Tarlok Singh
Khurda The uncertainty over awarding of compensation to the family of a Sikh resident of Bhubaneswar who was killed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots has ended with the Khurda district collector assuring the family that the amount would be disbursed soon.
Unavailability of residential details of the family of Parwinder Singh with the district administration had resulted in the delay in disbursing the amount to his family. In October 2014, 30 years after the riots, the Centre had announced `5 lakh ex-gratia each for families of the victims of the anti-Sikh riots.
After Dharitri, the sister publication of Orissa POST, highlighted the issue in its February 11 edition, Parwinder’s elder brother Tarlok Singh (62) met Khurda district collector Niranjan Sahoo Thursday with the newspaper report and Parwinder’s death certificate. Singh informed Sahoo that the family has been residing at Plot No. 524/574 at Satyanagar under Kharavel Nagar police limits. He produced the relevant documents before the collector in support of his claim.
Sahoo assured Singh that the compensation amount of Rs 5 lakh would be transferred to Bhubaneswar tehsil after due verification of the documents. Singh said the collector praised the Dharitri for highlighting the issue.
Parwinder was the third among the six sons of Harband Singh, a native of Kathunagar in Derbaba Nanak district of Punjab, who had been staying in Satyanagar in Bhubaneswar along with his family. Parwinder ran a garage near Stewart School. “When he was on his way home on his bike after closing the garage November 3, 1984, the rioters waylaid him on the Unit VIII DAV School Road and killed him. They also burnt his motorcycle,” said Tarlok. Harband’s family came to know about Parwinder’s death only when police informed them the next day.
Harband breathed his last in 1986. Three of his other sons died in later years. Parwinder’s mother, Harbhajan Kaur (87), who was devastated by the incident, has been in distress since. PNN