By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday extended the relief package for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the union territory of Chandigarh.
“These states had been left out of the relief package of Rs.714.76 crore announced in January 2006,” an official explained of the decision taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Of the money sanctioned, Rs.446 crore has already been disbursed in 13 states while another Rs.30 has been sanctioned for disbursement in the current fiscal till March 31, 2010, the official explained.
“As and when more claims are received, these will be processed and the compensation disbursed,” the official added.
The states already covered are Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The main aim of Thursday’s decision “is to fulfill the assurances given by the government in both houses of parliament on the report of the Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry into the 1984 riots,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
“Necessary instructions will immediately be issued to the concerned state governments and union territory administration for implementing the cabinet decision,” Soni added.