The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), acting on a report published in Hindustan Times, on Thursday directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to disburse within two weeks the entire ex-gratia amount released by the defence ministry to families affected by the Khundroo ammunition depot fire.
The Commission issued a notice to the state chief secretary and also asked for an Action Taken Report within four weeks, a spokesperson for NHRC said.
“The commission’s move comes after it took note of a report published in Hindustan Times on December 19, 2007, under the headline ‘Kashmiri kids beg in Delhi’,” the spokesperson added.
The HT report had highlighted the plight of the affected families, currently camping in Delhi. Although between August 28 and the last week of October, the defence ministry released Rs 26.75 crore for their rehabilitation, the money is yet to be disbursed by the state government.