Patna, Dec 19 (Ajit Weekly News) After the BJP, the CPI-ML-Liberation, a partner in Bihar’s ruling Mahagathbandhan, on Monday demanded compensation for family members of victims of the Saran hooch tragedy
“After the liquor tragedy, only widowed women and children are left in the village and they are helpless. Hence, our government has to show some sensitivity and help them. The government should give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each of the family members who died in that tragedy. We also met the Chief Minister in the Assembly and demanded compensation,” Manoj Manzil, the CPI-ML-Liberation MLA from Agiaw in Bhojpur district, sai.
The MLA also claimed that Liquor Prohibition Minister Sunil Kumar has wrong information about the toll or he is hiding the numbers. “Our team visited the affected villages and found that many dead bodies were cremated or buried without post-mortem examinations under the pressure of local police. The district SP and DM are not providing the proper data about the deaths. State government should take action against them,” he said.
“CPI-ML-Liberation is a party that emerged from revolution. If the state government would not give compensation to the kin of victims, our party leaders and supporters will start movement on the roads,” Manzil warned.
Earlier, Sunil Kumar said that only 38 persons have lost their lives in the liquor tragedy in Saran. He also said that there is no provision in the law to give direct compensation to the victims’ kin.
“Under the guidelines of the Liquor Prohibition Act, there is no direct compensation from the government to family members of deceased. The compensation will be given only after the sale of properties of the accused to compensate the victims’ families. Even the state government had given the compensation in the Gopalganj liquor tragedy in 2016 and the process of recovery will be started after selling the properties of the accused,” her said.
Hindustani Awam Morcha patron and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, terming the Saran incident “shocking”, said that such incidents are repeatedly taking place in the state. “I firmly believe that the government should think about giving compensation to the family members of the deceased.”
–Ajit Weekly News
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News Credits – I A N S
