Journalism of Courage
Bakery Blast : Victims did not have proper bank accounts,money to be routed through embassies
The Pune district administration is yet to pay compensation to the kin of the five foreign nationals killed in the German Bakery blast on February 13.
The administration,which has paid Rs 81 lakh to 64 persons,the injured and the kin of Indians killed in the blast,the Rs 25 lakh for the kin of two Sudanese,an Iranian,an Italian and a Nepalese citizens,is yet to be paid.
The reason being cited for the delay is letters from respective embassies agreeing to collect the money and disburse it from their side.
There is a catch though. The district administration is yet to write to all the embassies on its own. We were facing problems in disbursing the money to the kin of the foreign nationals as they did not have proper bank accounts. We have to write to all the embassies as the kin have agreed to collect the cash from the embassies, said an officer at the collectorate.
So far,the administration has received a response only from the Sudanese embassy. We will issue the compensation amount to the consulate, said the officer. Relatives of two Sudanese nationals,Amjad El-Ghezoly Ahmad and Anas Alfatih Suleiman killed in the blast,will collect it from the embassy.
Ravi Kulkarni,district officer in charge of disbursing the compensation said he had talked to relatives of the deceased and they had agreed to collect the cash from the embassies.
In addition to Rs 5 lakh,we are also reimbursing the cost of taking back the bodies to their country, he said.
The other foreigners who lost their lives are Nadia Mercerini from Italy,Sayyed Syed Khani from Iran and Gokul Nepali. The embassies have agreed they would disburse the amount to their relatives after verifying details as it was deemed to be better than officers from the district administration doling it out to relatives and friends of the deceased without proper verification, said Kulkarni.
In the case of Gokul Nepali,though his mother Juthi Nepali and wife Maina are doing the rounds of the collectorate for the compensation,the district officers claim their documents do not have relevant signatures.
We have written to the Nepal embassy and they would issue the compensation to them, said the district officer.
More compensation from PMRF
Under the Prime Ministers Relief Fund,the district administration will issue an additional Rs 2 lakh to families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to the injured. We have got in touch with 18 persons so far and will contact the others soon. We have sought bank details for issuing the cheques, said the officer.
