56 yrs on, compensation for Arunachal villagers

Bomdila, October 21

Over 56 years after war with China, villagers of Arunachal Pradesh have received nearly Rs 38 crore as compensation for the land acquired by the Army to set up its bases, bunkers and barracks.

At a special function held here, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu distributed the cheques to the villagers of West Kameng district on Friday. Among those who received the cheques included Prem Dorjee Khrimey, who received Rs 6.31 crore, while Phuntso Khawa got Rs 6.21 crore and Khandu Glow Rs 5.98 crore.

After the 1962 India-China war, the Army had acquired huge tracts of land to set up its bases, bunkers, barracks, construct roads, build bridges and other installations. However, no compensation was given to the land owners till last year.

Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, had persuaded the Defence Ministry and got the compensation amounts sanctioned. In April 2017, Rs 54 crore was distributed among 152 families of three villages of West Kameng district. In September that year, another instalment of Rs 158 crore was distributed among the villagers for the private land taken over by the Army.

In February 2018, Rs 40.80 crore was handed over to 31 families in Tawang district.

The pending cases of land acquisition related to the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley and West Siang in Arunachal. — PTI