Compensate families who lost their kin in bank queues, says Maken

Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday visited the family of the 49-year-old man, who died on Monday while standing in the queue at a bank, and demanded compensation from the central government for his family.

"The government must pay compensation to all those families whose members have died while standing in long bank queues," Maken said after meeting the family of Satish Sharma, who died on Monday afternoon in a queue outside a bank here.

Sharma collapsed outside the Oriental Bank of Commerce branch in west Delhi's Najafgarh area while standing in the queue along with one of his friends.

"He used to work in a sabzi mandi (vegetable market). I felt bad when I met his family. He belongs to a very poor family," said Maken.

Slamming the government over the death of the people across the country while standing in banks and ATMs queues after its decision to spike 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, Maken said: "This is not the first incidence of death due to demonetisation."

Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence over the death of people, he said: "55 people have died across the country and it is unfortunate that the Prime Minister has not spoken on it."

Maken also slammed Modi for not attending the winter session of Parliament.

The government had on November 8 announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to curb "black money and corruption".

The move has triggered a cash chaos across the country, with millions queuing up outside banks and ATMs to withdraw money or deposit or exchange the old currency.

--IANS

aks/vd/vt