The Meghalaya Human Right Commission (MHRC) has ensured payment of relief to five widows from Assam whose husbands were electrocuted at Manikganj village in North Garo Hills district on July 25, 2018.
The commission, comprising of members B Giri and PJP Hanaman, has directed the Meghalaya Power Distribution Development Corporation Limited (MePDCL) to pay Rs 1 lakh each to the widows during a camp sitting which concluded in Tura yesterday, to dispose cases of human rights violations.
“The ex-gratia payment had been sanctioned on February 11, 2019 and had been pending disbursement since then. It was due to the initiative of the commission that the beneficiaries, who were from Assam, were able to be identified by publications that were made in the Assamese vernacular dailies and payment finally given to the widows on March 20, 2024 at Tura,” an official statement said.
Incidentally the ex-gratia relief to victim of electrocution has since been enhanced to Rs. 2, 50,000 from July 22, 2020.