Only 2 pc riot relief cases approved

Only 2 pc riot relief cases approved
29 Apr 2008 Hindustantimes Chandigarh Pg 02

Bureaucracy creating hurdles, alleges Danga Peerat Welfare Association

THE BUREAUCRACY has approved only 2 per cent of the total applications of the riot-affected victims in Punjab, said the Danga Peerat Welfare Association today, a day after Patiala Divisional Commissioner suspended three Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner office employees for largescale irregularities in files pertaining to release of compensation.
Association president Surjit Singh told Hindustan Times that though the commissioner's action was in the right direction, the bureaucracy was creating hurdles all over the state.

Citing figures, he said in Jalandhar, around 1,100 people applied for red cards, but only 13 cases were approved. In Amritsar, out of the total applications of 850, approvals were given to only 45 cases. Similarly, only 65 cases were approved in Patiala against 1,000 applications, he added.

Blaming the apathetic attitude of bureaucracy for the low approvals, Surjit Singh said applications were rejected even after victim families provided rent receipts of houses they stayed in after the riots broke out in Delhi.

"Astonishingly, officers ask for proof like bank passbooks," he said, asking how could one have accounts in banks after losing everything in riots. "It's ironical that when the state government had received a grant of Rs 200 crore for the riot victims, the bureaucracy was creating hurdles," he added.

Surjit Singh said he would meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in a day or two to apprise him of the situation.

On the other hand, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar denied the allegations. He said Surjit Singh had been mounting pressure on the government unnecessarily. He said the cases were rejected as they were not genuine.

"Even the Divisional Commissioner in his inspection found fake addresses of four out of the six applications," he said. He said they could reject an approved application until forwarded to the higher authorities. "Sometime, after approving, you get to know that things were not genuine," he said, claiming they had fully complied with the law. Genuine claimants will get compensation: Govt All genuine victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, whose claims were rejected by the authorities, will receive a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each within a month, a senior Punjab government official said on Monday. But they will have to establish that they are genuine claimants, Divisional Commissioner (Patiala) S.K. Ahluwalia, who is inquiring into rejection of 1,200 cases of compensation for the victims, said.

Tracking the case AROUND 12,000 people had applied for the grant meant for the riot affected families after the SAD-BJP government asked for fresh applications on the demand that a large number of the victims never got any support. The Patiala Divisional Commissioner on Sunday had ended three employees of the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner office, alleging they had rejected over 100 applications after approving them on file. The Commissioner had said even a single line of reason was not given for changing the decision, raising suspicions