18 years on, state govt yet to release full compensation to train mishap victims

Even after 18 years, the state government has failed to release full compensation announced for the next of kin of the four victims of the November 23, 2006, train mishap near Gumtala village.

Four girls were killed when their vehicle was hit by a train on the Phillaur-Nurmahal rail section near Gumtala village on November 23 in 2006.

Aashia of Class XI, Daljinder Kaur of BA-I, and Kiranjit Kaur of BA-III, all residents of Pasla village, were killed on the spot. Rajvir Kaur of Gumtala village succumbed to her injuries on December 14, 2006. They were students of PTM Arya College, Nurmahal.

The government had announced Rs 5 lakh each for the deceased’s kin and

Rs 50,000 for the families of the injured. The government had given over Rs 1 lakh to families of the deceased. An amount of Rs 20,000 was given to the kin of the seriously injured victims. The families of the victims say they had approached the authorities for compensation time and again over the past 18 years, but to no avail.

Locals say that during the Assembly elections, the SAD, BJP, Congress and AAP leaders had promised that compensation would be paid immediately after the formation of their government, but that never happened. College managing committee chairman Om Parkash Kundi urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to release the amount without further delay.