Cong stages walkout of Chg House over safety of girl inmates

Opposition Congress today staged a walkout from the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly while accusing the state government of its "failure" to ensure security of girl inmates of the state-run residential schools and hostels.
Congress MLA Shankar Dhruva raised the issue of the rape of minor tribal girls in a government-run residential school at Jhaliyamari village in Kanker district in January 2013, during the Question Hour.
He sought to know whether the committee constituted by the state government to probe the incident has submitted its report. "...If yes, then what action is taken against the accused in this connection," Dhruva questioned.
He also asked about the compensation paid to the victims.

In his reply, Tribal Development Minister Kedar Kashyap said a committee headed by Kanker district collector was directed to investigate the incident.
"The action was taken against the accused in the case and also against the government officials who were found guilty of dereliction of duty," Kashyap said.

He said as part of the compensation, the state has deposited Rs 2 lakh in the fixed deposit of each of the 15 victims, while an amount of Rs 60,000 was given to them under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1995.
"Besides, under the Victim Compensation Scheme, Rs 1.05 crore also allocated to Kanker's collector to disburse it among the victims," Kashyap added.

Senior Congress MLA Satynarayan Sharma questioned why a state-level committee was not formed to probe such a serious incident. "The victims were yet to get the compensation amount of 1.05 core," he alleged.