Former MP's organisation to help terror victims

Mumbai: For the victims of terror attacks, getting the compensation announced by the government and various agencies cannot only be a cumbersome exercise but also a traumatic one considering the red tape and delays involved.

A former parliamentarian's organisation has come forward to help these victims and their family members, who normally get lost in the system to claim the financial assistance promised by the government.

Help Centre, run by Kirit Somaiya, an ex-MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has put together a team of 20 young men and women to co-ordinate between family members and hospitals, government offices, railways, charitable institutions and donors.

"From tomorrow [Wednesday] onwards, each of us will go to every victim's to submit a letter detailing the procedure in claiming compensation," Chetna Ghore, a co-ordinator from the Help Centre told Gulf News. "We are always there to help them when they come up with hurdles," she says.

The centre will first assist the family members of those who died in the terror attacks and the focus will then be on the injured - to get their medical treatment and if required surgery as well as provide them with artificial limbs or even hearing aids. "We are trying to get the addresses of the injured," she said.

The terror attacks on November 26 claimed 183 lives including 22 foreigners with around 300 injured.

Priority

"Our first priority is to ensure that the families of these victims, most of them from a lower income group, get compensation."

Normally, disbursal of compensation is quicker within the first month. Yet, there are several documents - post mortem report of the dead, death certificate, papers to certify the release of the body from a hospital and other verifications - that have to be submitted to the authorities, including the Railway Claims Tribunal, while claiming compensation.

"The centre will not only help the victims get government financial assistance but also jobs promised by the government," says Somaiya.

Yuvak Pratishtan, another organisation run by him, is approaching various charitable institutions and donors to get medical treatment to these victims. "Even after 30 months after the July 11, 2006 serial bomb blasts on suburban trains, ten victims have not got the expenses incurred by them for medical treatment," he says.