Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of those who died after a boat capsized in the Barakar river in Jamtara district on February 24.
Hemant, replying to a question by BJP MLA from Nirsa Aparna Sengupta during the second day of the budget session, said that the compensation amount of Rs 4 lakh each would be given from the disaster management department.
Significantly, NDRF using Sonar (sound navigation ranging) till Monday recovered 14 bodies. The non-motorised boat had capsized on Thursday evening after being caught in a thunderstorm and according to locals nearly four persons had managed to swim across to safety.
The boat was carrying daily wagers to their home in the Birgaon area of Jamtara from the Nirsa block of Dhanbad district.
Several leaders of the Opposition parties had said the accident could have been avoided if the Barbendia bridge over the river was operational as people have been taking the water route to cross the river as the repair works of the bridge have not been completed.
Hemant said the government will soon conduct a feasibility study for construction of a bridge over the river as demanded by the BJP MLA.
Notably, two pillars of the Barbendia bridge got damaged due to a flood in 2009.
State women, child and social welfare minister Joba Majhi replying to a query by Congress MLA Bandhu Tirkey announced that the work on the new campus of the Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) would be stopped till the compensation for landholders whose land had been acquired for the varsity are paid by the government.
Nearly 500 acres of land had been acquired for the varsity at Kanke.
Hemant while replying to a question by Ajsu MLA Lambodar Mahato said the government was studying the rulings of the Jharkhand High Court in relation to the domicile policy and would take a decision soon on framing the domicile policy for recruitment in government jobs.
Significantly, tribal groups have been agitating and have called a dharna in front of state Assembly on March 7 demanding domicile policy based on 1932 Khatian (land rights).
