Maur blast: Govt releases Rs36 lakh, kin want more : The Tribune India

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Maur blast: Govt releases Rs36 lakh, kin want more

BATHINDA: Following approval from the Election Commission, the state government has released an amount of Rs36.5 lakh to be disbursed to those affected by the bomb blast that rocked Maur on January 31 at the end of a public rally by Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi.



Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 16

Following approval from the Election Commission, the state government has released an amount of Rs36.5 lakh to be disbursed to those affected by the bomb blast that rocked Maur on January 31 at the end of a public rally by Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi.

However, the members of affected families have demanded that a higher amount be paid as compensation.

“If the police have reached the conclusion that it was a terrorist attack then the deceased’s kin should be given Rs1 crore each as compensation and those injured should be given Rs10 lakh each since they have spent a lot on treatment already and a lot remains to be done,” said Rakesh Singla, father of deceased Saurab Singla.

Their neighbours said Rs50,000 was too little for the injured since they were spending a lot on treatment. “Most of the injured are undergoing treatment at private hospitals in Bathinda and Ludhiana and have been spending close to Rs10,000 everyday in hospital and medicine bills. The compensation amount is too little,” said Malkiat Singh, a neighbour.

They demanded that one member each from the affected families should be also given government job to help the families financially and also upgrade the Maur Civil Hospital.

Meanwhile, sharing details about the compensation, Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Ghanshyam Thori said six people died in the incident, three sustained critical injuries, one suffered 40 per cent burns and was stable, while the rest 10 had been discharged from hospital after treatment.

“The families of deceased Ashok Kumar, Barkha Rani, Harpal Palli, Saurab Singla, Ripandeep Singh and Jap Simran Singh will be given Rs5 lakh each as compensation.

“The injured — Jaskaran Singh, Amrik Singh, Ankush, Rocky Garg, Darshan Singh, Rajiv, Mani Mittal, D Ram Babu, Tejinder Pal, Ashu, Himanshu, Rahul and Lakh Raj — are being given Rs50,000 compensation each,” he added.

The DC said since all victims were from poor socio-economic background, it was urged that they be given compensation at the earliest. After taking approval from the Election Commission, the state government has released compensation amount to the Deputy Commissioner office, which will further be transferred to the office of the SDM. Also, as per the instructions of EC, the payment has to be made by government officials.


Residents to protest today 

Maur Mandi: A 25-member committee of the area residents has been formed which has decided to hold a massive protest on Friday morning in this regard. Their main demands include the immediate arrest of the accused behind the blast and immediate release of compensation to the injured and family of the deceased. “We also seek medical healthcare, presence of fire brigade, round-the-clock presence of doctors in government hospital and strict action against those, including a private doctor, who refused to cooperate after the blast,” said Dev Raj, a retired Junior Engineer from Powercom and co-convener of the committee. He said the residents also demanded the injured people be considered terrorist-affected and should be given all such benefits.  TNS

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