PATNA: Bihar government, on Monday, announced to provide compensation to the Hooch tragedy victims in Bihar's East Champaran district.
Talking to media persons on sidelines of his weekly 'janata ke darbaar mein mukhya mantri', Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that dependents of each victim of hooch tragedies in the state will be provided Rs 4 lakh as compensation from the CM relief fund.
He said that letters were being sent to all district magistrates informing them about the government's decision on compensation. “The compensation will be given to the affected families after collecting all information about the victims,” he added.
The development came after the main Opposition party BJP demanded an all-party meeting on the new prohibition policy to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar in April 2016. The DMs of respective districts will send the list after verification of relevant documents from their end.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi claimed that over 300 people have died in hooch tragedies and others lost their vision due to consumption of alleged spurious liquor since the state was declared 'dry'.
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha patron Jitan Ram Manjhi had also said that the majority of the victims belonged to poor strata of society.
“The poor were the worst suffers from new prohibition policy,” he had told the media.
At least 30 people are suspected to have died after consuming spurious liquor since Friday. The district administration, however, put the figures at 14 only.
The national human rights commission, earlier, had slammed the state government for hiding facts about the death of hooch victims in the Saran district in December last year. More than 43 people, as per official records, died.