Saturday, August 13 2005 18:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Government today (Aug 13, 2005) constituted two official committees to implement assurances given by it in Parliament with regard to payment of compensation and other kinds of relief to victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

While one committee will go into the adequacy and uniformity of compensation given to the surviving family members of those killed in riots, the other will deal with the issue of providing additional livelihood support and employment, Home Secretary V K Duggal told reporters here (New Delhi).

The first committee will be headed by K P Singh, Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, and will comprise Secretaries in charge of relief in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh and representatives of the Finance Ministry.

Duggal said the terms of reference of this committee include examination of adequacy and uniformity of compensation given to next of kin of those killed, additional compensation to be given to bring about uniformity and possible enhancement.

The committee, which has been asked to complete its task in two months, will also oversee implementation of payment of additional compensation, the Home Secretary said.

The second committee will be headed by D K Shankaran, Secretary, Border Management in the Home Ministry, and will consist of Home Secretaries of the states where Sikhs were killed as well as Punjab where several victims have been rehabilitated, representatives of Finance Ministry and Joint Secretary in charge of Police in the Home Ministry.

Duggal said the committee will look into adequacy of relief and rehabilitation measures given to the riot victims by various states and Union Territories, work out details of additional relief in terms of livelihood support and employment to eligible family members required to be given now (this will include possibility of employment in central para-military forces).

The committee, which has also been given two months to complete its work, will lay down the criteria for providing employment and other relief measures and also oversee implementation of additional relief measures required.