Delhi riot claims can’t be settled in 3 months: Panel

NEW DELHI:  Weeks after Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena directed to settle the pending claims for compensation by the victims of the February 2020 north-east Delhi communal riots, the senior officer of the north-east Delhi riots commission said that settling the claims in three months is not “technically possible”. 

On August 24, Saxena appointed twenty assessors to help the victims for expedited the settlement process. He also directed the officials to complete the process within three months.  Senior officials said, “Till now 2,775 claims have been submitted. Earlier, we received complaints from individuals, but now we are getting complaints from the District magistrate North East Delhi, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Transport Corporation, etc.”

He added the evaluation of loss is a time-consuming and cumbersome process. First, the assessors have to go to the complainant’s location to assess the loss, then information will be scrutinised by the commissioner for his recommendations to be sent to the High Court.

“Till now, we have been able to settle only 200 claims. One can calculate how much time it will take to settle the pending 2500 cases.” said the officer. Earlier, the L-G said that only 14 assessors were conducting surveys within the deadline. After the appointment of 40 more assessors, the strength increased to 54.

The commission was set up by the Delhi High court to assess the loss or damage to the property caused during the North East Delhi riots that occurred in February 2020. The government announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to families of those killed in the violence; Rs 5 lakh if a minor was killed. The compensation for seriously injured was Rs 2 lakh each and for those with minor injuries Rs 20,000 and Rs 3 lakh for children who lost their parents.