Tripura Power and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath today said that the state government is committed to providing government jobs to the deserving family members of those killed in political violence.

He clarified that genuine beneficiaries will be helped irrespective of when the incident took place or which party was in power at that time.

Addressing a press conference today at the Secretariat, the minister said that before the formation of the BJP-led government, many political murders had occurred under the then government. From 1993 to 2017, and as per available data, 15,589 people were murdered, and among them, over hundreds were political murders.

“After the BJP formed the government, it was decided that if any person from the family of those killed in political violence is suitable, we will give them one government job under the ‘Scheme for providing employment to members of family of persons killed in political violence’. On 23 December 2020, the scheme was notified. Initially, this scheme was meant to provide employment to members of the families of persons killed in political violence up to 09 March 2018,” he said.

The minister informed that later, under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, the Cabinet decided to amend the scheme and remove the words “up to 09 March 2018.”

“There are some rules in place. It must be decided whether it is a political murder or not; hence, a police report is essential, along with a series of inquiries to determine whether any suitable person exists in the family. After all reports are received, a scrutiny committee was formed under my chairmanship, including the Secretary (Law), Director of the ICA Department, IG Police, and a representative of the Home Department. So far, the government has received 38 petitions, and among them, 18 jobs have already been provided. 11 names have been proposed. 5 petitions were rejected as they failed to prove a political background, and four petitions are pending inquiry.

During the Left Front period, many incidents occurred for which documents or proof were not available; even police records were missing. We do not see political colour in political murders, whether it is BJP, CPI(M), or Congress. We evaluate them with importance,” he said.