Gujarat riot victims to get Rs 7 lakh: Centre

The Centre has decided to give Rs 7 lakh as compensation to each of the nearly 5,000 post-Godhra riot victims in Gujarat, the same amount given to the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage victims. Official sources said a team from Union Home Ministry will visit the state to implement a rehabilitation plan for those still staying in make-shift camps after the 2002 riots. They said the riot victims who have got some amount of compensation would be paid the remaining amount. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided that based on the compensation given to the anti-Sikh riot victims, Rs 7 lakh ex-gratia would be paid to victims if communal riots take place anywhere in the country. Therefore, to term it as minority-appeasement is unwarranted," Minsiter of state for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal said. The decision follows the recent intervention by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and a report by National Minorities Commission which said there were lapses in the rehabilitation of Gujarat riot victims.

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