In a move to revamp its relief and rehabilitation mechanism, the State government has made significant changes to compensation norms by classifying insecticide deaths, fatalities in stampede and building collapse as calamities.
Earlier this year Maharashtra had changed norms to include compensation for victims of terror-related incidents, naxalism-related tragedies, and other natural disasters. With the latest change, deaths due to spraying farm insecticides, stampedes at religious places, and collapse of buildings which were not served an evacuation notice, will now be termed as man-made disasters, and victims or kin will be eligible for compensation and financial help.
As per the new norms, next of kin of victims of these calamities will be given ₹4 lakh as compensation, while the compensation for loss of limb or eyesight will range from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh.
“The compensation for the injured will depend on the number of days a victim is admitted to hospital. It will range from ₹3,000 to ₹15,000,” said an official of the state revenue department. The government has also put in place a five-point guideline on the documentation needed as proof to claim compensation.
The latest move follows calls to redefine the state list of natural disasters. As a result, the government, for the first time this year, included “lightning” in the list of natural disasters but only after the number of victims eligible for compensation turned out to be over 1,000. The government had appointed a sub-committee of senior ministers to ensure compensation is disbursed on an emergency basis, bypassing stipulated calamity norms in case of a major natural disaster. The committee was mandated to redefine rules. The existing calamities defined under the disaster rules were excess rainfall, hailstorm, sudden fire, deaths and damage due to lightning, drought and unseasonal rains. Compensation is also granted in case of house collapse and death of livestock during drought.
The National Disaster Management Guidelines have already defined what constitutes natural calamities. These cover crop damages, soil erosion, damage to fishing catch, among others. “The changes are helpful in taking a macro view of how empathetically the government must take care of victims of various disasters and calamities,” said an official.
