Terror-victim families seek relief package from Central government

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 25

Demanding relief package on lines of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, a delegation of All India Terrorist Victims Association headed by former Punjab health minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, met BJP national president Amit Shah at Delhi.

“Shah assured the association that he would look into the issue,” said Dr Chawla in a press conference here on Sunday.

He said in 2006, the Punjab Government had passed a resolution granting Rs 781 crore relief package to the militancy-hit families. In 2009, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had taken up the matter with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Later, reminders were sent to the Central government in 2010 and 2011 also.

Ironically, the issue was still pending with them and nothing in concrete has been done so far. He said the association had also raised the issue with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had also assured to do the needful and meet the victim families soon.

Dr BR Hastir, chairman of the All-India Terrorist Victims Association, said around 50,000 families were badly hit during the heydays of terrorism in Punjab while the government record pegged the figure at 32,514. He said around 25,000 families migrated to other parts of the country from Punjab at that time out of which 3,700 families were still living in Delhi. There were about 17,420 families, which were yet to be rehabilitated in a proper manner and still struggling for settling down, he added.