Three days after the Kishtwar violence in which over 100 structures were destroyed along with over six dozen vehicles, majority of which were owned by the members of the minority community, CM Omar Abdullah had announced an immediate relief of `2 lakh for the victims at a meeting of his Council of Ministers on August 12 in Jammu.
Four days after the announcement was made on August 16, 2013, a sum of `5 crore was placed with the Department of Revenue Relief and Rehabilitation for providing ex-gratia relief to victims of the riots and other extraordinary law and order disturbances in respect of destruction to immoveable property.
General Administration department had also issued a formal sanction order citing Cabinet decision 181/24/2013 of August 16, 2013 and concurrence of the State Finance department in the matter.
Despite doing this elaborate exercise the hapless victims of violence in Kishtwar continue to wait for the distribution of immediate relief to start afresh from ground zero.
The small time businessmen who lost everything during ‘senseless’ violence in Kishtwar on August 9 are facing hardships and struggling to make both ends meet.
According to State BJP leaders who recently visited the riot-hit Kishtwar town, at least 108 business establishments had suffered total loss amounting to approximately `20 crore in addition to loss in the form of destroyed vehicles and other structures. The rioters had not even spared a few medical stores run by the minority community but till date the authorities have failed to hand over the cheques to the victims.
“We do not understand the reason behind undue delay in handing over the cheques especially when the money has been placed at the disposal of concerned department,” a local businessman in Kishtwar said.