NEW DELHI: Following the complaints of ‘inappropriate’ compensation to the victims of Northeast Delhi riots, which had claimed over 50 lives in February, the minority welfare committee of the Assembly has directed AAP government officials to look into the matter and ensure ex-gratia to all genuine sufferers.
The committee, in its meeting chaired by Amanatullah Khan on Wednesday, heard the versions of victims, who claimed of being given no or less compensation despite suffering losses in the riots.
The meeting was also attended by the Delhi government’s principal secretaries of home and revenue.
According to the committee, the Delhi Waqf Board was entrusted with the responsibility to carry out a survey and examine the claims, which were rejected. The board examined 163 such cases, which were presented before the panel after which the officials were directed to reconsider and work on them.
A statement from the committee said that Rs 25 crore has been disbursed as compensation to the riot victims so far. Khan said 86 complaints, where the riot victims were not given compensation as per losses suffered by them, were forwarded to the officers for verification of their claims.
A total of 657 applications for compensation rejected by the officials have so far been forwarded for reconsideration, he said.
The communal violence had broken out on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiraled, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
“Victims were not given appropriate compensation as per the announcement by the government. One boy was hit by a bullet. However, he was added to the list of simple injury category because of which he was paid only Rs 20,000. Similarly, another resident of northeast Delhi Firoz Akhtar had 90 stitches in the head. He was also put in the simple injury category. Khan has directed officials to re-examine such cases,” said an official, aware of the meeting details.