Government sinks hopes of victims’ kin

Arjun RaghunathFirst Published : 03 Dec 2009 12:45:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 03 Dec 2009 10:23:13 AM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Did the State Government shed crocodile tears for the people killed in the Thekkady boat tragedy? It seems so as the compensation announced by the government for 'each victim' has been reduced to 'each family'.


After the mishap on September 30, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each person killed in the tragedy. A government order in this regard was issued by the Revenue Department on October 12.

However, the government later issued a fresh order on October 24 stating that only a maximum of Rs 5 lakh needs to be given to a family, irrespective of the number of persons in the family who were killed in the tragedy.

As per the initial order, if two persons in a family were killed, the family would have to be given a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. However, as per the fresh order, the compensation amount would be restricted to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh.

A total of 45 persons were killed in the tragedy, of which many were from the same family.

Except for three, the rest of the victims were tourists from other states.

The revised government order had also put the Revenue Department officials in a fix as there is no clear-cut definition for a 'family'.

Meanwhile, the Idukki district administration is trying to find the actual dependents of the 42 victims (who hailed from other states) by contacting the respective district collectors.