Crores for Maya's parks, no funds for stampede victims

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati may have spent thousands of crores from the state government's exchequer to fund the massive memorials, statues and parks paying tribute to her mentor Kashiram and herself, but she has no plans to offer any monetary compensation to the families of those killed in Thursday's stampede at an ashram in Pratapgarh.

Most victims of the stampede, which claimed 63 lives, belonged to families living below the poverty line. The Centre has already announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the bereaved families, which had to struggle to raise money to conduct the last rites of their relatives.

Ironically, Mayawati had announced a compensation amount of Rs one lakh for the families of the 44 people who died after consuming illicit liquor, in Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad earlier this week.

This time, the Bahujan Samaj Party has claimed that the state was not in a position to grant any monetary relief to the affected families and urged the Centre to provide a handsome compensation to them.

In a press release issued late on Friday night, the CM said, "In view of the precarious financial condition of the state, I am appealing to the central government to be generous in giving away compensation to the families of those who have lost their lives or were injured in the unfortunate stampede at the ashram run by spiritual guru Kripaluji Maharaj in Mangarh village of Pratapgarh district in UP."

She added, "In case the Union government expresses its inability to pay, we will try to squeeze our resources and mobilise funds for the purpose."

Mayawati also had a word of advice to the Centre on the matter, "I wish the Centre creates a fund to meet the requirements of disasters like this, one on the lines of  the Calamities Relief Fund, out of which it provides financial assistance to states exclusively for natural calamities."

She even proposes to send a delegation of BSP Members of Parliament to the prime minister and seek his intervention for creating a central fund to meet the financial needs arising due to such human tragedies.