Vijay Goel expresses grief & anguish over fire at Bawana Slums. Demands free insurance coverage for all the victims.

-        Rajiv Ratan Yojna failed to provide houses to the poor but now free insurance is a must.

-        Goel also demands monetary compensation to the victims of fire.

New Delhi; 12 April 2013- Delhi BJP President Vijay Goel today expressed anguish and grief at the massive fire at Bawana slums cluster. He said that the Delhi government should provide free insurance coverage to all the slum dwellers since this should be the minimum Delhi government can do.

Goel said that due to total neglect and lack of even basic facilities, slums in Delhi have to face tragedies like fire as an annual recurrence. Without properly constructed hutments, people are at a constant threat of life and material. He said that it becomes the moral duty of Delhi government to provide free insurance to all the slum dwellers across the city as it was the Delhi government which had betrayed slum dwellers by not providing them with houses under the Rajiv Ratan Yojna and promised them a slum free Delhi just before the last assembly elections.

Even under the JNNURM, where more than 60 thousand houses were to be given, only 189 have been handed over so far.

Even todat the Delhi government doesn’t has any comprehensive plan for development of these slums and till that time free insurance becomes a necessity to lakhs of such dwellers.

Goel said that he will be talking to the insurance companies to ask about the lowest premium insurance for slum dwellers and so that they can be insured. Describing his anguish & grief as at something which could have been avoided he said that during the last ten years such mishaps have recurred time and again and every time the government has failed to give any proper explanation and reasoning. The government has totally failed to rehabilitate the slum dwellers leave alone any future planning for them and compensation. He demanded the Government to provide sufficient monetary compensation to the victims of fire immediately.

Addressing a huge public gathering of thousands at Yamuna Sports complex in Surajmal Vihar of East Delhi Goel yet again reiterated that if voted to power in Delhi BJP government will reduce the tariffs by up to 30%. Discoms have yet again decided to demand increased tariffs by between 1.6 to 6.1 percent. If government this time succumbs to the pressure tactics of discoms BJP will call a rally of lakhs of people at Ramlila Maidan followed by an extensive agitation.