Imphal: In a striking show of discontent, as many as 50 internally displaced families from Ekou village in Imphal East on Monday returned financial assistance meant for the construction of houses in protest against the govt’s failure to resettle them safely to their original places.The displaced families, staying at the Sawombung and Shajiwa relief camps in Imphal East, gathered at the office of the block development Officer (BDO) and returned the financial assistance, which had been credited to their respective accounts, in cash. The amount was handed over to a junior BDO in the absence of the BDO.Longjam Basanta Meitei, a resident of Ekou Bazar said the state govt had earlier announced compensation packages ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for the reconstruction of houses. However, the amount was reduced to just Rs 3 lakh during the President’s rule administration, which is inadequate and unacceptable given the rising costs of construction materials, he said.“While the govt has failed to ensure our safe return to our original places so far, the families were recently credited with Rs 48,000 each as an instalment for the construction of houses,” he said.The 50 displaced families returned a total of Rs 24 lakh to the officer on Monday.The protest by the IDPs comes even as the govt’s deadline to resettle 40,000 IDPs by March 31 is just a day away.
