Bihar Boat Capsize: Prashant Kishor Seeks Hike In Compensation To Rs 25 Lakh

Hajipur: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Tuesday urged the Bihar government to raise the ex gratia given to family members of children who died in a recent boat capsize in Vaishali district from Rs 4 lakh each to Rs 25 lakh.The Bankipur MLA was speaking to journalists in Rampur Shyamchand village, about 70 km from the district headquarters, where 13 children, including nine girls, drowned last week when a boat capsized in the Ganges.

Kishor, who had pledged to "offer succour to the bereaved family members on Dussehra", said "one of the grievances of the people here is that the ex gratia was only Rs 4 lakh, while kin of those who died in the stampede in Kolkata (at a Durga Puja pandal on October 17) got Rs 25 lakh each".

"It is regrettable that the government in Bihar has fixed the price of life at Rs 4 lakh. The amount remains the same no matter what tragedy may have caused the loss of life. I would urge the Bihar government, on behalf of the bereaved family members, to raise the compensation amount to Rs 25 lakh," he said.

He also asked BJP leader and Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary to "come to the village and meet the people stricken by grief, and not be guided by the view that this is the assembly constituency of the Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, and the residents are largely voters of the RJD".

Kishor urged the administration to also look into the villagers' complaint that the boat "was being plied despite developing cracks", and that "while the local police were quick to act, the SDRF took long, which must not be the case in a flood-prone area".

The Jan Suraaj Party founder also stressed the need for improving the medical infrastructure in the area.

"I have been told by the villagers that most of the deaths would have been avoided had the children been administered oxygen at the local primary health centre," he added.