Babulal Gaur pokes hole in Bhopal probe panel report

Bhopal, June 23 (ANI): Lashing out at the Central Government, Babulal Gaur, Minister for Gas Relief and Rehabilitation of Madhya Pradesh highlighted several anomalies in the compensation package finalised by the Group of Ministers (GoM) for the Bhopal gas disaster victims.

Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Gaur questioned the prime features of the compensation deal proposed by the GoM, by contending they were too vague in their structure.

He opined that the government should have been more 'thoughtful' to the plight of the victims. He criticised the conditions formulated by the GoM towards the rehabilitation and welfare of the victims.

"To get their compensation, people of 20 wards have been asked to prove the nature of their injuries. For instance, if their eyes were damaged, they would have to submit a medical certificate. The injuries they had suffered were in 1984. How are they expected to get medical certificates now? Also, we demand that residents of all the 56 wards of Bhopal enlisted in 1984 must get the compensation," said Gaur.

He also expressed dissatisfaction on the criteria upon which the affected areas were divided into wards by the government for the distribution of compensation package.

"The government decided that all cases, including those against Warren Anderson, would be fought in the Supreme Court. We do not have any problem with that. What we are concerned with is that why were only 36 wards out of the total 56 wards in Bhopal given compensation, and why did the people of the remaining 20 wards not get even a single penny out of the package?" said Gaur.

The GoM headed by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram held four sessions since Friday to deliberate on areas that require attention for providing relief to people affected by the disaster.

It recommended a payment of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the dead.

Those permanently disabled or suffering from critical ailments arising out of the deadly methyl isocyanate gas leak are likely to get Rs five lakh, while those partially debilitated will get Rs three lakh. (ANI)