At last, 1984 riot victims get recovery grant of Rs 2 lakh

The Centre has asked the state to settle claims

Several hundred of affected families of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, who were denied the rehabilitation grant of Rs 2 lakh, now stand another chance to avail this grant amount.

The direction comes from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab.

The MHA, in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary (a copy with Deccan Herald), has directed the state government to re-open all the pending cases awaiting the grant amount of Rs 2 lakh. The Centre has asked the state government to verify and settle all claims of 1984-riot hit families within the next three months.

Ironically, out of the total 1,020 cases that came up to avail the rehabilitation package, only 72 cases were verified and recommended for payment. The remaining 948 cases are still pending verification even after so many years of the scheme being announced.

The grant of Rs 2 lakh was for riot-hit Sikh families who migrated to Punjab from other states after 1984. The MHA has directed the Punjab government to disburse the entire amount of grant to eligible riot-affected families latest by November this year, although the verification process.

This issue was raised by former Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna, who during a special mention in the Rajya Sabha in February last year, had demanded the constitution of a committee to identify families of victims of 1984-riots and resolve their problems.

Although the demand has been declined by the Centre, Union Minister of State for Home affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, in a letter dt June 6, 2016, said the Centre has accepted the recommendations of the Justice GP Mathur Committee, submitted in December 2015, that was set up to look into various grievances related to the riots.