RANCHI, July 14, 2013: Jharkhand government announced Rs 1 lakh compensation to the kin of each pilgrim who died or went missing in the Uttarakhand disaster. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the cabinet on Saturday.

State chief secretary RS Sharma said the cabinet has decided to give Rs 1 lakh to each of the families that lost a member in the natural calamity last month.

"Meanwhile, the state government will contact Uttarakhand government and try to trace the missing pilgrims from Jharkhand," said Sharma, adding that in case someone wants to visit Uttarakhand to look for their dear ones, the state will help him in establishing contact with the local authorities. The chief secretary said that state government will very soon publish advertisements in newspapers to announce their plan of action. To get the compensation, the kin of the missing or dead pilgrims will have to fill a form and submit it to the state government. "The claimant will have to produce documents to substantiate that his family member went missing or was killed in the Uttarakhand disaster," said Sharma.

The cabinet has also decided to settle the compensation and jobs claims of the relatives of policemen killed in Maoist encounter at Dumka. Six policemen including Pakur SP Amarjit Balihar were killed in the Maoist ambush early this month.

"The state vies to provide compensation and job to the family of those killed in Maoist encounter at the earliest," the chief secretary said after the first meeting of the cabinet at state secretariat.

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 14, 2013.