randhawa,who has been helping the victims restart a normal life following the tragedy.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram