Post the communal violence in North East Delhi, volunteers and concerned citizens involved in relief, rehabilitation and documentation efforts have submitted a list of demands to the Delhi government, highlighting the measures that are imperative for the state to undertake in the aftermath that left 50 dead, over 500 injured and the whole of North East Delhi grappling with destruction of their homes, businesses, livelihoods and places of worship.
In a press release issued by the Citizen Volunteers for North East Delhi, the group said that three weeks post the incident and after independent relief work and documentation in the area, there is widespread deprivation among the citizens affected due to the violence. It said that the state had a moral and administrative duty to compensate and rehabilitate those affected and not just leave the task to volunteers, especially seeing the scale of the violence and the current impending threat of the Covid-19 as the victims are living in relief camps, making them more susceptible to the disease.
The volunteers and citizens through their observations suggest that the violence in February, was not sporadic, but organized and targeted particularly at Muslim residents in the area. They also questioned the role of the Delhi police during the incident. Because most of the people affected in the violence were workers from the informal labour force, the volunteers suggest that it is even more important to their livelihoods into account.
Post the riots, many have been forced out of their homes and have lost all important documents. Though the Delhi CM did announce compensation for the families of the deceased and for those who were injured and also offered ways to remake identity documents, volunteers on ground in Delhi still feel there is a lot more needed to be done –
- conducting a survey of the impact on all sectors of informal sectors and create an inventory of unique needs for each,
- check asset loss and loss of wages and valuables,
- set up more camps on ground for providing documentation and ensure a simplified method for the same,
- announce long-term relief and rehabilitation measures and set up large-scale relief camps and provide alternate employment opportunities to those affected in the pogrom.
The volunteers and citizens have demanded that the ex-gratia amount announced to the next of kin of the deceased must be enhanced from the current Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh. They also said that the forms of sexual violence, recognized under the Indian penal code, including rape, assault or criminal force to outrage modesty or intent to disrobe, must be added to the categories of injury with a compensation amount of 5 lakhs.
It also asked the government to create additional categories in loss of moveable property – include thelas, cars, auto rickshaws, cycles and bikes and the compensation for the same, including the loss of domestic / pet animals be enhanced to match with current market rates.
They also demand that compensation for damage to uninsured commercial property / commercial articles must be 100 percent borne by the government and the government must announce daily survival expenses for food, medicines, children’s needs, etc., apart from resettling those who fled to save their lives and those who were internally displaced by providing housing and means of livelihood which are at least on par with what they have before displacement.
In a letter to CM Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, they put forth a memorandum of 9 demands covering the gamut of:
1. Relief – Offering relief to the families currently at the Idgah camp in Mustafabad, ensuring their safety amid the Covid-19 threat by providing adequate home options, ensuring supply of relief material, especially food and ensuring that every member of the family is treated as a ration card holder and can avail PDS rations.
2. Compensation – Create additional categories for compensation apart from increasing quantum of claims where needed, set up grievance redressal processes for tenants who are excluded from claims due to no ID, disburse compensation and process claims in time and set up helplines and desks for citizens to easily put forth their concerns.
3. Legal Assistance and Information – Provide full-time government legal aid desk at relief camps and set up legal aid centers to help with cases of police harassment and illegal detention and ensure a Special Investigation Team monitored by a sitting judge of the High Court of Delhi, is set up in the long-term to probe the violence in an unbiased manner.
4. Medical and Psycho-Social Trauma Interventions – The government must bear the cost of treatment – from diagnosis to recovery, offer free maternity and OPD services and put in measures for the psycho-social rehabilitation of those incarcerated and those who suffered severe stress, anxiety and depression post the violence.
5. Implications of Covid-19 – Ensure alternate accommodation reducing the pressure at Idgah, preferably house those in relief camps at government-owned rented accommodation, ensure a monthly amount to the ‘riot-affected’ families instead of just offering an ex-gratia of Rs. 25,000 and create awareness of sanitization facilities and disinfect the relief camp and all the sites affected in the violence.
6. Livelihood Interventions – Survey asset loss, wage loss and property damage in affected areas; announce interim and long-term rehabilitation measures for formal and informal workers and ensuring per month compensation (at least Rs. 3,000) for rural and informal workers seeing the threat of Covid-19
7. Skilling and Education – Provision of counseling, school material and tuition support to children, safety of anganwadis and anganwadi workers, offer skilling programmes for people to get back to a better livelihood, life-long pension for widows and a stipend for school and college going children of the deceased.
8. Reconciliation, Reparation and Communal Harmony – Setting up ‘Mohalla Aman’ communities in riot-affected areas, monitoring and curbing of hate speech and communal propaganda through social media and the constitution of a Reparation policy for those affected in the violence.
9. Rehabilitation – Time-bound investigation into damaged properties and structures. Security against illegal occupation, a comprehensive scheme on the physical and spatial rebuilding of riot-affected areas and a close eye on the purchase of commercial and residential properties in these areas till the process of rebuilding is completed.
The memorandum of demands has been signed by various eminent citizens who have urgently appealed the elected representatives of the government to undertake swift action and partner with other organizations, federations and unions to ensure the wholesome rehabilitation to those who suffered the Delhi carnage of 2020.
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