Badal seeks compensation for those killed during terrorism

Chandigarh, Nov 20 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought a comprehensive package of Rs 14.61 crore for the next of kin of 788 persons killed during militancy when the state was under President's Rule.

Mr Badal raised this issue when he called on Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today, official sources said.

He also asked the Union Home Minister to grant Rs 116 crore for setting up of Mega City Policing facility in Ludhiana and Amritsar.

One of the major issues raised by Mr Badal pertained to police verification of passengers travelling by bus to Lahore from Amritsar. He urged the Home Minister to dispense with this requirement which was time consuming.

Referring to the issue of construction of a Modern Jail at Faridkot, Mr Badal also demanded the release of Rs 103 crore as one time grant for improvement of the jail infrastructure in the state.

The Chief Minister sought Mr Patil's personal intervention for releasing capital grant of Rs 140 crore for Maharaja Ranjit Singh Police University and Rs 92.86 crore for the provision of sewerage and drinking Water facility in eleven towns of the border district of Punjab under Border Area Development Programme (BADP).

The Chief Minister also sought a 'No Objection Certificate' for the proposed MoU to be signed with the province of British Colombia (Canada), covering the areas of skill development and education by the state government.

To mitigate the inconvenience caused to farmers engaged in agricultural activities across the fence along the Indo-Pak border, the Chief Minister demanded that compensation at the rate of Rs 5000 per acre be released. This would entail a liability of only Rs 9.25 crore.

The Chief Minister also took up the issue of revision of the existing norms of Calamity Relief Funds (CRF) to enhance the assistance for crop damage and property loss.

Mr Patil assured the Chief Minister that he would soon convene a meeting of the officers to resolve all these issues raised by Mr Badal very soon.

UNI HS LS KP/RK2005