Punjab CM for economic profiling of victims' families

The Punjab government on Sunday issued directions to undertake a social-economic profiling of those killed in the Amritsar train mishap on Friday.

This would ensure speedy, need-based solution for rehabilitation of the families of the deceased, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Sunday before leaving for Israel on a pre-scheduled official visit.

The social economic profiling is likely to lead to an increase in the compensation for the next of kin.

The chief minister directed the Amritsar deputy commissioner and the commissioner of police to make a detailed socio-economic profile of each of the affected families.

Singh, who had met some of the survivors of the accident in the hospitals on Saturday, was moved by the plight of two young women, who had lost their entire families, including children and husbands in the accident.

Anguished, Singh told his chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar that the government will have to do more than just give Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the kin of the dead, especially in cases where the victims are poor.

Singh said that a proper system must be worked out to ensure that such survivors are rehabilitated by the state government at the earliest, and are not left to fend for themselves.

He directed that ration, clothing, medicines etc be provided to the families of the victims, as most were from the economically weaker sections of the society. He also reviewed the relief and rehabilitation work with the Crisis Management Group of ministers.

“All steps should be taken for the effective rehabilitation of the survivors and the families of the victims,” Singh said.