Will pay next week: Govt

“As per the Calcutta High Court Order,we had already paid Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 3 lakh to the rape victims,” said Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh. “We also took the decision to allot Rs 1 lakh to the injured and the file had been pending with the finance department. It is going to be cleared in a day or two.”

The state,however,will not pay compensation to the families of the nine people who have been missing since November 2007 — when CPM cadres forcibly re-entered Nandigram — even though the National Human Rights Commission directed the state government to pay compensation in this case too. “Let the NHRC go to court. In this case,the government had no role as it was an intra-party clash,” a government official said. “No compensation will be paid to those people,” confirmed chief secretary Samar Ghosh.

On November 10,2007,eight months after the police firing,armed CPM goons had entered Nandigram,stifling all opposition. In the violence that followed,nine Trinamool supporters went missing and remain so till date.

The state government,however,will examine the NHRC’s allegations of death and rape in the same incident,which,if proved,will be eligible for compensation.

“The NHRC sent us a list of eight to nine people who were killed in the incident and also of five rape cases,” said Ananda Gopal Ghosh,special secretary,state Home Department. “The police will investigate the cases and if proved,they too,will be awarded compensation.”

The Trinamool,while welcoming the Supreme Court verdict,said they will now demand compensation for those missing in the November clash.