Guwahati
The Justice Gita Mittal panel has said that among the several gaps, which could impact reaching the benefits of relief and rehabilitation measures to the victims of ethnic strife in Manipur, the first and foremost would be “non-availability of documents for identification which would include Aadhaar cards, voter I-card/ration cards/BPL cards etc.”
The three-member panel has been constituted to oversee relief and rehabilitation of those hit by ethnic violence in the border state.
Pointing out that many Manipur residents may have lost their identity documents in the ethnic strife, the Supreme Court-appointed panel urged the top court to pass directions to the State government and others including the UIDAI to ensure Aadhaar cards are made available to those displaced and the victims’ compensation scheme is broadened.
The all-women committee headed by Justice Gita Mittal that also comprises Justices (retd) Shalini P Joshi and Asha Menon, submitted three reports to the apex court on personal documents of the displaced persons, Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019 and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning.
Three separate reports, which were shared with the counsel concerned on Tuesday in pursuance of the apex court’s directions, were filed before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.
It said enquiries have revealed that out of all the above documents, the process of obtaining a copy of the Aadhaar Card may be the simplest as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has all the necessary information available in digital format.
The panel has sought directions to the Deputy Director General, UIDAI, Regional Office, Guwahati as well as the Secretary, Department of Home Affairs, Manipur to jointly take all steps to ensure availability of Aadhaar card to the displaced persons whose records are available with Aadhaar authorities.
“Direct the Secretary, Department of Finance to issue appropriate instructions to all Banks in the effected parts of Manipur to make available the details of the bank accounts held by the displaced persons to them. If necessary, the Banks should depute responsible staff members to visit the relief camps and interact with the displaced persons, ensuring continuity of banking service to them,” it said.
The committee has also suggested urgent steps for issuing the Disability Certificates/Duplicates of Disability Certificates to specially-abled persons in the relief camps immediately.
On the issue of compensation to the victims, the committee said the Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019 covers extremely limited number of offences entitling a person to compensation and its outreach needs to be immediately widened.
It said time-bound directions need to be given to National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to examine and make recommendations regarding offences other than those covered and fixation of rates of interim compensation.
Noting the lapses in the scheme, the panel has sought directions to the Manipur High Court and the state government to urgently complete the process of appointing secretaries of the District Legal Services Authorities in all the 16 districts in the state.
