26/11 relief to foreigners prompt

While Will Pike,the Briton who was injured in the 26/11 Mumbai attack,has accused his Government of neglect for not compensating him....

While Will Pike,the Briton who was injured in the 26/11 Mumbai attack,has accused his Government of neglect for not compensating him,five other foreigners have either refused or not bothered to encash the Rs 50,000 compensation cheques distributed by the Maharashtra Government,let alone seek additional relief back home.

Pike,29,and his girlfriend Kelly Doyle were caught in the attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel and the freelance filmmaker from London now faces a lifetime in a wheelchair due to the injuries he sustained when he fell from his third floor hotel room while trying to escape the siege. He returned home only to discover that he was not eligible for the compensation scheme set up for terror victims after the July 2005 bombings in London. This triggered allegations of moral failure on the part of Britain since the fund covers only those hit by terror on British soil,irrespective of their nationality.

The Maharashtra Government for its part took the moral high ground in claiming that the state machinery had been efficient in distributing compensation to all victims irrespective of state and country. They said that the families of 26 foreign victims from a total of 166 had all accepted the ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh each. The injured,which included 22 foreigners of a total of 240,were offered Rs 50,000 as relief.

While,two Germans refused the compensation,three other cheques given to foreign nationals have not been encashed. Pike was among eight Britons who were injured in the attacks. Now a paraplegic,he said he was left to cope with 15,000 pounds from a British government-backed Red Cross fund.

It is not a small amount even for foreigners, said M Rameshkumar,Maharashtras Additional Principal Secretary for Relief and Rehabilitation,referring to the ex-gratia given to the families of those killed. Initially,some of them had not come forward to take the ex-gratia amount,but almost all foreign nationals have taken it now.

Another official said that the cheques had been issued through the Mumbai Collectors office. Maharashtra has so far distributed Rs 14.07 crore as ex-gratia to the families of the deceased and injured,he added.