By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A Christian group in Orissa Thursday said the government had not adequately compensated last year’s riot victims in Kandhamal district even after the Supreme Court orders.
“Supreme Court said it is the duty of the state government to compensate whatever loss that has taken place during the violence. When the government sent the evaluators to assess the compensation, they never consulted the victims,” Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath told reporters.
“The evaluators sent by the state government just went and put some amount which is below the required amount of compensation. The victims have no say in the whole mater,” he added.
He said that the loss is far more and appealed the state government to compensate the victims adequately.
Orissa’s Kandhamal district, some 200 km from here, witnessed communal violence following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Saraswati and four of his aides Aug 23 last year.
Over 25,000 Christians were forced to flee after their houses were attacked by mobs. However no communal violence has been reported from the region since October last year.