Bathinda pvt bus tragedy victims’ families refuse to cremate bodies

In the wake of a tragic accident that claimed the lives of eight individuals when a private bus plunged into a drain at Jiwan Singhwala village, six of the victims’ families have accused the Punjab Government of neglect and refused to cremate the bodies.

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The grieving families have demanded a government representative meet with them and offer assurances of compensation before proceeding with the last rites.

Protests erupted at Talwandi Sabo Civil Hospital, where the bodies were being held, with various organisations raising slogans against the the CM-Bhagwant Mann-led government. Activist groups, including the Rural Labour Union, Democratic Farmers Union, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), and Lok Adhikar Lehar, staged a joint protest, voicing their anger over the government’s failure to provide adequate support.

The protestors highlighted that while the Central Government had announced a financial aid of Rs 2 lakh per family, the Punjab Government had not announced any compensation or assistance for the victims.

They criticised the local MLA, Baljinder Kaur, for not visiting the families and accused the police of prioritising the cremation over addressing the families’ demands.

An action committee was formed by the aggrieved families, which declared they would not cremate the bodies until the Punjab Government provided Rs 10 lakh compensation per family and government jobs for the bereaved. Despite a meeting with administrative officials, no agreement had been reached at the time

of reporting.

The situation was eventually resolved later in the evening when Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced Rs 3 lakh financial aid for the victims’ families and free medical treatment for all the injured. Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ahmed Parray confirmed that the issue had been resolved following the CM’s announcement.