Punjab cabinet approves subsistence allowance for kin of 8 people killed by ISIS in Iraq in 2014

Chandigarh, Aug 16 (PTI) The Punjab cabinet on Monday approved subsistence allowance for family members of eight of the 27 people from the state who were killed by the terrorist outfit ISIS in Mosul in Iraq in 2014.

Thirty-nine Indians, including 27 from Punjab, who went to Iraq for employment opportunities, were abducted and killed by the ISIS in Mosul.

The deceased from Punjab hailed from eight districts — Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur.

Their mortal remains were exhumed and brought to Amritsar in April 2018.

The state cabinet led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh gave ex-post facto approval for payment of subsistence allowance of Rs 10,000 a month, with effect from October 24, 2019, for family members of eight of the 27 Punjabis killed in Mosul in 2014, according to an official statement.

The allowance will be given to the parents of seven deceased. The wife of one deceased will also get the allowance. In cases of these eight men, their kin were not eligible for jobs on compassionate grounds under the state policy.

The cabinet also approved the grant of lifetime subsistence allowance to these affected families.

The state government has provided employment to one dependent family member each of the remaining victims according to their educational qualification and government’s policy.

An ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to 26 dependent family members has already been disbursed from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. One victim from Jalandhar had no legal heir, according to official records.