Lakhimpur Kheri victims' compensation issue raised in RS

A demand for immediate payment of the promised compensation to the farmers injured in a violence Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri last year and government jobs to the kin of the dead was raised in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Raising the issue through a zero-hour mention, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Chaudhary said the state government had promised to give jobs to the kin of the four farmers who lost their lives after a vehicle mowed them down and Rs 10 lakh compensation to those injured.

But the reply given by the chief minister in the Uttar Pradesh assembly this week revealed that no action on the promise has been taken, he said.

Chaudhary asked why no action has been taken on the promised compensation and demanded immediate action.

On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri's Tikunia during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in which Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, was seated, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.

Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha raised the difficulties pilgrims face while visiting Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan through the Kartarpur corridor opened in 2019. He demanded that the $20 fee and the requirement of having a passport be waived.

An accepted government ID such as an Aadhaar card should be sufficient for allowing pilgrims to visit the gurudwara where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent the last years of his life.

Also, the online registration process was cumbersome and should be simplified, he added.

The BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi wanted an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act to allow for the nomination of two Kashmiri Pandits and one displaced person of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the Assembly.

He said the Delimitation Commission has recommended representation for Kashmiri Pandits and displaced people from PoK by way of nomination in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Of the two seats for Kashmiri Pandits, one must be for women, he said, adding the commission has recommended that such members may be given power on par with that of nominated members. To give effect to this, the state organisation act should be amended, he said.

Nadimul Haque of the Trinamool Congress sought formulation of SOPs to allow heirs of the deceased to claim Rs 82,025 crore of wealth lying in inoperative and dormant bank accounts.

Assets worth Rs 82,025 crore are lying in dormant bank accounts as unclaimed deposits, maturity income of inactive policies in insurance organisations, and life savings in idle Provident Fund accounts.

BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao wanted Vizag in Andhra Pradesh to be developed as an IT hub while his party colleague Ashok Bajpai raised the issue of the increasing number of cases of fires in buildings and cars.