Moving through a rough phase of life, family members of three firefighters, who were killed in the November plastic factory blaze, claim of not receiving the full compensation — ₹10 lakh and a government job — from the government after almost six months.
They also say that the ‘one-day salary’ donated by the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) employees after the incident has not reached them.
Malkit Singh, father of fireman Manpreet, claims the administration has only paid ₹5 lakh of the ₹10 lakh amount assured by Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. “The government has even failed to provide jobs, which were assured as compensation to the families of the deceased firefighters,” he adds.
“The MC has deducted the one-day salary from the accounts of MC employees, which was donated by the staff, but the amount has not been given to the families,” Malkit claims.
Kamlesh, wife of firefighter Sukhdev, says she was nominated for getting compensation, but nothing has reached her till now. She alleges that her in-laws have been harassing her over the compensation. “The government should provide compensation as soon as possible as I have to take care of my three young daughters,” she adds.
{{/usCountry}}Kamlesh, wife of firefighter Sukhdev, says she was nominated for getting compensation, but nothing has reached her till now. She alleges that her in-laws have been harassing her over the compensation. “The government should provide compensation as soon as possible as I have to take care of my three young daughters,” she adds.
{{/usCountry}}Vikas, brother of deceased Vishal, says, “My brother's wife died lately and me and my wife work as labourers. The responsibility of my brother's two sons is also on my shoulders, while I struggle to take care of my ailing mother.”
“They are supposed to pay ₹5,000 per month as the school fees of both the children and in May, we have to deposit the three-month fee at once. We have been borrowing money from our relatives, but they cannot lend it on regular basis. The government should provide jobs at the earliest,” Vikas adds.
However, MC secretary Surinderpal Singh says the compensation has been given to all the affected families.
“The payment to the family of Manpreet might have got delayed as he was employed on contractual basis and some formalities needed to be fulfilled before providing the entire compensation. The payment to Sukhdev's family has been delayed as there was a domestic dispute between Sukhdev's wife and her in-laws regarding the allotment of amount,” he adds.
“The file for providing jobs to the families has been sent to the state government for getting approval. The MC employees have already donated ₹40 lakh (one-day salary) to the families of nine firefighters which will be equally distributed,” Singh says.
As many as 16 people, including nine firefighters, had died after the plastic factory near Suffiyan chowk collapsed after catching fire on November 20 last year.
Bodies of sub-fire officers Rajinder Sharma, Sumohan Gill and Raj Kumar, leading firemen Puran Singh, Rajan Singh, Vishal Kumar were found, but those of leading firemen Manohar Lal, Sukhdev and Manpreet could not be extracted from the rubble.