Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the home department had forwarded a summary to the chief minister for approval of the compensation amount, which was approved recently. It was also recommended that the compensation ie Rs 0.1million each, for the injured person and bearing all treatment and hospital expenses announced by President and Chief Minister should be withheld as the authorities concerned were confused over the distribution of the money among injured, they added.
The chief minister has directed Secretary Health to thoroughly investigate all the claims of injured people and compile data based on accuracy so that they might be compensated at a later stage, sources said, adding that there was no extra fund available with the finance department in this regard. Hospital expenses and compensation of Rs 0.1 million for each injured of the Ashura blast would cost millions of rupees to the provincial government.
It is also feared that the funds may not reach the genuine injured, keeping in view the past experiences such as Karsaz blast, due to misappropriation and corruption by the higher authorities of the Sindh government, they opined. In this case, the reports of police and health department include the names of more than 100 people and majority of the injured were different in the two reports, they said.
Moreover, the officials of the provincial home department have been directed to remain in close co-ordination with the bereaved families directly and ensure transparent delivery of the compensation money, they said, and added that the officials had started contacting the victims' families. After the transfer of the money from the finance department, the compensation cheques would be provided to the families, individually, very shortly, sources added.