Sarojini blast victims’ kin still waiting for aid

‘Running from pillar to post’

Trauma continues for the three families who lost their loved ones in the Sarojini Nagar blast, which will complete 12 years in October 2017. The families of the victims are made to run from pillar to post to receive the compensation announced by the government. The struggle to receive compensation lasted for five months for Manisha Micheal, granddaughter of Salina Das who lost her son, daughter-in-law and her grand son in the blast. Two more families are waiting for their certificate of survival in order to get their compensation.

Six months back, a local court had granted compensation to the victims’ families, but they are yet to receive it. The families have alleged that the lack of the certificate of survival is causing the delay in getting compensation. They have been asked by the court to submit a proof of their existence.

“Initially the list that was issued by the court did not contain the names of missing victims. Only after a PIL was filed in the high court, the names were included in the list,” said Ashok Randhawa, president of Sarojini Nagar market association. According to Mr Randhawa, the government officials are making it difficult for the families to get the compensation. He said that getting survival certificate is not that easy, a lot of paper work and enquiry is done before it, which takes two to three months. “The rule of presenting the certificate of survival is unnecessary since the officials can easily obtain the list of members who got previous compensation from the special cell,” added Mr Randhawa.