Nanawati Commission fixes 3 day public hearing next month

Ahmedabad, Apr 25 (UNI) Nanawati-Shah Commission today fixed three days public hearing on grievances, relief and rehabilitation fronts next month for those affected in the riots of 2002.

The Commission announced that a public hearing will be held on May 12 for the affected persons from Anand, Kheda, Panchamahal and Dahod while May 28 and 29 has been fixed for Mehsana, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha districts.

In a testimony before the Commission, Yusuf Shaikh, Gujarat Convenor of an NGO, said even after five years since the riots many families in Vadodara Rural and Chhota Udaipur were living in sub-human conditions and in great fear in the makeshift colonies. He also told the commission that in Asar village, under Vadodara rural, a family had suffered a loss of Rs one crore during the 2002 Godhra riots but so far they have not received any relief for the loss they incurred. He even said the family is being denied the bank loans, when they approached some banks to restart their rice mill and oil mill business.

In this connection, the commission asked him to give a full list of those who did not receive any compensation or rehabilitation after the riots.

The NGO then made a request to the commission to visit these camps to get a first hand report to which the commission said ''Not at present.'' A lady from the minority community, a resident of Bhavnagar, today deposed before the commission that she had incurred a loss of about Rs 20 lakh worth property during the riots and had not received any compensation from the government so far. She also submitted all documents supporting her claim to the commission. The Commission has however assured her that they will take up the matter with the concerned authority and get back to her the actual facts at the earliest.

UNI