Par nod sought for Rs 669-cr ex-gratia to Bhopal victims

The Government today sought the Parliament's nod for providing Rs 669-crore ex-gratia to victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.

The Supplementary Demands for Grants for this fiscal, which was tabled in Parliament, said this amount would be paid in cash.

Earlier, the Cabinet had announced a Rs 1,265.56-crore package for Bhopal gas victims. It had decided that an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh would be given to the kin of each person killed in the tragedy, Rs 5 lakh to those who had suffered permanent disability, Rs 2 lakh each to those who suffered cancer and total renal failure and Rs 1 lakh to those with temporary disability.

The ex-gratia would benefit 45,000 affected persons, and the amount would be paid after adjusting it against the compensation already paid.

The government also announced various packages for remediation, rehabilitation and other measures, taking the total amount spent to Rs 1,265.56 crore.

Payment of ex-gratia was part of the recommendations made by a Group of Ministers, headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram.