The AAP Government is all set to outwit the Centre by planning to pay an additional amount of Rs5 lakh as compensation to each of the affected families of the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage from November 1, exactly 31 years after the Sikh massacre took place in the national Capital.
With the BJP-led Government at the Centre yet to release the additional funds, the Arvind Kejriwal Government has decided to immediately pay the additional compensation from the State’s own coffers.
A highly placed source said the Government has reportedly identified 2,600 families who would be paid additional compensation. The additional compensation is reportedly going to cost Rs130 crore to the State exchequer. Both the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia will be personally distributing the compensation cheques to the affected families of the 1984 carnage.
Prior to the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP had announced that each riot-affected family would be provided an additional compensation of Rs5 lakh. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had even distributed compensation cheques to some families which had created a political storm in the city with rival parties alleging that the BJP was trying to woo Sikh voters ahead of the polls. Prior to the additional compensation, the Government paid an amount of Rs7 lakh in two equal installments to each of the riot-affected families.
The ongoing tussle between the Centre and the AAP Government over a host of issues had taken its toll on the disbursement of the additional compensation to the 1984 riot-affected families with neither of them ready to pay the said amount. While the AAP Government had already disbursed additional compensation of Rs5 lakh to each of the 143 riot-affected families, it had no clarity on how it could pay the money to the remaining 2,600-odd families for want to adequate funds.
As the State is yet to receive the compensation amount from the Centre, the AAP administration has started working out modalities about how it could immediately provide relief to the victims. The issue related to additional compensation has immense political significance as all the political parties view the 2.5 per cent of the Sikh population as a key vote bank in the Capital’s several Punjabi-dominated constituencies. All the political parties, during the elections, had not only promised additional compensation to the affected families, but had also said that they would take all possible measures to punish all those responsible for the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage.
During his 49-day rule in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had even announced setting up of an SIT to investigate the 1984 riot cases. But it could not be formed as Kejriwal quit the office mid-way. It was the Union Government which set up the SIT and just two months after setting it up, the Centre had even accused the Kejriwal Government of not providing adequate legal staff to speed up the proceedings.