New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his government will start disbursingRs 25,000 ex-gratia compensation to people affected by the riots Saturday onwards, even as only 42 families whose houses were set ablaze moved to the relief camps set up by the government in north-east Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the government, with the help of NGOs and residents’ welfare associations (RWAs), started distributing food on a large-scale across north-east Delhi. , SOURCES found meals, comprising rice, rotis, daal, and a sabzi being handed out to residents of Karawal Nagar and Yamuna Vihar. Mini-trucks with sacks of pulses, rice, vegetable and packets of milk were also being given to locals.
A total of 210 civil defence volunteers have been deployed in the region from Friday. The district magistrate (north-east) Shashi Kaushal, who has been made the nodal officer of the rehabilitation programme, also ordered setting up of six control rooms in Nand Nagri, Seelampur and Shahdara areas to address the grievances of affected parties. Officials in Kaushal’s office, however, said that until Friday the administration had received only a “handful” of calls.
A day after the Delhi government announced a slew of measures to rehabilitate and give relief to victims of the riots, it was able to open nine relief camps for displaced families. Of those, eight relief camps have been set up in night shelters. However, until Friday afternoon, no family had moved into them. Most of these camps have been set up at short distances from the areas that witnessed intense violence.
It was only at the relief camp set up in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (EDMC’s) community centre at D Block in Shree Ram Colony, where 42 families have shifted. “The arrangements are fine here. But how long will this life go on? We have nothing left, because there is nothing left of our ‘home’. When the violence broke out on Tuesday, we ran to save our lives,” said 17-year old Dilshad (who goes by his first name), who used to live in Karawal Nagar.
Families living in the community centre were handed out a compensation form on Friday afternoon by the area revenue officials. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who held a review meeting on the rehabilitation programme on Friday, said officials and areas sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) have started distributing such forms to people in the most affected parts of north-east Delhi.
“Counters are being set up in the district magistrate’s (north-east) office where anyone can come and submit the filled forms on their own. The Public Works Department (PWD) has been asked to do a quick verification of aspects such as whether the person has been staying in the said house or not and if the property was actually burnt. Based on the initial assessment,Rs 25,000 will be disbursed, after which the full amount will be processed in two or three days, after the remaining verification is completed,” Sisodia said, maintaining that launching a mobile app for submitting such applications could take a while.
The chief minister on Thursday had announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to families of those killed in the violence, wherein Rs 1 lakh ex gratia shall be given to the family immediately and Rs 9 lakh after due documentation. For damage suffered by residential units, compensation of Rs 5 lakh (₹1 lakh to be divided among tenant(s) and Rs 4 lakh for house owner) was announced. For substantial damage to residential units, the compensation was Rs 2.5 Lakh (Rs 50,000 to be divided among tenant(s) and Rs 2 lakh for house owners). For minor damage to residential units, victims will be given Rs 15,000; for uninsured commercial units, a maximum compensation ofRs 5 lakh was declared; and for loss of cattle,Rs 5,000 per animal.
On the treatment of patients currently admitted in government hospitals, Kejriwal said, “We are being contacted by the people regarding their friends and relatives admitted for serious injuries in government hospitals, but not getting proper treatment due to large crowds. The Delhi government will assess the situation and if needed, patients with serious conditions and injuries will be shifted to private hospitals for treatment.”
Instead of the usual four SDMs in the area, the government has increased the deployment to 18. Besides, four night magistrates have also been appointed.
A night magistrate is one who will operate beyond the regular operating hours of the courts.