The Cabinet committee on Uttarakhand of which chief minister Vijay Bahuguna is permanent invitee met here for the first time on Wednesday to discuss measures to be taken to reconstruct the flood-ravaged state.
During the meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the state sought `13,800 crores from the Centre for reconstruction and relief work and it is learnt that an assurance was given in this regard.
Talking to reporters, Mr Bahuguna said that his government has decided to declare the 5,400 people, who are still missing after the flash flood tragedy, as “presumed dead” and give them compensation.
“5,400 people are still missing. Out of these 924 are from the state. These are presumed to be dead and `5 lakh cheque each will be given to their family members. The finance minister said that the LIC should be asked to expedite their insurance claims as was done during tsunami,” the chief minister said.
The committee has been tasked with providing broad guidance to the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Uttarakhand and take such decisions as may be required.
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Pak soldier shares details about Capt. Kalia’s death
Islamabad, July 31: A video purportedly showing a Pakistani soldier sharing details of an encounter in which Captain Saurabh Kalia was killed in 1999 just before the Kargil war broke out has emerged, sparking a fresh debate on his death amid allegations that he was brutally tortured.
The video clip has been uploaded on YouTube.
In the video, Naik Bhule Khandan shared the details of the encounter in which 23-year-old Kalia and five other soldiers were killed.
“There was an attack on us from India on May 13, 1990. Six people from Indian side who were on a reece patrol advanced towards us. They wanted to capture our post and if they had succeeded they would guard the way going towards Leh.” Bhule said.
“Their plan did not work out and instead we hunted them down. When they came close we wanted to capture them but they started running away and then we started firing at them,” he said.
“We shouted across the Line of Control to Indian forces to come and take away their dead soldiers. But their people never had the courage to take their dead bodies.”
Kalia from the 4 Jat Regiment was the first Indian Army officer to observe and report the largescale intrusion by the Pakistani Army into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
— PTI