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Daring to dream, again
The gas disaster victims’ compensation package recommended by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal has brought some cheer to those injured in the 1984 accident and the victims’ kin.
The gas disaster victims’ compensation package recommended by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal has brought some cheer to those injured in the 1984 accident and the victims’ kin.
Nusrat Jehan (44), a resident of J.P. Nagar, which is adjacent to the defunct Union Carbide factory, lost her parents and three siblings in the tragedy. She hopes she can educate her daughters, Nazma (15) and Uzma (12), with the compensation amount. “They want to become doctors and I will do my best to help them,” Nusrat Jahan said.
Going by the GoM recommendations, she might get Rs 50 lakh for the five deaths in her family. The GoM’s Rs 1,300-crore Bhopal package includes Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the dead and Rs 5 lakh for the permanently disabled.
“Money will not heal the wounds of the victims,” said Farid Ahmed (60), whose wife Sharka, a gas victim, is bedridden. “But it will give them another chance to rebuild their shattered lives.”
Ahmed said he would use the money to get his two daughters married and help his son, Imran (18), start a business.
However, NGOs working for the gas tragedy survivors want Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consult them before the Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
“Since there are reports that those with temporary injuries might not be given compensation altogether, we cannot at this point be sure about anything,” said Abdul Jabbar of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan.
Activists also want the government to ensure that Dow Chemicals, the company that took over Union Carbide, bears the cost of cleaning up the Union Carbide site in Bhopal.
While welcoming the enhancement of relief, the BJP on Monday said people were disappointed because there was no mention of former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson’s safe passage in the GoM report.
(with inputs from Delhi)
