Varanasi: Govt. announces Rs 7.5 lakh compensation to family of deceased labourer

Dubbing the death of a labourer in Varanasi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was supposed to address a rally as 'unfortunate', Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh for the family of the deceased.

"A labourer, who was working at the rally venue, died in an unfortunate incident which is why Prime Minister's visit to Varanasi has been cancelled. The state police has been directed to conduct the investigation and a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered into the matter. Post-mortem will be conducted today. A compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh will be given to the family immediately," Goyal said while addressing the media here.

"I don't look at money aspect, at this moment sympathy for family and unfortunate incident is what is weighing more heavily on us," he added.

Prime Minister Modi cancelled his trip to Varanasi earlier because of the unfortunate death of the labourer due to electrocution at the venue of the rally.

This is the second time Prime Minister Modi has cancelled his trip to his constituency.

Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to launch Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) aimed at providing affordable, reliable and round the clock power supply to urban areas. He was also supposed to lay the foundation stone for various development projects besides addressing a public meeting.