Will the families of Chawkbazar fire victims ever get compensation?

We are shocked to learn that one year after the devastating fire in Chawkbazar killed 71 people, none of the victims' families have yet received any compensation from the government. The only money they received so far was Tk 20,000 to meet the burial expenses of their loved ones.   

Immediately after the tragedy, the Ministry of Labour and Employment promised a compensation of Tk 1 lakh each for the families of the deceased, and the Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation decided in a board meeting to raise the compensation money to Tk 2 lakh. The ministry also made a list of 27 deceased workers it would be helping out using the foundation's funds. Moreover, the then mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) promised city corporation jobs to the families of the deceased. Apparently, all these promises remain unfulfilled, caught up in bureaucratic tangles. Meanwhile, after losing the sole breadwinners in the fire, the victims' families have been struggling to make both ends meet, while poverty has forced many families to stop sending their children to school.

It is simply not understandable why it should take so long to make the victims' list and compensate them. While the DSCC mayor's protocol officer said that it was very difficult to find the victims and that they have managed to get the contacts of only 31 people over the last one year, our correspondents have got the details of the 71 deceased and their family members in a single day. This just shows the apathy of the government agencies concerned towards the victims.

The Daily Star's investigation has further found that the victims' list prepared by the government did not include the names of all the deceased. What is more, when the families of those whose names were on the list went to the ministry for compensation at the call of the ministry officials, they were either told that their names were not enlisted there, or that they wouldn't be getting anything, which is nothing but harassment.

We hope the government will make no further delay in finalising the victims' list and compensating their families. Needless to say, the delay in getting compensation will only increase their miseries.