New Delhi: A year on from the Northeast Delhi riots, which resulted in the killing of 53 people and left 581 injured, apart from widespread damage to property, a high court-appointed commission to disburse compensation for the victims is yet to rule on any of the cases it has received.
The commission members, however, told ThePrint that Delhi government first delayed in forming the committee, then dilly-dallied on allotting a building and now has not even provided them with basic necessities such as WiFi, telephone services, vehicle and sanitation.
According to data accessed by ThePrint, the North East Riots Commission, one of the two government bodies disbursing aid to the victims, has received 2,600 compensation claims since it was set up in April last year. It has not adjudicated on a single case yet.
A member of the committee, on the condition of anonymity, said the Delhi government only provided a building for the commission in November, some six months after it was set up. The commission now has an office at the Delhi Police headquarters at ITO.
The commission head, Justice Sunil Gaur (retd), formerly of the Delhi High Court, told ThePrint that the government delayed appointing surveyors, crucial to ruling on the cases, as a result of which the commission only began work last month.
“At first, Covid hit us and since I am a senior citizen, I had asked for a work-from-home office but I wasn’t provided that,” he said. “I also wasn’t provided any surveyors until November. These surveyors carry out physical visits to the areas. The state government delayed the appointment of assessors to assist me and so I wasn’t able to begin work.”
According to the commission officials, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal appointed four surveyors only on 11 January this year and the secretary of the commission too in January.
The commission’s chief law assessor, Atul Kathuria, a Supreme Court lawyer and chartered accountant, was only appointed to the body late last year.
When ThePrint visited the commission’s office in ITO, it found that the officials haven’t been provided with a telephone, WiFi connections or any sort of remuneration.
“So much so, that there is not even a sweeper to clean our floor of the building in the police headquarters,” Kathuria told ThePrint.
ThePrint sent text messages to Home Minister Satyendar Jain and officials of the home department but there was no response till the time of publishing this report. ThePrint also sent text messages in the Delhi L-G’s office but received no response.
Chairperson of the Delhi government’s minority welfare committee Amanatullah Khan also did respond to messages or calls.
Also read: Riots changed Hindu-Muslim dynamics in NE Delhi. For some, it’s ‘hateful beyond repair’ now
The pending claims
Data obtained from the commission shows that of the 2,600 claims, 22 are cases of deaths, 126 are of injuries while the remaining are those of property damage.
According to the Delhi government’s compensation policy, immediate kin of those killed in the riots are entitled to Rs 10 lakh. Those who suffered permanent incapacitation are entitled to compensation of Rs 5 lakh, while victims of serious injuries are to get Rs 2 lakh and those who suffered minor injuries are entitled to get Rs 20,000.
For property, compensation is Rs 5 lakh in case of damage to uninsured commercial units, Rs 1 lakh in cases of “complete loot” of such units and Rs 50,000 in case of partial loot.
Justice Gaur told ThePrint that while the four assessors have been given a fortnight to complete assessment of 10 cases each, he will be proposing the names of 20 more assessors by 24 February to the L-G.
“I need a larger team as it is a lot of work and it is not possible for four or five assessors to look into so many applications since this requires physical visits to slums and verifying forms and other details as well,” Gaur added.
Of the 2,600 applications, 1,885 were filed through the DCP northeast, 446 were filed online, 126 were sent through email to the commission while 143 were received by post, commission officials confirmed. One each was also received from DTC and the Delhi Fire Services.
According to procedure, once the assessors submit their reports, the chief law assessor and secretary will go through them and submit a report to Gaur.
Gaur will then submit the final report to the L-G, after which it will be decided how much compensation will be released to the victims.
Officials of the commission said at this rate, the process will take at least another year for compensation to be released to victims.
Also read: A year on, Delhi riot victims struggle to cope with depression, nightmares & livelihood loss
Delhi govt rejected over 1,100 cases
The Delhi government, however, has been running its own scheme to provide compensation for the victims of the riots.
According to government data, it has disbursed over Rs 26 crore as of 8 February. The data shows that the government received a total of 3,425 applications, of which it rejected 1,179, cleared 2,164 cases with 82 cases still pending.
Of the 1,179, the government has reopened 25 cases. “Some families could not be traced or contacted earlier and hence these 25 matters are being re-verified,” District Magistrate of Northeast district, Pankaj Kumar, told ThePrint.
A senior official of the minority welfare committee of the Delhi government told ThePrint that the case for reassessing 82 claims was made in December-end.
A formal direction was then sent to the office of DM Northeast and Shahdara to look into the same. “It was observed that a limit or deadline needed to be set, following which it was finalised that 82 cases were being made out for reassessment,” Pankaj Kumar further told ThePrint.
The 82 cases, however, are still pending.
Also read: Investigation pending in 407 of 755 cases a year after northeast Delhi riots