Assistance to Civilian Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE violence increased to Rs 5 lakh
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 14, 2016
The MHA has increased the financial assistance under the scheme for assistance to civilian victims of terrorist/communal/LWE and other violence to Rs 5 lakh. Those killed in cross border firing and Mine/IED blasts are also eligible to receive assistance under this scheme.
The Ministry of Home Affair (MHA) has recently issued revised guidelines of the ‘Central Scheme for assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE violence and Cross border firing and Mine/IED blasts on Indian territory’. The assistance amount under this scheme has now been increased to Rs 5 lakh from the earlier Rs 3 lakh for non SRE states.
What all incidents does this scheme cover?
The initial guidelines of this scheme were issued in 2008. Those guidelines only covered the victims of Terrorist/Communal/Naxal violence. The revised guidelines now replace Naxal violence with Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence. It has to be noted that the definition of the LWE violence has remained the same as the Naxal violence even in the revised guidelines.
The only other change in the revised guidelines is the inclusion of victims of both Cross Border Firing & Mine/IED blast incidents. In the guidelines, Communal violence is defined as planned and organized acts of violence by members of one community against member of another community. Terrorism violence also includes militancy and insurgency related violence.
Who is eligible to receive Assistance under this scheme?
The scheme is applicable in cases where the victim has lost his/her life or is permanently incapacitated (defined as 50% or above). In the event of death or permanent incapacitation, the surviving spouse would be extended the financial assistance. If both the husband and wife die in the same incident of violence, the family members would be entitled to the assistance.
The assistance would be extended under this scheme even if the victims have received ex-gratia or any other financial assistance from any government except under this scheme. Even the Next of Kin (NoK) of government employees would also be eligible to receive the assistance. Foreign nationals are also covered under the scheme while the perpetrators of violence or their family will not be entitled to any assistance. It has to be noted that there is no income criteria to be  eligible under this scheme.
What is assistance offered?
The assistance under this scheme includes the following
Process of Application
The eligible claimants should file their claims in a prescribed  proforma within 3 years of the relevant incident. The time limit could be relaxed in deserving cases. The claim has to be submitted to the District Collector. The claim would then be verified by a district level committee headed by the collector. The committee would look into the relevant police records/FIRs, death and post mortem certificate in the event of death and medical certificate in the case of permanent incapacitation. The medical certificate has to be issued by the District Medical Officer and it should be shown that the victim has suffered more than 50% disability of a permanent nature.
The district committee has to make a recommendation within 15 days of the receipt of the claim. The District Collector can also recommend assistance under this scheme with suitable justification. The processing of the claim has to be completed within 3 weeks including the recommendation of the committee. If the claim is approved, the District Collector issues the sanction order on behalf of the state government. While issuing the cheque or crediting the amount, the Collector must give standing instruction to the bank that no premature withdrawal of this amount is allowed. The assistance released by the states will be reimbursed by the MHA on a half-yearly basis.