New Delhi: To expedite the settlement of claims and provide relief to victims, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena has approved the appointment of 40 Loss Assessors to assist the North-East Delhi Riots Claims Commission (NEDRCC).
With this, the number of assessors goes up to 54 since 14 loss assessors have already been working. As many as 10 additional loss assessors have been approved for a reserve list so that they could be engaged to assist the claims commissioner in case of non-reporting by the 40 loss assessors, a statement from the LG office said on Wednesday.
The LG has directed that all pending claims be settled within the next three months.
It may be noted that even after more than one and half years, out of the total 2,775 claims submitted, the commission has been able to process only 200 i.e. 7 per cent of the claims made. He also directed the panel that all pending 2,575 claims be processed within three months.
Interestingly, of the earlier appointed 25 claim assessors, only 14 had been conducting surveys without any deadline resulting in the prevalent delays. After the assessment of damages, the assessors submit the reports to the claims commissioner for his recommendations to be sent to the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi.
The LG has expressed displeasure at this laxity resulting in the suffering of victims who had suffered losses in the riots that happened in early 2021. He has also directed that the existing 14 loss assessors submit their reports on the claims assigned to them within three weeks, failing which their services will be discontinued and they will be blacklisted from the panel of assessors, the statement said.
The Home Ministry had been pursuing the issue of early assessment and submission of claims with GNCTD since April and there had been unreasonable delay till now. After a meeting held in April 2022, to review the progress of compensation for damages, the Home Ministry had directed that GNCTD assess the damages holistically and submit the claims to the claims commissioner for deciding the compensation. (ANI)
