MP sets up Directorate to process compensation claims of Bhopal Gas victims

NK SINGH

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to set up a directorate of claims to process and monitor the compensation claims of the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster.

The main function of the Directorate will be to assess the individual losses and losses suffered by shops, commercial establishments and industries.

The directorate will assess the requirements of proper rehabilitation, prepare proper documents in support of individual or institutional claims for compensation, and process and present compensation claims before the commissioner for the Bhopal gas victims who may be appointed under the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (processing of claims) Act, 1985.

According to official sources, the State Government, by constituting this directorate, seeks to tackle the issue of preparation of claims of individuals and institutions who have suffered considerable losses in the trail of devastation left behind by the leak of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide factory.

The Government had put together the records of loss of life compiled from the records of hospitals, burial and cremation grounds and through the agency of local police.

A door-to-door survey of families in the affected areas was carried out by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. A survey of 13 affected colonies was also conducted by the Gandhi Medical College in collaboration with the I.C.M.R.

The legal aid board had invited applications from affected persons to prepare claims on their behalf. The board received over 45, 190 applications with over 2,32,691 claimants. 

Indian Express

April 29, 1985