M A I N   N E W S

Relocate ’84 riot victims, Punjab asks Centre
S. Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19
The Punjab Government today sought Centre’s assurance in extending necessary help for employment and rehabilitation to members of 32,000 Sikh families who got displaced from their homes in various states during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and are now residing in various parts of Punjab.

A plea to this effect was made by Punjab Government representatives — Joint Commissioner (R) Rupan Deol Bajaj, Additional Secretary Relief V.K. Bhalla and Resident Commissioner Anjuly Chib Duggal — during the first meeting of the D.K. Sankaran Committee, formed by the Centre to go into the need for providing employment, other source of livelihood and issues relating to rehabilitation of families affected by the riots, in North Block here.

Pleading for the cause of the displaced families, the Punjab Government representatives said for the majority of the 32,000 families it was a second displacement during 1984 and they needed proper rehabilitation. The first displacement was during the Partition of the country, they said.

Although the state government has from time to time extended help and also paid some compensation and jobs to the members of some of these displaced families, the representatives wanted the Centre to extend “full support” to ensure their proper rehabilitation, sources said.

Stating that anti-Sikh riots was a very sensitive issue, they said the Centre’s gesture would create a positive impact on the Sikh community, which is deeply hurt by one of the worst riots in the country, sources said.

Sikh families had to flee for safety from Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and other states and settle down in Punjab during the riots.

Representatives of other states like Uttar Pradesh have also understood to have sought Centre’s help in this regard.

There was overwhelming opinion in the meeting that “maximum compensation and help” should be extended to the families of the riot victims and there should not be any attempt to draw a parallel between the compensation extended to the families affected by terrorist violence or Naxal violence.

Generally, state governments extend Rs 1 lakh to the kin of those killed in a terrorist or Naxal attack.

During the meeting, presided over by Secretary (Border Management) in the Union Home Ministry D.K. Sankaran, the representatives of states were handed a two-page proforma for furnishing details about relief extended by state governments so far to widows/families of the riots and were asked to submit the forms within 10 days, sources said. The next meeting of the committee is expected to be held within a fortnight, the sources said.

Today’s meeting was attended by representatives of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal and Delhi.

The committee was constituted in pursuance of the assurance given by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil during discussions in Parliament on the Nanavati Commission’s report.