Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander Parksh Ganga today distributed an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 5 lakh among the families of those who were killed in the cross border firing along the International Border in Samba district.The compensation has been given to the family members of those civilians who were killed on 1st of November 2016 in the cross border firing.“It is our prime and moral responsibility to extend every support to the victims of cross border shelling and share their grief and miseries with a human heart”, the Minister maintained .Minister asserted that the state government has initiated this scheme to compensate the victims who die in cross border firing which was a long pending demand of the people of border areas. “This was a firm commitment of the government towards these people which has been materialized in the shortest possible time”, he added.The Minister said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti recognized this issue as totally humane and took no time to approve the matter in the Cabinet for larger interest of the people living along borders.
“Our government believes in action rather than in hollow promises which has been reflected in its initiatives towards development and welfare of people taken up during the tenure of the present dispensation so far”, he asserted.Ganga said that the amount cannot heal the wounds of the families who have lost their people but it can help their survival. “The people living in border areas are equally brave and courageous like our soldiers as they also face and fight heavy shelling and firing,” he asserted.He further said that government has also approved the long pending demand of people to construct bunkers in border areas as security and protection of our people from the unprovoked firing and shelling from Pakistan is one of the top priorities of the present dispensation.The Minister expressed sympathies with the affected families and assured them that the government would leave no stone unturned to help them get out of their losses.Deputy Commissioner Samba Sheetal Nanda along with other senior officers from the concerned departments and a large number of people were present on the occasion.The compensation was given to the families of Marsha Ram, Ravinder Kour, Neha Rani, Swarn Singh and Arun Kumar, the victims of cross border firing.