The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has sought information on the 1984 Sikh riots from 9 States/Union Territories  namely Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi regarding :- (a) list of cases registered; (b) number of persons convicted/acquitted; (c) present status of cases; (d) number of person killed/injured; (e) details of property damaged; (f) Award of compensation to the victims and details of the same; (g) List of the affected families for whom job for one member of the family was announced,  numbers of families to whom the job to one member of the family was provided and, numbers of families to whom job to any member of the family has not yet been given and the reasons thereof; (h) details of Enquiry Committee/Commission constituted in each state; and (i) the details related to police officials, against whom allegations of involvement in the riots have been made & details of action taken/yet be initiated against them along with number of criminal/civil cases registered, number of police persons convicted/acquitted and number of cases still pending.

Ministry of Home Affairs vide notification dated 16.01.2006 introduced a rehabilitation package to provide relief to victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots. The Scheme, inter-alia, contained ex-gratia payment of Rs. 3.5 lakh for each death case and Rs. 1.25 lakh in case of injuries. The scheme also contained a provision for State Governments to grant pension to the widows and old aged parents of death victims at the uniform rate of Rs. 2500 per month for whole life. The expenditure on payment of pension was to be borne by the State Governments. The said scheme ended on 31.12.2012. Further, the Government of India, vide Notification dated 16.12.2014, introduced another scheme for payment of enhanced compensation @ Rs. 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased persons in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riot.

In both the above schemes, the onus of implementing the scheme is vested with the concerned State Government. Government of India’s role and responsibility is limited only to reimbursement of expenditure incurred by the concerned State Governments on receipt of Utilization Certificates.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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