Punjab Cabinet paves way for subsistence allowance for kin of 8 Mosul tragedy victims

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 16

The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday gave ex-post facto approval for payment of subsistence allowance at Rs 10,000 per month, with effect from October 24, 2019, for family members of eight of the 27 Punjabis killed in Mosul (Iraq) in 2014.       

While seven of the cases relate to the parents of the deceased, one is the wife of a Mosul victim who was not eligible for job on compassionate grounds under the state policy.

The Cabinet also approved the grant of lifetime subsistence allowance to these affected families.

It may be recalled that in the tragic incident, 39 Indians were kidnapped and killed by ISIS in Mosul (Iraq) in 2014.

The bodies of the deceased were exhumed and DNA tests were conducted, following which the mortal remains of 27 deceased Indians from Punjab were brought back to Amritsar on April 3, 2018.

The deceased hailed from eight districts, namely Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur.

On the directives of the chief minister, an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to 26 dependent family members has already been disbursed from the CM’s Relief Fund, and as per records, one victim from Jalandhar had no legal heir. 

The state government has also already provided employment to one dependent family member each of the victims, as per their educational qualification and government’s policy, besides ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh.

As per information received from the DCs of Amritsar and Kapurthala, seven cases from Amritsar and one case of Kapurthala were not covered under the policy, where job on compassionate grounds could not be provided to the family members as the deceased’s wife rejected the job offer and desired that it may be given to her minor son (now of 11-12 years of age).

However, the Cabinet gave ex-facto approval for grant of monthly subsistence allowance of Rs 10,000 per month to them from October 24, 2019, and also gave its concurrence for grant of lifetime subsistence allowance to the victim families.

Approves amendment to ‘Punjab Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017’

The Punjab Cabinet also gave approval to the draft notification of ‘Punjab Victim Compensation (First Amendment) Scheme-2017’, to grant compensation to the victims of transfusion of HIV positive blood due to medical negligence.

The amendment will also enable recovery of the compensation amount from the accused, for which the Superintendent of Police of the concerned district would file an application in the court and thereafter Director, Prosecution and Litigation, Punjab, shall pursue the case.

Notably, Member Secretary, Punjab State Legal Services Authority, taking notice of the incident regarding transfusion of HIV positive blood to a patient in Bhai Mani Singh Hospital, Bathinda, had filed a CWP-PIL No. 205/2020, titled as Punjab State Legal Services Authority vs. State of Punjab and Others in Punjab and Haryana High Court, whereby an amendment in Punjab Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017 for providing the compensation to victims of transfusion of HIV positive blood due to medical negligence under the said scheme was sought.

The state government had implemented the Punjab Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017 for providing compensation to the victims of various crimes, such as acid attack, rape etc. Out of the funds received under the said scheme, the Punjab State Legal Services Authority allocates the requisite compensation to the victims.

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