Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday handed over cheques worth Rs. 2.90 crore as additional financial assistance to the next of the kin of those killed and injured in the Behbal Kalan firing incident.The Chief Minister had raised the compensation amount to Rs 1 crore for the kin of the deceased from the Rs 75 lakhs recommended by the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission, along with a job.The Chief Minister assured them of all possible assistance by the state government, but said no amount of monetary help could ever compensate the loss of a human life. Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, along with MLAs Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon and Harminder Singh Gill were also present as the Chief Minister handed over the cheques.According to an official spokesperson, the Punjab Government led by Captain Amarinder Singh had sanctioned additional assistance of Rs. 90 lakh each for the families of Gurjit Singh of village Sarawan and Krishan Bhagwan Singh of Behbal Khurd, who were killed in firing incident.It may be recalled that the SAD-BJP Government, under whose regime the tragedy took place, had given a mere Rs. 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
With this hike, the total compensation has gone up to Rs. 1 crore, as announced by Captain Amarinder Singh during his press conference on July 30, 2018.In addition, a compensation to the tune of Rs. 60 lakh has also been provided to Ajit Singh of village Nathpur of district Bathinda who was critically injured in the incident. The Captain Amarinder Singh government has also announced reimbursement of the entire medical expenses incurred on his treatment, besides providing a lifelong medical attendant at a cost of Rs. 15,000 per month.Likewise, a sum of Rs. 50 Lakhs as assistance has also been provided to another injured Beant Singh of Behbal Khurd village. The government had already reimbursed a sum of Rs. 2.60 Lakhs on his medical treatment.The family members of the deceased and injured, who received the cheques, included Beant Singh, Mohinder Singh and Sukhraj Karan Singh of Krishan Bhagwan Singh’s family, Ajit Singh and Sadhu Singh of Gurjit Singh’s family.